Australian Council of Social Service

Dear member

The final sitting weeks before Federal Parliament takes its mid-year break have seen a flurry of activity in a number of ACOSS' key policy areas. In particular, reforms to income support payments spell serious hardship for people in receipt of disability support pension, single parenting payment and youth allowance. ACOSS has also maintained our campaign for appropriate funding for effective and viable community services, particularly in the context of the equal pay case for community sector workers. We will maintain our strong advocacy on these issues, in the interests of people on low incomes and their communities, and the services that support them.

With an announcement on carbon pricing expected anytime now, ACOSS remains committed to ensuring that action is effective, assistance to low income households is adequate, and that community sector capacity to meet climate-related challenges is ensured.

Climate change Minister Greg Combet recently announced the latest round of projects to be funded through the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility. An ACOSS proposal to examine sector resilience survived a challenging independent scientific review process. This project will commence shortly.

We will be continuing our advocacy in the coming months across the range of policy priorities highlighted in this ACOSS@work. Stay tuned also for the launch of the Australian Community Sector Survey 2001 coming soon!

Finally, ACOSS is looking to the policy challenges that will confront us into the future and we are keen to hear from our members in this respect, particularly as we make preparations for the ACOSS Policy Forum and AGM towards the end of the year.

With best wishes,
Tessa Boyd-Caine, Acting CEO

In brief
ACOSS has attended the following meetings in the past two months:
• Global Justice Policy Workshop (UTS & RMIT)
• Economic and Social Outlook Conference 2011 (Melbourne Institute)
• NGO Roundtable on Human Rights (Parliament House, Canberra)
• Community Sector Wages Group (Melbourne)
• Oral evidence at Senate Community Affairs Committee Inquiry into changes to Disability Support Pension eligibility, and lobbying of parliamentarians on the issue (Canberra)
• Exploration Seminar on Taxation of NFP Businesses, National Roundtable of Nonprofit Organisations (Canberra)
• Multi Party Climate Change Committee (MPCCC) NGO Roundtable (Canberra)
• MPCCC Household Assistance Working Group (Melbourne)
• Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Peak Stakeholder Liaison Group
• Launch of the NAB/CSI Financial Exclusion Indicator report (Sydney)
• Smart City Smart Grid Strategic Policy and Regulatory Steering Committee
• Tasmanian Climate Action Council
• Origin Energy National Customer Consultative Council

Payment cuts in the Federal Budget
ACOSS called for, and welcomed, many of the employment participation measures announced in the Federal Budget including wage subsidies for long-term unemployed people, intensive employment assistance and support for people on income support in disadvantaged regions, and the easing of income tests for sole parents on Newstart Allowance.

But there is a sting in the tail. Because this was a tight Budget, the employment participation policies were partly funded by payment cuts. It is very disappointing that in this respect, the Government is treading the same path as the previous Government did with its Welfare to Work policy for sole parents and people with disabilities.

So from Budget night on, ACOSS and members with an interest in social security policy have lobbied to stop:
1. Payment cuts of $56 per week for around 25,000 sole parents with 12-15 year old children;
2. Payment cuts of $43 per week for young unemployed people aged 21 years;
3. Deferral of access to DSP (in effect a payment cut of $128 per week) for around 30,000 people with disabilities while they undertake employment assistance programs.

A brief on each of these policies is contained in a letter we sent earlier this month to all Federal Parliamentarians. On 23 June a small delegation from ACOSS and members (People with Disability Australia, St Vincent De Paul, Catholic Social Services Australia, Australian Youth Affairs Coalition and Homelessness Australia) met with 15 MPs and Senators, mainly major party back-benchers, to raise our concerns.

This had to be organised quickly as one of the Bills was already before the Parliament.

MPs and Senators gave us a positive hearing and many shared our concerns about payment reductions. The Labor MPs and Senators were ultimately bound to support the Government's Budget although they did not have a hand in shaping these measures. This is one of the problems with developing employment participation policies through the Budget process only - not many people have an opportunity to provide input. However a number indicated they would raise concerns about the policies.

Since these payment cuts require legislation, they can be stopped if the Coalition and smaller parties or Independents oppose the Bills. The Greens and the Independents with whom we managed to make contact supported our stance. While we received a generally good hearing from Coalition Parliamentarians, the main stumbling block there was a general reluctance to oppose Budget related legislation as the Coalition is also arguing for a quick restoration of the Budget surplus.

Nevertheless, the exercise was useful in widening our contacts in Parliament House and registering our concern about the direction policy is taking on social security payment levels.

ACOSS also prepared a submission to a very short Senate Inquiry into the Bill to implement the changes to Disability Support Pension eligibility. The Bill provides for deferral of access to the Disability Support Pension for up to 18 months while applicants meet a new requirement to participate in employment programs. Most will be paid the much lower Newstart Allowance over this period. Regrettably the Bill was passed and the new regime starts in September.

The majority report of Senate Community Affairs Committee acknowledged our arguments, and minority reports from Coalition and Greens Senators both endorsed our arguments and recommended that the part of the Bill relating to the DSP be opposed Bills to implement the other payments cuts affecting sole parents and young unemployed people will be tabled later this year or in the new year, so there's still time to lobby against them.

Community service viability - funding equal pay
ACOSS has been working closely with our members and the Councils of Social Service to maintain pressure for adequate funding of sustainable and effective community services from all Australian Governments. A delegation of COSSes and their employer members met with Government Ministers and backbenchers in advance of the Commonwealth's final submission to the equal pay case, arguing for the importance of government funding to cover decent wages. While we had a good reception to our concerns about service viability, it is clear that we have some way to go in securing the funding necessary to sustain effective community services. The campaign for funding continues and we need the support of all our members to ensure its success.

