ACOSS in the News

Media highlights - 2010 

August

  • Seek work here, there and everywhere and you shall find $6000 | SMH
    The Gillard government has pledged to revive and expand a Howard government trial to pay job seekers to relocate for work.
  • Gillard offers unemployed incentives to move and find jobs | The Australian
    Labor will offer the long-term unemployed bonuses of up to $6000 to help them move to areas "crying out for more workers".
    And bosses could grab a $2500 incentive for taking them on, Julia Gillard announced yesterday. But those workers who didn't stick it out in their new job for six months would be precluded from unemployment benefits for 12 weeks, the Prime Minister said.
  • $6000 dole pledge to relocate for jobs | The Advertiser
    UNEMPLOYED people will be paid up to $6000 to move for work, under a proposed shake-up to the welfare system announced by the Government.
    The welfare reforms come as economists predict that today's labour force data will show unemployment remaining steady at 5.1 per cent.
  • New Job Search Penalties Harsh - ACOSS | Pro Bono
    Peak welfare body, ACOSS has welcomed the ALP's policy announcement of workforce relocation incentives, but is concerned that new penalty measures for jobseekers will cause hardship and disadvantage.
  • Labor toughens welfare | The Australian
    JULIA Gillard has promised much tougher welfare conditions for those on the dole.
    She has warned the unemployed that they will lose their benefits if they miss an interview or scheduled training opportunities.
  • Gillard to lift student payments for older teens | The Australian
    JULIA Gillard will boost family payments for students aged 16 to 18 by $150 a fortnight to help low-income families keep children at school.
    Under the plan unveiled yesterday and lauded by welfare advocates, including the Welfare Rights Centre, the Australian Council of Social Service and the Brotherhood of St Laurence, 650,000 students will receive a boost from 2012 that will cost $668 million over the forward estimates.
  • Boost housing, welfare body says | AAP
    Low-income Australians are battling to be heard as the election campaign rolls on, the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) says.
  • Call for housing assistance fund | The Age
    A WELFARE organisation is urging whoever wins the election to set up a fund to help ease the crisis in affordable housing. The Australian Council of Social Service says an ''affordable housing growth fund'' would cost $750 million in its first year, with more to come in subsequent years.
  • Housing Affordability Should be Centre of Election Agenda | Pro Bono News
    Peak welfare council, ACOSS is calling for political leaders to commit to measures to improve the critical shortage of affordable housing in Australia and to alleviate acute financial pressures on low-income people.
  • Homeless people's problems grow | The Australian
    TWO in every three homeless people are being turned away from crisis accommodation each night, a damning government report reveals.
    Three years after the Rudd government pledged to halve homelessness by 2020, crisis services are facing unprecedented levels of demand.

  • Call for Cross-Party Commitment on Homelessness | Pro Bono News
    Peak welfare organisation ACOSS has called on political leaders to confirm their policies on homelessness after a new report on crisis housing figures in Australia.

