The Australian Council of Social Service has welcomed the announcement of the members of the Not-for-Profit Reform Council, made yesterday by Minister for Social Inclusion Tanya Plibersek. ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie was amongst the successful nominations for the Council of 12 members.

“ACOSS has strongly promoted the current priorities for sector reform by the Australian Government and we look forward to working with the Council to see these reforms take shape,” said Dr Goldie.

The Government has signalled that the Reform Council will provide expert advice in relation to the reforms to the not-for-profit sector, including those recommended by the Productivity Commission in its key study into the contribution of the sector released earlier this year.

Dr Goldie said, “ACOSS nominated for this Council to ensure that advice to the Government on these important reforms will be informed by the almost 3000 members of the network of Councils of Social Service across the country. We are also delighted that ACOSS members Anglicare and Catholic Social Services Australia have also been successful in their nominations.

“First and foremost, we need a national regulator to address inconsistencies and overly onerous regulatory processes across the sector. The establishment of the regulator will then provide the framework for other important reforms such as the modernisation of the definition of charity, which is outdated and leaves the sector vulnerable through the lack of clarity in relation to current practices,” said Dr Goldie.

“An equally important area of reform for ACOSS members are the contracting processes between community organisations and the Government. As contracting is the key driver of many relationships between government and social services, it is a key focus for ensuring that the principles of the National Compact are embraced throughout the extent of interaction between these two sectors.

“ACOSS advice to the NFP Reform Council will draw on the priorities outlined in our analysis of the Productivity Commission’s report, and from our submission to the Productivity Commission’s study which drew on extensive national consultations across the sector. ACOSS has long been involved in these issues, working with our members and with other key bodies such as the National Roundtable of Nonprofit Organisations to develop policy recommendations for these reforms.”

Media contact
Fernando de Freitas
ACOSS – 0419 626 155