ERO Conciliation
ACOSS also participated in the first meeting towards a conciliation process in the equal remuneration case. The meeting established the extent of support for conciliation amongst the government, employer and union parties, but its main focus was the process forward, entailing the Commissioner meeting with specific stakeholders and interest groups directly.

ACOSS indicated that it was not appearing on behalf of our members as employers, but as a friend of the sector able to provide expertise in relation to background matters such as the workforce, funding, and sector reform issues as they relate to this process. ACOSS will not be participating in the negotiation itself as it relates to industrial matters, nor would we see an ongoing role in the process beyond any background information on those issues that the Commissioner would find useful (as he is not on the Bench hearing the application).

ACOSS will provide further input by way of background information about the key challenges facing the sector as a result of the pay disparity, such as attraction and retention issues, the impact that the gendered nature of the workforce has had, and any relevant information about reforms currently underway. This input will also be covered in the final joint COSS submission to the case.

COSS joint submission to ERO
The COSS network is collaborating on a final submission to Fair Work Australia. The submission will address the following issues:
• The importance of the Queensland decision in finding pay disparity in the sector on the basis of gender, and setting principles by which to assess and address that pay disparity;
• The historical role that gender has played in the sector;
• The importance of consistency in phasing in/transitional arrangements and implementation, including the principles through which that should occur;
• The various challenges for the sector and how they impact differently, for example retaining longer term staff compared with the challenge of recruiting at early entry levels;
• Any data available on wage gaps, at jurisdictional (state and territory) levels.

We will be distributing this submission in draft form for input from our members. However the deadline for the Commonwealth's submission to FWA has now been pushed back to 21 July, limiting the extent to which we can consult on what issues need to be addressed in the Commonwealth's submission. Other party's submissions are due on 29 July (including ours).

Climate Change
With an announcement now imminent on the design of a carbon price mechanism, ACOSS has been urging decision makers to act boldly in response to climate change. ACOSS has consistently called for effective and equitable action to reduce carbon pollution. We are confident that the Government and others involved in deliberations have heard our message and that low income earners, especially those on income support, should be appropriately protected from carbon price impacts.

As the Multi Party Climate Change Committee has worked its way to a consensus on carbon pricing, ACOSS has been advocating on three fronts. We have worked with our partners in the Southern Cross Climate Coalition (ACTU, AFC and The Climate Institute) to promote a comprehensive policy platform; we have worked with other sector organisations to promote equitable approaches to household assistance in response to cost of living impacts; and we have worked with an alliance that includes The Brotherhood of St Laurence, The Climate Institute, the Clean Energy Council, the Energy Efficiency Council, ClimateWorks, the ACTU and Choice to promote two significant energy efficiency projects.

Meanwhile the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet, has announced a $4.2 million tranche of grants for priority research to assist Australian communities prepare for climate change. Among them is an ACOSS project that will examine impacts of climate change on the community welfare sector and identify risks and strategies for adaptation. These research projects were funded by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility to explore adaptive capacity for human settlements and infrastructure in response to unavoidable impacts of climate change.

Energy
Along with our continuing advocacy in energy policy, ACOSS organised and hosted a meeting of the National Consumer Roundtable on Energy over 28 and 29 June. The Roundtable is a coalition of energy advocates from around the country and includes participants from state and territory COSS, community welfare organisations that work in the area (such as St Vincent de Paul, Kildonan and Wesley Adelaide UnitingCare, Council on the Ageing), specialists like the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Consumer Action Law Centre along with others including Choice, Total Environment Centre and the Alternative Technology Association. The Roundtable, supported by the Consumer Advocacy Panel, meets face to face three times each year.

Charity Law Consultations
ACOSS has recently presented two forum events to consult with our members about the impact of proposed reforms to charity law and the regulation of the not-for-profit sector. These events were held in Sydney and Melbourne and were co-hosted by Changemakers Australia and by NCOSS and VCOSS respectively. The events covered:
• the revised charities ruling by the ATO;
• the plans for the establishment of the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission;
• the modernisation of the definition of charity;
• and the Treasury Discussion Paper on reforms to the tax concessions of unrelated income to charities.

ACOSS has written to the Australian Taxation Office expressing our support for the revised charities tax ruling. We are contributing our response to the Treasury Discussion Paper via the National Roundtable of Nonprofit Organisations and we encourage all members to make submissions, however brief, outlining your interest in and any concerns with these reforms. We have long been engaged in advocacy for the establishment of a national not-for-profit regulator and the modernisation of the definition of charity, and we will be maintaining our involvement as these reforms progress.

ACOSS Staffing
Farewell to ACOSS colleagues: ACOSS has farewelled two staff members in the past month, Craig Bulley as PA to the CEO, and Corinne Dobson from the policy team. ACOSS members Craig's will be familiar with the friendliness and generosity which he brought to his all his tasks, and his assistance in involving many people across the ACOSS network in our work. Similarly, those of you who have donated your time and knowledge to completing the ACOSS survey will know how tirelessly Corinne has worked to prepare the 2011 Australian Community Sector Survey, which is due to be released shortly. We wish both Craig and Corinne all the best in their future endeavours. Our long-serving office, IT, memberships and events officer Al Parmeter also left ACOSS in recent months. Al shouldered huge responsibilities across a wide range of areas of ACOSS work and we are sad to see him go. However he remains in the sector working for the drug and alcohol peak in NSW.

ACOSS will be recruiting for the PA role shortly so keen an eye on our website for further information.

Welcome to new colleagues: Napoleon Bercasio has joined ACOSS as Office and ICT Coordinator. Napoleon comes to us with extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector including internationally.