Initial Analysis of the 2013-14 Federal Budget
May 2013
This paper outlines key measures announced in the Budget in areas of interest to ACOSS members. It does not offer extensive comment on the merit or otherwise of these measures.
ACOSS Reports & Submissions
Each year ACOSS prepares numerous submissions to the Federal Government. We also undertake research and produce reports on policy areas that impact disadvantaged Australians. The latest ACOSS submissions and topical papers appear below as downloadable links.
Most recent papers
ACOSS Submission to Exposure Draft Charities Bill 2013
May 2013
This submission is based on ACOSS’ analysis of the Exposure Draft Charities Bill 2013 (the Bill). ACOSS has consistently advocated the positions contained within this submission over many years starting from our work with our members on the 2001 Charities Definition Inquiry (CDI), through the 2010 Productivity Commission Study into the Contribution of the Not-For-Profit Sector (2010) and up to the most recent processes, including the Not-For-Profit Sector Tax Concession Working Group Discussion Paper (2012), the Treasury Australian Charities and Not-For-Profit Commission Exposure Draft and Governance Arrangements Consultation Paper (2012), and the Treasury Consultation Paper ‘A Definition of Charity’ (2011). This submission is available in PDF (just click on title above) or in Word format.
Code of best practice for engagement with not-for-profits
April 2013
The Code of Best Practice for Engagement (Code) flows from the National Compact and is intended to be a practical reference tool for public servants and not-for-profit (NFP) organisations to support the work of the National Compact. ACOSS’s submission draw on our extensive involvement with the development of the National Compact and with advocating for processes that ensure effective policy development and advocacy by community sector organisations.This paper is available as a PDF (please click on title above) and as a word document.
ACOSS reponse to exposure draft; Public Housing Tenants’ Support Bill 2013
April 2013
This paper provides ACOSS' response to the exposure draft of the Public Housing Tenants’ Support Bill 2013: Housing Payment Deduction Scheme. While ACOSS supports the objective of preventing the risk of homelessness due to tenancy failure - particularly important when the landlord is a public housing provider - the proposal to address this risk by deducting social security payments is inappropriate, and cannot be introduced with the necessary protection levels. This paper is available in both PDF (just click on the title above) and word formats.
ACOSS Budget Priorities Statement 2013
April 2013
In this submission, ACOSS outlines policy recommendations for consideration by the Federal Government in its 2013-14 Budget. The submission aims to take the opportunity presented by the temporary deferral of the Government’s Budget surplus target to put us on a more sustainable, fairer and inclusive footing on which to build as global economic conditions improve. In particular, it aims to address the most glaring unmet social needs while strengthening the fiscal base and building the role of the community sector as a key part of a resilient economy and inclusive society.
Partnerships for Participation: ACOSS submission on JSA reform
April 2013
Entrenched unemployment is growing and of great concern: at January 2013 more than 500,000 people, or 64 per cent of all Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients, had been unemployed for more than a year.1 At August 2012, the average duration for people receiving Newstart was two years, or 104 weeks.2 At the same time, 34 per cent of all those receiving support from JSA providers had been unemployed for more than two years. The system is complex, over-engineered and under-resourced. Most people who are disadvantaged in the labour market do not receive the individual help they need. There is still too much focus on short term employment outcomes and too little on long term intensive work with people and employers to ensure that jobs are sustained. Much of the system is designed for the benefit of Government as ‘consumer’ of the services, not people looking for paid work or employers. We need to improve the resourcing of assistance for people who are long term unemployed. In the current system, support for Stream 3 and 4 jobseekers declines once they reach the 12 month point, meaning that those who are longest out of work receive less support.
ACOSS submission to Commonwealth Financial Accountability Review
March 2013
The Commonwealth Financial Accountability Review provides the opportunity to address a range of reforms relating to government-funded community services, and in the context of the work of the Department of Finance and Deregulation. This submission is in response to the CFAR position paper, ‘Sharpening the Focus: a framework for improving Commonwealth performance’ (the position paper). While we do not address each and every aspect of the position paper, we have followed its structure in so far as it relates to key issues of concern to us. This submission is available in PDF (click title above) or as a word document.
Joint COSS submission to the Senate Inquiry into the NDIS
February 2013
Joint submission from the Councils of Social Service to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs' Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012.
Extreme weather, climate change and the community sector - ACOSS submission to Senate Inquiry
February 2013
Extreme weather, climate change and the community sector: ACOSS submission to the Senate Inquiry into recent trends in and preparedness for extreme weather events. ACOSS Paper 197.
ACOSS' interest in extreme weather preparedness and climate change adaptation is primarily the result of our interest in matters affecting people on low-incomes and experiencing disadvantage and inequality in Australia. Our work in this area flows from clear evidence from research that people facing poverty and inequality will be affected first and worst by the impacts of climate change, including increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events such as heat waves, drought, bushfires and floods. They have the least capacity to cope, to adapt and to recover. This submission uses data from our research into the vulnerability and preparedness of community sector organisations – and the individuals and communities they support – to climate change impacts, including extreme weather.
Click on title above for PDF version; click here for a Word version.