ACOSS Reports & Submissions
Each year ACOSS prepares numerous submissions to the Federal Government. We also undertake research and produce reports on policy areas that impact disadvantaged Australians. The latest ACOSS submissions and topical papers appear below as downloadable links.
Most recent papers
March 2010
This is the first minimum wage case conducted by the new wage setting body, Fair Work Australia, though ACOSS has prepared major submission on minimum wages since 1996. In this submission ACOSS argues for a substantial increase in minimum wages to recover some of the ground lost by low paid workers as a result of last year's minimum wage decision by the former Fair Pay Commission, which did not increase minimum wages at all. We argue that minimum wages should be benchmarked to a living standard for a single adult that is well above poverty levels. Minimum wages also play an important role in preventing poverty and maintaining work incentives for jobless people.
March 2010
ACOSS analysis and priorities for advocacy
This analysis has been prepared for the benefit of national, affiliate and associate members of ACOSS; for the Councils of Social Service in each state and territory; and for their members. It provides an overview of the Productivity Commission's recent report on the not-for-profit sector and sets out ACOSS priorities for future advocacy in this area. ACOSS invites comments and input on these priorities from our colleagues and members in the sector.
March 2010
In February 2010 ACOSS consulted its members about the development and introduction of a standard chart of accounts, a tool for reporting financial information to governments across the country. We consulted with our national member organisations (NMO); the Councils of Social Service in each state and territory; and COSS members at the state and territory levels. This is the report of that consultation that was provided to COAG.
February 2010
In February 2010 ACOSS was invited to consult on the national standard chart of accounts (SCoA). The deadline for consultation was 10 March which did not leave much time for detailed engagement with our members. This document is intended as a resource both for the consultation process and for the sector more generally to understand the SCoA and its implementation. We provide basic information to our members about the SCoA's contents and purposes; its implementation; and we invite input into the consultation through a set of questions about the design, implementation and usefulness of the SCoA. Comments for the formal consultation with government must be received at ACOSS by 5 March. However we will continue to welcome feedback from our membership and to engage with government on the SCoA beyond this timeframe.
February 2010
Inquiry into the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Reform and Reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act) Bill 2009 and related bills.
ACOSS, along with our membership, have very serious concerns about the provisions in the Government bills being considered by the Committee due to their potential impact on low income Australians. The national compulsory income scheme which would be enabled by this legislation represents a top-down, one-size-fits-all, bureaucratic solution to complex social problems facing individuals and local communities. It is poorly targeted and expensive and will inflict shame and indignity on income support recipients.
February 2010
Community and welfare organisations provided crucial support to keep struggling Australians afloat during the financial crisis, reports ACOSS' Australian Community Sector Survey 2010.
Surveyed organisations provided services to Australians on 4.3 million occasions in 2008-09, an increase of 4% on the previous year.
Young people, sole parents and Indigenous Australians were among the groups with the highest need for services. There were over half a million requests for help from people needing youth employment and youth welfare services during the year.
February 2010
Submission to Senate Community Affairs Committee
In this submission ACOSS argues that the proposed extension of compulsory income management to affected income support recipients across the country would represent a major shift in Australian social security policy. In a clear extension beyond the proper role of the social security system, the proposed scheme would impose an unprecedented degree of behavioural control. It would be expensive, intrusive and unnecessary. ACOSS is concerned that the scheme is likely to make the lives of income support recipients more difficult and less dignified - constraining income support recipients' choices, imposing a considerable administrative burden and removing autonomy over individual finances.
ACOSS calls for the withdrawal of the compulsory income management provisions in the Welfare Reform Bill . We offer an alternative approach to reduce poverty and social exclusion, including adequate income support payments, improved employment assistance for long-term unemployed people, paid work experience, enhanced support services and voluntary income management, on an individual or community-basis.
January 2010
This joint submission from the Councils of Social Service network is in response to the Commonwealth Government's Exposure Draft Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010. The submission outlines some key issues of principle that are important in establishing identifiers in the new e-health system and addresses some specific aspects of the draft Bill.
Key issues for consumers that are raised in this submission include access to healthcare services and benefits; privacy of personal information and data; consumer choice and control over personal information and healthcare identifier records; consultation and engagement on both the healthcare identifiers and the broader e-health system; and the transparency and accountability of the e-health system.
December 2009
The Federal Government should immediately halt its plans to expand compulsory income management across Australia, and instead redirect funding to programs that address social problems and disadvantage.
As community organisations working to reduce poverty and social disadvantage, we call on the Government to withdraw the compulsory income management provisions of the Welfare Reform and Reinstatement of Racial Discrimination Act Bill 2009.
December 2009
This submission focuses on several areas that are key to the relationship between the Australian government and the not-for-profit community sector. These include:
- the interaction between government departments and policy and program areas;
- appropriate and effective consultation processes;
- awareness of the broader context in which services are delivered and the implications of administrative decisions on those services; and
- bureaucratic processes (reducing ‘red tape').
The submission discusses some of the key issues facing ACOSS members and their clients in these respects. It is written from the perspective of the not-for-profit community and social service sectors and is based on our extensive experience working with Australian government administration.
