ACOSS develops and promotes socially and economically responsible public policy and action by government, community and business, by drawing on the direct experiences of people affected by poverty and inequality, and the expertise of our diverse member base.
Our policy agenda focuses on those issues that affect people living on low incomes and experiencing disadvantage. Our core aims are to reduce poverty and increase opportunity, connection, and participation.
Key Policy Areas
ACOSS’ policy agenda focuses on the needs of low income and disadvantaged Australians with the core aims of reducing poverty and increasing social inclusion and participation.
Our work is focused on the following priority areas:
Community services help people experiencing poverty, hardship, discrimination and disadvantage. Community services include crisis accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence, emergency relief to help people address basic needs in times of crisis, and food relief. Community services provide financial counselling, child care, health clinics, aged care and help develop vibrant, multicultural communities. Community services have experienced deep funding cuts and are struggling to help everyone who needs their support. We need government to ensure a secure future for these much-needed services.
We need to reduce extreme weather events by acting on climate change and when heatwaves, fires, floods and storms hit, we should work together to help each other recover. Climate change is threatening people’s homes, livelihoods, health, quality of life, employment, and the cost of living. But fossil fuel companies are continuing to profit with the help of subsidies from governments and tax avoidance. We need governments to take effective action on climate change and to support people, communities and community sector organisations to become more resilient to extreme weather and natural disasters. No one should have to suffer extreme heat without escape or have to go to bed freezing cold. While some home owners can afford solar panels and to make their homes more energy efficient, people on low incomes are struggling with electricity bills, going cold in winter and sweltering through summer heatwaves. Government should support people on low incomes, especially renters, to have solar, battery storage and more efficient homes so they can reduce their electricity bills and cope in extreme weather.
ACOSS economics and tax policy work is concentrated upon policies that will strengthen economic development and growth, meaning that people on low incomes benefit from more jobs and improved incomes. Another major focus is the reform of the taxation system in order to raise public revenue for the benefits and services people need.
Raising the rate will get Newstart and Youth Allowance working. Australia’s income support system should help people to get through tough times and provide support to find suitable employment. The income support payment for people looking for employment, Newstart, should be enough to cover the basics so that people can focus on getting a job, rather than dealing with financial crisis. Similarly, the payment for young people looking for work, studying or both, Youth Allowance, needs to be enough for young people to study and find employment without worrying about where their next meal will come from or how they will pay for rent. Nearly one million Australians receive income support through Newstart or Youth Allowance. They include young people making the transition from study to employment, single parents of school-age children and older Australians struggling to find a job while they confront technological change. Currently, our income support system is not working because the rates of Newstart and Youth Allowance have not been increased in real terms for 25 years, while the cost of living, especially housing, has risen dramatically. $40 a day, the equivalent of less than $15,000 a year, is not enough to survive on while working to get into employment. For Newstart to work, the rate needs to be enough to cover the basics so people can successfully look for paid work, without having to juggle debts and lose sleep worrying about how to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head.
ACOSS works to ensure that the needs of people on low incomes are high on the agenda of health reform in Australia, through our involvement with our members in the health sector. We also work with the network of Councils of Social Service in Australia to advance a social determinants of health approach in our policy and advocacy, recognising that people on low incomes are often less able to access timely, affordable health care; experience higher rates of poor health, particularly oral and mental health; and that poor health can in turn exacerbate socio-economic disadvantage and exclusion.
We all need a home. None of us can go about our lives, raise a family, go to work or stay healthy, without a stable and safe place to call home. Our housing system should make sure everyone has a secure, safe roof over their head. A good government would make sure everybody has a secure home. We need government to provide better protection for those of us who rent, to make homes more affordable, accessible and permanent. We need a strong safety net of social and public housing for people who can’t afford private rent so that they are not forced on to the streets. We need government to end unfair tax breaks for wealthy housing investors and to put that money into fixing our broken housing system. Currently, people get tax deductions when they borrow a lot of money to invest in homes to rent. This drives up the price of housing for everyone. The tax system contributes to Australia having among the highest housing costs and highest household debt in the world. Government should invest directly in more housing for people on the lowest incomes, and encourage super funds and individuals to invest in new affordable homes, instead of driving up the price of existing homes.
ACOSS develops and promotes socially and economically responsible public policy and action by government, community and business, by drawing on the direct experiences of people affected by poverty and inequality, and the expertise of our diverse member base. Our policy agenda focuses on those issues that affect people living on low incomes and experiencing disadvantage. Our core aims are to reduce poverty and increase opportunity, connection, and participation. As well as our core areas, ACOSS maintains an active interest in the following policy areas and supports initiatives to address the impacts of policy reform on people experiencing poverty and disadvantage.
