Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Community Contributions

Carers Australia and the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA) have welcomed the Government's announcementof the $20 million in grants to be made available to deliver centre-based day programs tailored to the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse seniors.

With the release of a new paper, 42 disability rights and advocacy organisation are calling upon the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability to fully investigate the negative impacts of segregation on disabled people. Read more here.

YMCA are proud to release the 2020 Community Impact Report and the resilience, collaboration during recovery, and innovative reimagining, are part of the collective story.
This report showcases what we can achieve together, with young people, communities (local and global), advocacy, partnerships and collaboration with industry peers and government. 

Chief Executive Women has adapted its CEW Scholars Program to let individuals choose their own course, offering multiple scholarships of between $5000 and $35,000 to successful applicants in various sectors and groups, including not-for-profit.

One in three (32.7%) Australians have felt financial pressures and stress significantly impact their lives this year and 38% are more stressed about their finances compared to last year - demonstrating the widespread impact of COVID-19 and making The Salvation Army’s work during the festive season more important than ever. Read more here.

Community Colleges Australia announced the winners of the 2020 Community Education Student of the Year Awards. See the list of winners here, and watch the Awards here.

Community Conversations
Landmark report - First Nations women and girls

A landmark report on Australia's First Nations women and girls has been released, with an ambitious, female-led plan for structural reform. Wiyi Yani U Thangani-(Women's Voices)-Securing Our Rights, Securing Our Future Report 2020 is a comprehensive, whole-of-life document and the result of over a hundred engagements with thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls of all ages in remote, very remote, regional and urban communities. The Report calls for the urgent establishment of a National Action Plan, an advisory body and targets and benchmarks for women and girls to lead in all areas of life.

Read the report
New report highlights need to intervene early and support children rather than jailing them

Save the Children Australia is calling for greater effort to prevent children and young people entering the justice system, following the release of the Partners in Crime report today. The new report by the Centre for Policy Development highlights the alarming way Australia's criminal justice systems are compounding disadvantage at escalating costs to children, families and governments. It calls for a systematic approach to reforming these criminal justice systems, addressing the underlying causes of offending behaviour and disrupting the 'conveyor belt' of disadvantage to the criminal justice system.

Read the Partners in Crime report
Women comprised more than two-thirds of all people seeking homelessness support who were not able to be assisted this year

New data released about people accessing specialist homelessness services (SHS) reveals that more than two-thirds of people needing help who were unable to be assisted were women or girls. Chair of Homelessness Australia Jenny Smith says, "There is no doubt that 2020 has been a difficult time for those doing it tough, especially women. Data shows that women continue to bear the brunt of any crisis, whether it be fires, a pandemic, or an economic recession. "Demand for homelessness services continually exceeds capacity, with there being inadequate access to both accommodation and support staff to respond to the enormous need. In 2019-20, every day, 260 people seeking support missed out. Over two-thirds, or 67 per cent, of this group who missed out on help were women or girls. 

Learn more here
Homelessness to surge unless we invest in social housing

According to a landmark economic study measuring the economic fallout of COVID-19, homelessness will surge nine per cent and 24 per cent more Australian families will experience housing stress in 2021 due to the impact of the crisis. However, if the Federal Government invests $7.2 billion in social housing, it could make a serious dent in homelessness, turbocharge the post pandemic economy by $18.2 billion, and create 18,000 jobs per year over four years. The findings are contained in Double return: How investing in social housing can address the growing homelessness crisis and boost Australia's economic recovery. The Equity Economics report was commissioned by Everybody's Home, a broad-based civil society coalition attempting to fix Australia's broken housing system and end homelessness.

Read the report
 
Community Sector Events
  • The final Australia at Home event for the year will discuss the year’s highs and lows and talk about how everyone can work together to ensure every child has the best start to life with high quality and universally accessible early learning in 2021 - 18 December 2020 - Click here to register

  • If information security, privacy and record keeping risks and compliance are on your mind, this webinar event is for you. As organisations and businesses progressively transition to the digital model of service delivery the role of records, information and knowledge is more relevant and critical than ever before. Learn more about Security, Privacy, Record keeping in this webinar event - 3 February 2021 - Click here for more information
  • Australian Progress present Dr Hahrie Han, who specialises in the study of organising, movements, civic engagement and democracy. In this webinar event, Hahrie will share insights from her latest research outlined in her book using data from six movement organisations, with lessons on organisational design choices that shape the people, their leaders, and strategies that will help you understand how grassroots groups achieve their goals - 12 February 2021 - Click here for more information and to register
Community Sector Resources
  • NACCHO developed a list to simplify changes to income reporting for people receiving Centrelink payments. The overview breaks down the updates that came into affect on 7 December 2020. Click here for more information.
  • From the Heart introduce an exciting new resource - the interactive Uluru Statement from the Heart. Immerse yourself in the interactive Uluru Statement experience. Dive into the three key components (The Painting, the People and the Statement) to discover the rich facts, perspectives and stories from the heart. Click here to learn more.

