Wednesday 12 October 2022 

Community Contributions

Anglicare Australia has welcomed the news that some 200,000 outstanding Robodebt cases will be scrapped. In supporting the Government's move, Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers said: "This move is a show of compassion to those remaining people still caught up in the previous Government's Robodebt debacle." Click here to read more.

The September edition of the 2022 Close the Gap Quarterly Newsletter has been released. It includes information about the Deadly Physios Podcast show; words from the Close the Gap Campaign Co-Chair Commissioner June Oscar AO; and upcoming events. Click here to access.

Australian Parents for Climate Action released The Real Cost of Living report this week, which surveyed 1,000+ parents and found that families are struggling to keep up with rising living costs, with many having to cut back on basics like food and travel. Lower income households are the worst hit, with almost 10% of respondents reporting they are accumulating debt to manage rising energy bills. Click here to read the report.

A new research partnership between the University of Sydney and People with Disability Australia (PWDA) has found people with mental health diagnoses (psychosocial disability) living in institutional settings face "significant barriers" to accessing the NDIS. Commissioned as part of PWDA's Engage-In project, the study examined the experiences of people with psychosocial disability living in institutions such as prisons, psychiatric facilities and boarding houses, and the systemic challenges they face when attempting to access the NDIS. 


The St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia welcomes the passing of legislation overnight to abolish the Cashless Debit Card and to make income management voluntary. The Society has been a leading voice calling for the abolition of the Cashless Debit Card, which has had significant unintended consequences across communities, including social exclusion and stigmatisation, increased financial hardship, and the erosion of autonomy and human dignity. 

The National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children are conducting a Separated Women's Financial Safety Survey, which looks at single mothers’ post-separation finances, including how money might be used by their ex-partner to control or abuse. The survey results will help to identify experiences of financial safety and how government policies and programs help or hinder financial safety. Click here to learn more and share.

The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) has backed growing calls for the Albanese Government to drop the planned tax cuts. PHAA is encouraging those who would benefit most from the tax cuts (according to the Australia Institute, the average income for a full-time worker in Australia is $92,000) to tell the Albanese Government that they want it to break its tax cut promise. Click here to learn more.

Community Conversations

Anti-Poverty Week 2022 - 16-22 October

Poverty affects far too many Australian children and families, diminishing their lives now and in the future.  As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it’s just not right that 1 in 6 of our children grow up in poverty.

Not having enough money to cover the necessities restricts daily life and crushes hope for the future.

Let’s make sure that all Australian children and families can cover the basics and have a secure roof over their heads.  Children can thrive and be healthy when they have what they need to develop well.

This Anti-Poverty Week call on Parliamentarians to commit to halve child poverty by 2030, meeting international commitments to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and UN Global Goals (Sustainable Development Goals).

Click here to get involved

A principled approach to working with First Nations peoples

As a non-Indigenous organisation, Social Ventures Australia has leaned on existing First Nations led and developed guides to improve service delivery, designing a set of First Nations Practice Principles striving to create positive impact for First Nations organisations and communities.

The intent of the Principles is to enable SVA to act as a genuine ally, and work alongside First Nations partners towards better outcomes for First Nations people and communities. 

There are three key purposes that have driven SVA to develop and adopt the Principles:

  1. To provide SVA staff with a conceptual basis as well as practical, actionable guidance in how to appropriately engage with First Nations communities and organisations
  2. To embed a high standard of practice into the work that SVA does with First Nations people, and to ensure responsibility and accountability to that practice and push non-Indigenous clients and partners to do more impactful work
  3. To create a tool to help communicate approach and values to clients and partners, in particular First Nations and government clients
Click here for more information

Improving Australians’ confidence online this Get Online Week

From finding a dream job to keeping connected with loved ones - it is important that everyone in Australia has the skills and affordable access they need to get online. Yet, 1 in 4 Australians are considered ‘digitally excluded’ and risk missing out.

From 17-23 October, Australia’s largest community-led digital inclusion campaign, Get Online Week, will inspire thousands of Australians to improve their confidence online and ‘Try One Thing’. Good Things Foundation Australia is mobilising more than 600 community organisations nationwide to run free and fun digital skills events, from learning how to spot a scam to joining an online cooking class.