July

  • Jobless teens' future uncertain | Daily Telegraph
    THE economic downturn had left a legacy of young people facing a future without secure work, according to youth groups who called for government action yesterday. Teenage unemployment hit 30 per cent in 17 regions around Australia, with NSW and Victoria having the highest average teenage unemployment rates across the country.
  • Libs woo grey vote with promise to extend health card access | SMH | The Age
    The Australian Council of Social Services welcomed the Coalition's payments to employers but wanted it extended to the young, inexperienced job seekers. Its chief executive, Cassandra Goldie, said: ''Youth unemployment is still 14 per cent, which is nearly three times the national average.''
  • WELFARE Gillard promises family payment advances for unexpected bills | The Canberra Times
  • Payments lifted for older teens | The Australian
    JULIA Gillard will boost family payments for students aged from 16 to 18 by $150 a fortnight in a direct pitch to lower-income families to help them keep their children at school for longer.
  • Labor promises to pay for students to stay at school | Herald Sun
    "Families on low incomes rely heavily on family payments to pay for the essentials - food, clothes, school books and housing expenses," ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie said. "Teenagers from families on low incomes are at high risk of leaving education and training."
  • Gillard promises families more | West Australian
    "... social services sector praised the Government's move, saying research showed it cost between $200 and $290 a week to raise a 16-year-old. "Families on low incomes rely heavily on family payments to pay for the essentials," Dr Cassandra Goldie, spokeswoman for the Australian Council of Social Service, said.
  • PM unveils policy to keep teens at school | Canberra Times
  • Advice welcome but not from advisers | SMH
    WHILE Australians are keen on financial advice, we are not keen on getting it from licensed advisers, a survey has found. The Industry Fund Network has banded together with the consumer group Choice, the Consumer Action law Centre and the Australian Council of Social Service to pressure the government to stick by its promise to phase out commissions in the face of pressure from banks and the financial planning industry to wind the reforms back.
  • Homeless people's problems grow | The Australian
    TWO in every three homeless people are being turned away from crisis accommodation each night, a damning government report reveals. Three years after the Rudd government pledged to halve homelessness by 2020, crisis services are facing unprecedented levels of demand.
  • Initiatives fail to cut numbers of folk without shelter | The Australian
    Australian Council of Social Service acting chief executive Tony Westmore says with crisis services still forced to turn away almost two-thirds of those seeking emergency accommodation, more work needs to be done. He says homelessness should be a key election issue. "The source problem of homelessness is Australia's lack of affordable housing, which is where we need to see further action," he says. "We need at least 220,000 new affordable dwellings over the next 10 years."
  • Both sides called to stop the dental rot | The Australian
    Fourteen health and social groups have called on both parties to pledge to improve the "decaying" state of the dental system. The groups are warning that long waiting lists mean over 7 million Australians are missing out on dental care.
  • ALP will feel the pain over dental care | The Sydney Morning Herald
    More than 7 million Australians cannot get dental care when they need it because of long waiting lists, the National Oral Health Alliance is claiming in its campaign being launched today. The alliance, representing a dozen welfare, dental and health groups, is pressing all parties for action to ensure that all Australians can get dental care when they need it and that there is an effective preventive oral health strategy.
  • Parties told of need to brush up on dental care | Canberra Times
    Community, dental and health groups will today urge the main political parties to commit to urgent action to help the one in three Australians who is forced to delay or avoid dental services because of cost. The Oral Health Alliance will launch a campaign to put pressure on the parties to ensure all Australians can access affordable and timely dental services.
  • There goes my wisdom tooth, but it's time to Stop the Rot | Sunday Canberra Times
    ... The alliance says more than seven million Australians cannol afford quick access to dental care, leading to the long waiting lists foi public care. Dental care is quite different to the rest of the health system, and people are suffering needlessly, they argue.
  • The real battle to pay the bills | Daily Telegraph and syndicates
     

