Support ACOSS in developing sound policy and undertake effective advocacy on the needs of people affected by poverty, disadvantage and inequality, and to build a strong and sustainable community sector.
October 2004
The research examines the income and family circumstances of the bottom 20% of families, and how their incomes changed over the past seven years compared with that of middle income families
ACOSS Info paper 367. Includes: NATSEM Research. Family assistance payments. Family Tax Benefit. Poorest 20% of Australian families. Family income. Taxation. Federal Budget 2004. Sole parents. Families with teenagers. Policy implications.
October 2004
This paper aims to analyse whether Australia could benefit from the implementation of anti-poverty targets and strategies. To gain an insight into the
relevance and effectiveness of setting anti-poverty targets and strategies, anti-poverty strategies from Ireland and the Great Britain will be reviewed.
ACOSS Info paper 366. Includes: National Anti-Poverty Strategy in Ireland. Anti-poverty targets in Britain. Poverty proofing. Employment programs. Social security. Income payments. Economics. Poverty. Child poverty.
September 2004
Paper highlights key areas of need.
ACOSS Info paper 361. Includes: Family assistance payments. Family Tax Benefit. Child poverty. Youth allownce. Unemployment. Social security payments. Taxation. Medicare. Community care. Oral health. Dementia. Child Care Benefit. Reconciliation. Indigenous representation. Indigenous health. Community Development Employment Program (CDEP). Housing.
September 2004
Giving Australia is a collaboration specifically formed to meet the challenges posed by this important research. It brings together a depth of research expertise and a breadth of networks across the non-profit and business sectors and their respective stakeholder groups.
Published by Giving Australia, September 2004. Giving Australia is a major research project investigating volunteering and donations by individuals and businesses in Australia. The project was an initiative of the Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership, and is being coordinated by ACOSS in collaboration with other research partners.
August 2004
Comparison of our social security system with those of other wealthy countries finds that Australia's system is lean and mean. This paper reports several key findings.
ACOSS Info paper 360. Includes: Comparable output of resources and overall expenditure on welfare payments. Rates of payments and the subsequent effect upon jobless families and individuals. Social Security system. Child poverty.
July 2004
ACOSS Info paper 358.
Despite substantial improvements in payments that assist with the costs of caring for young children since 2000, there are large gaps between the minimum costs of care for babies and toddlers and the level of financial help available from the Government. These high costs are one of the reasons that the birth rate has fallen over the last few decades.
Includes: Costs and requirements of infant and toddler care. Family Tax Benefit. Child Care Benefit. Baby Bonus. Paid maternity leave. Estimated costs and problems of care, and family assistance payments, for toddlers, babies and children. Government child care payments.
February 2004
ACOSS submits that there is a need for substantial increases in minimum wages over time to stem growing wage inequality and to enable low paid workers (with the support of the social security system where appropriate) to meet reasonable basic living costs. We respectfully submit that in the short term, the Commission should increase minimum wages so as to ensure that they do not fall any further behind movements in average wage rates. Over the medium-term, we propose that the Commission undertake an inquiry to ascertain an appropriate benchmark for the adequacy of minimum wages.
ACOSS Info paper 355. Includes: National Wage Cases Since 1996. Wage fixation. Social policy. Poverty alleviation. Safety net - minimum wage. Inequality. Growing gap between rich and poor. National Centre for Social and Economic Modeling (NATSEM). The Smith Family. Part time, casual and under-employed workers. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Social security. Employment/unemployment. Distributional impact of changes in minimum wages.
September 2003
This Submission responds to the Government consultation paper "Building a simpler system to help jobless families and individuals" and examines the social security system in Australia today, including current problems and how it could be improved. It discusses proposals to restructure the system to ensure that rates of payment are adequate, re-balance the system of mutual obligation, and improve work incentives. The submission calls for a commitment for a major overhaul of the social security system.
ACOSS Paper 129. Fairness and flexibility: reform of workforce age social security payments in Australias. Mutual obligation. Payment categories & activity requirements.
Includes: Labour market. Caring & family. Disability & health. Housing stress. Objectives for reform. Payment structure. Payments or tax credits. Adequacy of payments. Targeting of payments. Poverty trap
June 2003
Submission to the Senate Inquiry into Poverty & Financial Hardship), ACOSS Paper 127. Published by ACOSS, 2003.
Includes: Anti-poverty strategies in Europe. Strategies to reduce poverty. Recommendations. Poverty in Australia. Persistence of poverty. Inequality & poverty. Living standards studies. Measuring poverty. Unemployment. Low wages. Income support. Health. Housing. Indigenous disadvantage.
March 2003
This study reveals a serious imbalance in the debate over Australia's family payments system. It shows that family assistance payments fail to rise in keeping with the higher cost of caring for older children and consequently many low-income families with teenage children are at risk of deeper poverty than young families.
ACOSS Info paper 344. Includes: Family Assistance System. Child Poverty. Joblessness/unemployment. Family Allowance Supplement. Sole parents. Rent Assistance. Costs associated with caring for older children. Social Policy Research centre. Youth Allowance. Financial dependence amongst young people. National Centre for Social and Economic Modeling (NATSEM).