  • Get on top of your social impact measurement and evaluation projects with this accessible guide to existing SVA Quarterly articles. Whether you’re just setting out on the journey or are well into a learning cycle to improve your existing evaluation system, this guide will provide insights to help you do it better. This guide brings together a mixture of how-to articles, how different measurement and evaluation approaches were applied on the ground, as well as insights and lessons from our team and clients on the value and challenges of adopting an outcomes measurement approach.
COSS Corner
The latest news from State and Territory Councils of Social Service

ACTCOSS joined with Women with Disabilities ACT and People with Disabilities ACT on the 2020 UN International Day of People with Disability called on the federal and ACT governments to step up their efforts towards the achievement of an inclusive and accessible Canberra. ACTCOSS has welcomed the ACT Corrective Services Disability Action and Inclusion Plan, and expressed concern over an ACT Inspector of Correctional Services’ report on the ACT Court Transport Unit (CTU) that highlighted a lack of training for CTU officers, unfit vehicles and risks to children and young people.

WACOSS is a member of Social Reinvestment WA, who are partners on the Olabud Doogethu project - WA’s first justice reinvestment site in Halls Creek, co-designed and co-led by 11 Aboriginal communities, and the Shire of Halls Creek. Recently they celebrated the successes of the project, which In the first 18 months experienced a reduction in burglaries by 58%. Together, they share their vision for smart justice, healthy families, and safer communities.

SACOSS held its ‘Working to Make Ends Meet’ Conference Wednesday 9 December, bringing together a fantastic group of presenters to discuss challenges faced by waged poor households. We looked at the drivers of waged poverty, its rise in a post-COVID economy, and how to address people slipping through the gaps. 

View the latest video of DCJ Deputy Secretary Simone Walker & NCOSS CEO Joanna Quilty, discussing Budget highlights & how outcome budgeting is putting clients at the centre of funding decisions. If you missed it, here's the NCOSS Post-Budget event recording.

VCOSS shares new data revealing that household spending was actually higher in some poorer Melbourne suburbs during lockdown, helping keep the economy afloat. How could this be? Turns out boosting JobSeeker to a sensible rate actually allowed people on low-incomes to spend money on essentials, make purchases in local shops and buy household items they couldn’t previously afford. Just another reason to rate of JobSeeker permanently.

QCOSS has been to visit member organisation Communify Queensland where more than a dozen volunteers are busy sorting through donations of food, toiletries, books and children's toys to give to people who need a bit of extra help over Christmas.  Families who have registered will be able to choose from a range of goods this Wednesday at Communify's Christmas Market Day, where the community will come together for a BBQ.

NTCOSS shares a message from John Paterson, CEO of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory who is concerned about the new Woolies alcohol megastore to come to Darwin: "I ask the Board, the Woolworth's Board Directors, will you come and help us pick up the mess? It's gotta stop! And we will continue to advocate, day in day out, to ensure that this liquor store doesn't go ahead." #putpeoplebeforeprofits

Read TasCOSS CEO Adrienne Picone's foreword in the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Tasmania Report 2020, in which she states: "Many of us, including our Premier, define the success of our state as including both the good health of our people and the good health of a strong economy. These two elements are inextricably linked in our minds in ways they may not have been before these past 12 months. Our physical and mental safety and wellbeing were at the forefront of our state’s and wider community response to the pandemic.”

Members in the Media
Farhad Bandesh among first asylum seekers brought to Australia under medevac legislation to be granted visa

Jana Favero from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) said she would like to see the process sped up.

Read here
MYEFO to lift aged care spend by $1b

Ian Yates, the chief executive of Council on the Ageing Australia (COTA) discusses aged care home care packages. 

Read here
‘Shameful, dirty deal’: Outrage at senator’s backflip on cashless debit card

“It is devastating to have this legacy of paternalistic and discriminatory policy-making continued with the Cashless Debit Card,” added Change The Record’s Cheryl Axleby.

Read here
 
Feature Tweet

Director of Advocacy @janafavero
"We've been advocating for the release of all of those who were transferred through medevac, so we'd like to see the release of all of them and hopefully not one by one."https://t.co/ZbOKYzgeM3#TimeForAHome

— ASRC (@ASRC1) December 11, 2020
Click here to see full tweet
 
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