June

  • NT welfare recipients to lose control of payments | SMH
    Clare Martin, the territory's former chief minister and now the chief executive of the Australian Council of Social Service, accuses the government of taking unprecedented control over the finances of low-income Australians to trial a policy that will cost $4400 for every person whose income is being managed.
  • Mines jobs peak, but still just 1.6% | The Age and SMH
    The Australian Council of Social Service expects the number to keep rising, and has called for a paid work experience program for long-term unemployed people to bring them back into mainstream employment.
  • Income quarantining success remains in question | SMH
    The biggest welfare reform in decades will become law as soon as today, expanding income management to disadvantaged groups across the country.
  • Welfare quarantining net to widen | The Age
    The expanded system of income quarantining forces people to prove they can spend money responsibly, rather than the other way around. "In wanting to assist people, they're targeting a whole set of Australians hoping they will have traction on certain individuals," Ms Martin said.
  • SKY News Australia | PM Agenda
    Income Management
  • Race act delayed as welfare rules extended | The Australian
    The former chief minister of the Northern Territory, Clare Martin, who is now chief executive office of Australian Council of Social Service, said the scheme was expensive and poorly targeted. "The government is willing to gamble $410 million over the next five years to manage 20,000 people in the Northern Territory," she said. "Per head, this is eight times the amount provided to an employment services provider to help someone find a job."
  • Martin challenges welfare quarantine | Northern Territory News
    Money spent extending welfare quarantining across the Territory would be better spent fixing the ailing child protection system, the former Chief Minister Clare Martin said yesterday. The Federal Government is extending income management for welfare recipients across NT, widening the scheme that originally focused on Aboriginal people.
  • Payment scheme to be used nationally | Canberra Times
    Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Clare Martin led a chorus of disapproval from the welfare sector, questioning the measure's efficacy.
  • Rudd takes command of mining tax talks | SMH
    The Australian Council of Social Service, the ACTU, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Consumers' Federation will say mining tax reform is essential to improve fairness and efficiency in the tax system and strengthen the economy. They said it was time the voices of ordinary Australians were heard in a debate dominated so far by "powerful vested mining interests".
  • ABC PM
    A coalition of union, social service and environmental groups have decided to add their voice to the debate, issuing a statement in support of the tax.
  • RN Breakfast
    The Rudd government has received some much needed support in its battle with the mining sector over a super-profits tax. A coalition of community groups including ACOSS, the ACTU, the Consumers Federation and the Australian Conservation Foundation have banded together to strongly endorse Labor's plan to raise more revenue from the mining boom.
  • Rudd to face critics amid asylum backlash | West Australian
    The Government got some support for its mining tax proposal, with a coalition of union, community and environmental groups backing the move on behalf of "ordinary Australians" The group, including the ACTU, ACOSS and the Consumers Federation, said tax reform would save governments increasing taxes on everyday workers in the future.
  • PM faces row over mine tax spoils | AFR
    ... The Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australian Council of Social Service, Australian Conservation Foundation and Community Tax Forum have all indicated that ordinary Australians should give their opinion about the controversial new mining tax - a key recommendation in the Henry review of taxation.
  • Plea to hear ordinary' voices in mine tax row | Adelaide Advertiser
    But the ACTU, Australian Council of Social Service, Australian Conservation Foundation and Consumers' Federation of Australia yesterday urged the Government not to baulk at necessary reforms to make the tax system fairer.
  • Caucus stands solidly behind Rudd leadership | Canberra Times
    The ACTU, Australia Council of Social Service, Australian Conservation Foundation and Consumers' Federation of Australia called yesterday for the "voices of ordinary Australians" to be heard in the debate dominated by "powerful vested mining interests".
  • The Heart of the Nation | The Australian
    The ACTU, the Australian Council of Social Service, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Consumers Federation, organisations that are inclined to put wealth redistribution ahead of wealth creation, are also backing the government's model.
  • Mining tax: Give all Aussies a say' | Daily News; Gympie Times; Fraser Coast Chronicle; Daily Mercury; Northern Star; Geelong Advertiser; Newcastle Herald; North West Star; Northern Territory News; Daily Advertiser; Cairns Post
    A coalition of national organisations, representing social services, workers, environmental and consumer interests, has called for the voices of ordinary Australians to be heard in the mining tax debate.
  • Support on its way for PM's plan | SMH | West Australian
    THE government s struggle to win support for its mining tax will soon be bolstered by welfare, consumer and environmental groups swinging behind the tax.
  • BHP chief sees no end to tax row | SMH
    ... a Community Tax Forum, setup by the Australian Council of Social Service, the Consumers Federation, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the ACTU, is preparing to come out in support of the government's proposal. 
  • Employers oppose equal pay push in welfare sector | SMH
    The workers, led by the Australian Services Union, will go to Fair Work Australia later this year seeking pay increases ranging from 18 to 37 per cent on the grounds that they are being underpaid because of their gender.
  • Thousands to rally for equal pay | The Age
    Frustration at the persistent gap in men and women's pay will tomorrow result in the largest nationwide rally on the issue since the 1970s.
  • Employers hit by minimum wage surge | AFR (subscription required)
    ...The ACTU, the Australian Council of Social Service, and Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard all welcomed the decision...

