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Why is Services Sustainability an advocacy priority?
Australian social services face immediate and long-term challenges. Both sustainability — the capability to plan and deliver services in the future — and equity — the ability to provide high quality services to all Australians, regardless of means — are under threat.
The long term challenges include the changing face of the family and community, an ageing population, an ageing workforce, a more diverse population requiring more specialised and targeted services, the decline in informal care and secure, and sustainable funding. Immediate challenges include the recent and rapid increase in multiple and complex need services must respond to, workforce pressures, the burden of regulation, and funding adquacy.
Sustainable regulation compliance and administrative process reform will require:
- political will and commitment,
- a shared vision of reform outcomes,
- a shared responsibility for development and implementation of solutions where government does it “with us” and not “to us”,
- all relevant government agencies involved and in step with the reform agenda, and
- a strategy to take the reform agenda forward.
Meeting these short and long term challenges requires coordinated and concerted action by both service providers and government. By working together on a national reform agenda we can deliver on our shared vision that every Australian has access to the means and opportunity for a decent life.
Key advocacy actions
- The Henry Tax Review
- Funding agreements
- Regulation compliance and administrative process reform
- Workforce sustainability and skills
- Productivity Commission Inquiries
Media releases
Election 2010 - New lease of life for social services welcome - 9 August 2010
UnitingCare Australia calls for Ministerial Taskforce following Henry Review - 2 May 2010
UnitingCare Australia looks forward to the Government's response to the Henry Tax Review - 29 April 2010
UnitingCare Australia looks forward to the release of the Third Inter-Generational Report - 01 February 2010
UnitingCare Australia welcomes Productivity Commission report as "a blueprint to make social services sustainable” - 15 October 2009
UnitingCare Australia welcomes COAG’s commitment to the reform of the delivery of community services - 1 December 2008
Submissions
UnitingCare Australia's comments on the Tax Laws Amendment (Public Benefit Test) Bill 2010 - 16 June 2010
UnitingCare Australia submission on the Productivity Commission’s draft research report on the Contribution of the Not-for-Profit Sector - 4 December 2009
UnitingCare Australia submission and cover letter to the Moran Review of the Australian Public Service - 3 December 2009
UnitingCare Australia response to the Aged Care Recommendations in the Productivity Commission Draft Research Report ‘Annual Review of Regulatory Burdens on Business: Social and Economic Infrastructure Services’ [June 2009] - July 2009
+ cover letter- 31 July 2009
UnitingCare Australia submission to the Productivity Commission’s Study into the Contribution of the Not-for-Profit Sector - June 2009
+ cover letter - 12 June 2009
UnitingCare Australia submission to the Community Response Taskforce: Social Service Sustainability: Regulation, compliance, and administrative process reform - 17 May 2009
UnitingCare Australia submission to the Henry Tax and Transfer Review - 1 May 2009
UnitingJustice Australia also made a submission to the Henry Review. Download the full UnitingJustice submission at their website here.
Uniting Church in Australia submission to the Federal Government's Tax and Transfer Review - October 2008
UnitingCare Australia submission to the Inquiry into the Disclosure Regimes for Charities and Not-for-profit Organisations - 2008
Position statements and resources
Services Sustainability and Taxation, Forum Address by Joe Zabar at the Major Church Providers' Industry Issues Forum, Canberra, 18 February 2010. The other three presentations at the Industry Issues Forum are available here.
Australian Tax Review and Social Service Provision, Presentation by Joe Zabar to ACOSS' "Future of the Sector" forum, Sydney, 17 November 2009
Best practice policy development: a community perspective, Address by Lin Hatfield Dodds to the Intergovernmental Relations Conference, July 2009
Social Service System Sustainability and the Taxation System, Address by Lin Hatfield Dodds to the Treasury Forum on Tax Reform, July 2009
With us not to us - building a stronger social service system through regulatory and administrative reform, Address by Lin Hatfield Dodds to the FaHCSIA Program Management Conference Dinner, March 2009
The impact of the global financial crisis on social services, Major Church Providers paper, prepared by Access Economics, 26 November 2008 |
