SACOSS has released its full State Budget Analysis, following our recent annual Post-Budget Breakfast with the Treasurer. Held only days after the state Budget was handed down, the popular Breakfast event provided an opportunity for the sector to hear about budget measures directly from SA Treasurer Stephen Mullighan. Panellists Mark Henley, Natalie Wade, Fran Baum and Cheryl Axleby provided a range of thoughtful perspectives, and the Treasurer also took questions from the floor. We look forward to continuing some of the conversations from this informative event. QCOSS welcomes important social reforms and investment announced in Queensland's state budget, but says it is extremely disappointed there was no additional funding for one of the state’s biggest issues – the housing crisis. QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh congratulated the government on its record health spending, including record funding for mental health and to build more hospitals. McVeigh welcomed the restoration and increase to Neighbourhood and Community Centre funding, which was cut ten years ago. Click here to read the full response. This fortnight, ACTCOSS held the ACT Government to account after public housing tenants were given a 48 hour deadline to prepare for a formal hearing to argue why they should not be forcibly relocated. ACTCOSS welcomed the Fair Work Commission’s announcement of an increase to the minimum wage, recognising the vital efforts of frontline workers throughout the Pandemic and the need to fully fund this raise. ACTCOSS also welcomed the ACT Government’s commitment to drug law reform, and called for a new Social Planning Unit that better reflects the needs of vulnerable people in the ACT Planning System review. The announcement of an 11.88% increase to electricity prices next month is a further blow to Tasmanian electricity customers, with household budgets already under pressure from rising prices and falling real wages. TasCOSS were pleased however, to see the Tasmanian Government’s recognition of the strain this price increase will place on the most vulnerable with the announcement of an increase in the electricity concession, a bill credit for concession card holders, and the timely removal of aurora+ product fee which is a barrier to 90,000 Tasmanians accessing the benefits of better understanding and managing power usage. Read TasCOSS’s full response. With EOFY just around the corner, the DropIN Solutions team, a WACOSS social enterprise, is ready to take on new projects to help community service organisations drive their vision and purpose. DropIN Solutions offers logo design, annual report design, website development, video editing and marketing solutions. They understand the community service sector and the challenges they experience, and are able to deliver professionally packaged materials on a tight budget. Have a look at some of their latest designs. Non-government organisations (NGOs) that do the heavy lifting during times of crisis need adequate resourcing to cover the growing administrative load they carry. Commissioned by NCOSS and conducted by Ask Insight, the High Cost of Doing Business report puts forward practical, common-sense steps – identified in collaboration with our participant organisations – that funding bodies can take to lessen the administrative and management overload and support the sustainable provision of essential services. Click here to learn more. Victoria is on an absolute winner with its new $9 billion early childhood package, according to VCOSS. The Victorian Government has announced it will make kinder free for three-year old children, introduce a fully funded “pre-prep” year, and build and operate 50 new childcare centres offering high quality, affordable and accessible care. The wide-ranging package will be phased in gradually from 2023. “This is a big, bold and transformational reform package,” VCOSS CEO Emma King said. Click here to learn more. More than $800,000 will be dedicated to amplifying the voices of young people, with NTCOSS to receive $170,000 in grant funding each year for the next five years to deliver the NT Youth Voice Project. The project will strengthen the ability of young people to have their say in the development of policies and strategies that impact them directly. Click here to learn more. | 
