Health literacy is all about making your service easier to find, use and navigate. Improving our health literacy is one of the cheapest, easiest and most effective ways of improving our health. To assist, TasCOSS has developed a resource called HeLLOTas! — a self-paced toolkit designed specifically for community service industry and health organisations. Understanding the experiences and perspectives of consumers is an important element of designing products and services that are fit for purpose. A new QCOSS report highlights the lessons and challenges experienced by organisations using data to improve services, and identifies new strategies which can support them to make better use of the information. SACOSS’ Alternative Futures: Ending Poverty conference last Friday brought together 30 panellists and facilitators including SA Minister for Human Services Nat Cook and Commissioner for Children and Young People Helen Connolly, and a range of people with direct lived experience, to tackle the big questions about what we need to do to fix poverty. We looked at public attitudes, the crucial element of housing, income support, digital inclusion, and the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The conversations on the day provided great inspiration to help drive future advocacy and change.
A chorus of experts have been calling for major reform to youth justice, including current and former Inspector of Custodial Services, President of the Children’s Court, Commissioner for Children and Young People, a group of Noongar leaders, Noongar Nation and Social Reinvestment WA. WACOSS has been proudly supporting these calls with our CEO, Louise Giolitto, penning an opinion piece in The West Australian earlier this week. Find out how you can support the campaign to #RaiseTheAge to 14 and reform youth justice in WA here. NTCOSS on the crisis in NT of women being killed - “It is all well and good to pay lip service to ending gender-based violence … but we need to put our money where our mouth is” – NTCOSS’ Tessa Snowdon on ABC Radio Darwin following Four Corners’ broadcast on a national crisis “hidden in plain sight: the killings and disappearances of Indigenous women across Australia”. Click to learn more. The United Workers Union, NCOSS and Wesley Mission all recognise the harmful impacts of gambling, including on staff in gambling venues like casinos and pubs and clubs with electronic gambling machines. Together, we are committed to working actively and, where possible, in joint action to reduce gambling-related harms. Gambling reform is everybody’s business. Click here to learn more. ACTCOSS has welcomed the ACT Government’s announcement requiring the inclusion of affordable rental properties in existing or planned Build-to-Rent proposals and developments in the ACT. The ACT’s housing crisis has left a serious lack of affordable options for low-income Canberran households simultaneously struggling with cost of living stresses. The shortfall of social housing dwellings in the ACT requires an additional 8,500 social housing dwellings by 2036(link is external) to meet demand. Click here to read more. A new report is urging immediate action to prevent a spike in regional rents, a deterioration in housing affordability and increased homelessness ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Games. The report has been produced by the eight-member Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance, of which VCOSS is a member. Click here to learn more. | 