May

  • Power cuts for hard-up families under new energy laws | The Australian
    ... ACOSS, in a submission to the ministerial council, argues that "no consumer should be disconnected solely due to an incapacity to pay". It says: "The current wording does not guarantee that the most vulnerable people in our community are protected from disconnection."
  • Welfare groups will fight for dental scheme | Sun-Herald
    Health and welfare groups will unite to make improved dental health an election issue, saying a good set of teeth is the new divider between rich and poor.
  • Outdated welfare system hits carers | SMH
    People on unemployment payments receive about $200 less a fortnight than aged pensioners even though they have the higher costs of job-seeking such as transport and phone bills. The gap between the payments will blow out to $1000 a fortnight over the next 30 years, the Henry review shows.
  • Abbott downplays benefit of wage push | AFR (subscription required)
    "...The Australian Council of Social Service says that due to bracket creep minimum wage earners will only gain $3 a week from coming tax cuts."
  • This is one 'great big tax' that could fuel our future | The Australian
    "... Clare Martin, chief executive officer of the Australian Council of Social Service, says the tax is "an economically sensible way to fund services for the most vulnerable Australians", and for the infrastructure we shall need for a future with a larger population, more of whom will be aged."
  • ABC Radio National Breakfast | A panel of experts joins Fran Kelly in Canberra to cut through the budget spin
    Heather Ridout, CEO, Australian Industry Group; Clare Martin, CEO, Australian Council of Civil Service; Saul Eslake, Grattan Institute
  • Rich and poor find fault with budget | The Australian
    But the budget would not ease the plight of Australia's poor, Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Clare Martin says. ACOSS had been seeking an increase in the $33-a-day Newstart unemployment allowance to $39, but the request had been overlooked. It was also looking for more investment in transition-to-work skills for the long-term unemployed, another opportunity lost.
  • SKY News Australia | Lunchtime Agenda
    Martin says a key issue is getting more unemployed people into work, and there are rumours that money will be spent in the area of training programs and transition-to-work programs. She says they want the Newstart Allowance to be increased from $33 to $39 a day, because it is at 'poverty level' at the moment. She thinks more funding is needed for dental health. She says last year's $32-a-week pension increase was fantastic but those on Newstart were left behind. She is disappointed that the Henry Tax Review's recommendations on the home rental and ownership market were pushed aside. She calls for a $15 increase in Commonwealth assistance for renters.
  • Budget reaction | SMH and The Age
    "...Clare Martin : "With over 600,000 Australians out of work, ACOSS is disappointed that there is not more support for those looking for work, especially 350,000 people who have been without work for over a year. This budget has meant little for the unemployed who still must survive on $33 per day. It is too important an issue to overlook."
  • Budget reaction | Daily Telegraph
    "...THE "no-frills" Federal Budget will not ease the plight of Australia's poor, Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) chief executive Clare Martin said..."
  • Budget reaction | Canberra Times
    "...ACOSS applauds the Government's commitment of $119 million for a literacy
    and numeracy skills program..."
  • Budget reaction | Channel 9 Today
    Budget reaction | Channel 10 Early News
    Budget reaction | ABC2 Breakfast
    Budget reaction | Channel 7 Morning News and 4.30pm News      
  • Tough decisions avoided: Joe Hockey | The Australian
    "...Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Clare Martin said dental care remained the critical gap, with 2.3 million Australians going without because they could not afford it."

    Ken Henry triggers call for increase in dole | The Australian
    ACOSS chief executive Clare Martin said the budget should provide assistance to unemployed Australians and introduce a paid work experience scheme and lift unemployment payment rates.
  • Push to boost workforce participation rates
    Unemployed people should receive a boost in their fortnightly payments and the Rudd government should establish a paid work experience program to help get people off the dole, according to welfare groups.
    The call for a boost to dole payments comes after Treasury secretary Ken Henry said in his recent report that single people on unemployment benefits and student assistance should receive higher payments under a radical welfare overhaul.
  • PM dumps chance to fix housing | The Age
    Hooray Henry! The tax review headed by Treasury secretary Ken Henry has "told it like it is" in several key areas of tax reform, such as housing, superannuation and fringe benefits. It acknowledges that huge perks in these areas, especially for wealthy people, cause economic, social and environmental damage. It also suggests important changes to reduce this damage.
  • Gap sparks push for equal welfare benefits | The Australian
    KEN Henry recognises the welfare system gives vastly different amounts to people with a similar ability to work, and that without changes this disparity will only worsen.
  • Don't ignore affordability measures: welfare bodies | SMH
    THE housing industry and social welfare advocates have urged state and federal governments not to ignore key recommendations of the Henry review that could improve housing affordability, as cities across the country experience record house price growth.
  • Non-profits thrilled to be quarantined from Henry cuts | AFR
    "...we welcome the important assurance from governmnet that it will not support any changes to tax concessions that will harm community service organisations," coucil chief exectove Clare Martin said.
  • What they said about the Henry tax review | SMH
     

April

March

February