Find your local event
 

Community Sector Events

  • Join the National Ethnic Disability Alliance for a webinar on Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities and the Disability Royal Commission (DRC). In this webinar, the experienced panellists will cover a range of topics such as how to make a submission to the DRC, what to expect at the upcoming DRC Public Hearing and what supports are available to you - 18 October 2022 - Click here to register

  • Join hundreds of people around the country for the prestigious Kep Enderby Memorial Lecture. Delivered by The Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, the Attorney-General of Australia, this year’s event is one of the first public opportunities to hear the new Government’s agenda for human rights policy implementation and reform - 3 November 2022 - Click here to register

Community Sector Resources

  • National Carers Week 2022 is on from 16 – 22 October. The theme ‘Millions of Reasons to Care’ aims to broaden the awareness of the 2.65 million Australians caring for family members, friends and people in the community, by highlighting the data that defines carers and the caring role. Click here to access resources and get involved #NationalCarersWeek

  • SBS has launched its Mind Your Health online content portal featuring articles, podcasts and videos in multiple languages, aimed at sharing the rich diversity of cultural knowledge and experiences across communities and showing pathways to support improving the mental and physical wellbeing of all Australians

COSS Corner

The latest news from State and Territory Councils of Social Service

QCOSS is looking forward to taking part in Queensland’s Housing Summit to develop solutions to end the housing crisis. We need at least 5,000 new social homes every year, for the next decade to ensure families are not living in tents or their cars. Read our 7-point plan to end the housing crisis and email the Premier to call for action ahead of next week’s Housing Summit.

VCOSS is calling on the Victorian Government to establish an independent Cost of Living Commissioner. This is part of a suite of proposed changes, included in their election platform, to give people relief from rising costs that are compounding existing hardship.

Leaders and colleagues from across the sector, government and beyond – including SA Premier Peter Malinauskas – will be coming together at the Adelaide Convention Centre on 18 November to tackle the big topic of ending poverty, at SACOSS’ upcoming Alternative Futures conference. Member discounts apply - check out the program and register here. 

On Friday 28 October, WACOSS will be launching its 2023-24 State Budget Submission. It sets out recommendations that address gaps in services, identify supports that need to be bolstered, and charts the systemic changes required for WA to be stronger and fairer into the future. WACOSS invites you register for the 2023-24 State Budget Submission event.

TasCOSS are very excited to announce its new website is now live. It features more opportunities for engagement on critical issues relevant to our industry through our newly created Member Policy Networks, as well as a vastly improved layout and the ability to more easily share and promote news and events. If you're not a TasCOSS Member, now is a great time to join and share in the many benefits. 

ACTCOSS is working in preparation for Anti-Poverty Week. The ACT has the highest average weekly earnings in Australia, and yet around one in 10 Canberrans - or 38,000 - live in poverty. Visit our APW22 page to learn about the events we’re holding this year and make sure to raise awareness and participate in Anti-Poverty Week 2022.

News that the JobSeeker Payment would increase by just $1.80 from $46 to $47.80 a day would not make any difference to the lives of thousands of people in the Territory living below the poverty line, NTCOSS CEO Deborah Di Natale told ABC Radio Alice Springs.

An additional 3,700 homeless people in NSW since 2020 is estimated to cost the NSW economy between $524.5 million and $2.5 billion over six years, according to a new report released by NCOSS, Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) NSW, Aboriginal Community Housing Industry Association (ACHIA), Homelessness NSW and other NSW peak organisations. Click here to learn more.

Members in the Media

Foodbank demand grows in WA with 'working poor' hit hard by rising cost of living

Foodbank featured

Read here

Low income rent subsidies cut at same rate new social housing is built, advocates warn

Everybody's Home campaign featured

Read here

'One of the busiest cemeteries in the nation' fills up as chronic health complications linger on Palm Island

NACCHO featured

Read here
 

Feature Tweet

There is no safe way to use spit hoods. We are calling for their use to be banned - in all settings, for all people.

TAKE ACTION NOW & EMAIL YOUR MP: https://t.co/XIW6p2MX5G pic.twitter.com/K5sHlJWXSF

— Change the Record (@Change_Record) October 7, 2022
Click here for tweet
 

We respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the country on which we work, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.

We recognise the right of all First Peoples around the country to self-determination.

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