June 2009
ACOSS supports the enactment of a national human rights act to improve the level of human rights protection in Australia. A national act must include economic, social and cultural rights in addition to civil and political rights in recognition of the inter-dependence of rights and the vulnerability of low income Australians to human rights infringements.
December 2008
This report uses recent research, including previously unpublished data, to compare living standards and financial hardship among different groups of low income Australians, especially those receiving income support payments. It is a contribution to the public debate over the adequacy of these payments, and the design of a better social security system.
It compares the living standards and well being of low income households within each of these groups using three yardsticks: deprivation of essential items (such as a decent and secure home and access to dental treatment), income poverty, and budget standards.
October 2008
In October 2008, ACOSS held a seminar in Sydney on ‘Three dimensions of social inclusion' to help inform our policy development in this area.
Participants included ACOSS member organisations, representatives from relevant Government Departments, and academic experts.
August 2008
This discussion paper is intended to provide information about current processes and directions for reform of Commonwealth/State relations and to identify reform opportunities which will benefit low income and disadvantaged people. The paper has been written to assist in gaining the views of the community services and welfare sector on desirable directions for reform of Commonwealth/State relations which can then be used to help influence the reform process at various levels of government - Commonwealth, State/Territory and Local Government. This is a working document for the sector to use and provide feedback on and will form part of a wider consultation process with the sector.
April 2008
Submission to the Senate Economics Committee regarding proposed income tax cuts.
March 2008
ACOSSs submission to the Fair Pay Commission called for a substantial rise in minimum wages to help ease financial pressures on low paid workers from rising rents, food and fuel prices. It argued that the financial security of low paid households rests on three pillars: minimum wages, employment, and income support and that it would be risky to rely too heavily on the income support system alone to maintain their living standards. The minimum wage should be at least sufficient to ensure that a single adult can achieve a modest but adequate standard of living well above poverty levels. The paper includes new data on poverty among low paid households and detailed analysis of the relationship between minimum wages and employment and incentives to work.
November 2007
ACOSS, in conjunction with Mission Australia, Brotherhood of St Laurence and Anglicare NSW were partners with the Social Policy Research Centre at University of NSW in this ground breaking study that directly measures deprivation and social exclusion in Australia for the first time. The general community, and clients of the three agencies above, were surveyed on their views on what is essential for a decent life in Australia today, and then asked if they had those items. They were also asked about exclusion from employment, services and social support. The survey reveals who is missing out on the essentials of life, and who is socially excluded.
October 2007
As Australians prepare to vote in 2007, they face important choices over the future fairness of their country. Australia's headline figures of economic growth and low official unemployment stand in stark contrast to the daily reality of two million Australians who live in poverty. Despite economic prosperity, one in ten Australians struggle to pay for the bare basics such as housing, food, utilities and health care and often cannot access other essentials such as work, education, aged care, child care, counselling and legal services. The social and economic cost of this disadvantage can be seen in ‘poverty postcodes', typically on the outer edges of metropolitan cities and in rural areas, where many people are unemployed, have minimal levels of education, live on low incomes and often have disabilities and illness.
ACOSS Paper 151.
October 2007
This report was commissioned by Jobs Australia through ACOSS to examine trends in poverty in Australia from 1995 to 2006. The research was conducted by Peter Saunders, Trish Hill and Bruce Bradbury from the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.
July 2007
This report details the results of community consultations in all States and Territories and telephone polling on what Australians think are the essentials to make Australia fair.
