We are the glue that holds NSW together

9 July 2025

CEO Update

NCOSS CEO Cara Varian gave this speech to the Post-Budget Breakfast at NSW Parliament House on 2 July.

I would like to thank both the Treasurer and Shadow Treasurer for agreeing to share their post-Budget reflections with our sector. Your presence here matters deeply.

When you speak to this room, you’re addressing the leaders, members and friends of NCOSS’s vast network — hundreds of community service organisations spread across every corner of our state.

We represent the diversity of the sector:

from social housing providers to domestic violence services,
from food pantries to child and family services,
from First Nations-led health organisations to place-based community hubs.

Together, we are the glue that holds New South Wales together.

You'll notice that my glass is half full.

This budget follows a historic commitment: five-year funding for our essential services. That’s a game-changer. It means less time chasing paperwork and more time delivering on our mission.

I also welcome the investment in child protection announced as part of last week’s budget. Our members working in this area know firsthand the human cost of an under-resourced system.

Yes, there are tough conversations ahead about how these services will be delivered — but we stand ready to engage, with a shared determination to put the interests of children first.

I also acknowledge the ongoing efforts towards workers' compensation reform. Changing access to support is never easy, but there are clear issues around psychological claims that must be addressed.

Alongside scheme changes, we must also strengthen mental health and wellbeing supports across the community. That’s where our sector is ready to partner with the government.

Finally, I want to welcome today’s announcement of 3.5% indexation to increase funding to reflect the rising costs of delivering essential social services for communities across NSW.

You will notice my glass is also half empty

The reality is that in this budget, we were not successful in securing the investment in social infrastructure that we believe NSW needs.

We made the case for targeted funding in areas that would yield long-term dividends.

Building on the critical investment made at last year’s budget to provide further targeted investment in affordable and social housing and greater support for low-income renters.
More resources for Community Legal Services to ease court backlogs and meet growing community demand.
Support for our Neighbourhood Centres to operate full-time resources to make communities safer, happier and more inclusive.
Increased investment in harm prevention - from children, young people and families, to domestic violence and mental health.

We also advocated for funding for the long-overdue introduction of Portable Long Service Leave in the sector. This is an excellent initiative for those working in the sector and a significant step forward that, over time, will become self-sustaining. But, in the here and now, the additional cost of this scheme to social sector employers has not been funded, resulting in a drain of nearly $84 million per year from service delivery.

As partners with the NSW Government, our strength is a shared one. We know prevention is not just more desirable, but more affordable, than dealing with the consequences of poverty, exclusion, trauma and neglect.

So, what would it take to fill the glass?

To the Treasurer and the Shadow Treasurer, I extend an invitation to both of you to spend time with NCOSS members over the next 12 months. See the work they do, day in and day out, in preventing harm, supporting people in their time of vulnerability, and empowering them to find their path to thrive.

For your respective parties, it’s your job to keep track of the bottom line. Let us demonstrate to you how investment in our services builds thriving communities — and improves the NSW economy far more in the long run.

We think there is a strong case for two acts of leadership. First, to invest in our organisations to build community resilience, prepare for disasters, prevent harm and give every person in NSW a chance to thrive. Second, to work with us to develop the business case for our sector to deliver these critical services

Our state is changing.

Rising house costs and lower rental affordability
Aboriginal children both removed from their families and exposed to the criminal legal system
Healthcare in rural and regional areas
School attendance rates
Aging population
Mental ill health and loneliness
Waged and unwaged people are not able to cover life’s essentials
Disasters are becoming more frequent

While our society and our environment is changing so must we. The status quo will not serve the sector, the government or the people of NSW. Social infrastructure will be key to meeting the needs of our communities.

So when we return next year, let’s be in a social infrastructure auction — where bipartisan support empowers our members to make NSW a better, fairer, and more inclusive state.

Kate Mason spoke at the Post-Budget Breakfast about her experience growing up in the system.

***

I was born and raised on the lands of the Wangal people of the Dharug country. I work at Auburn Youth Centre, running a pathway to employment program.

Like some of us here in the sector, I work in this area because I come from the system.
How did a girl like me end up in the system, you ask? White, middle class — it doesn't happen.

Members of my family live with mental illness, including schizophrenia.

The long-term impacts of schizophrenia for me have been I have complex PTSD, and I also have a number of autoimmune diseases, which come from the abuse I faced as a child.

I came from a good middle-class family, my mother was the director of nursing of a very large hospital. My father was an indentured lecturer at a very prestigious university, so no one noticed what was going on, and if they did, they didn't do anything about it for far too long.

My story is not one that's new. It's not one that's unique.

As my father's illness progressed, he became increasingly aggressive and controlling.
My mother grew up in a small country town on a farm. She was used to having a really strong community around her. She was systematically isolated by my father.

She couldn't leave, he controlled everything. She had no support and there was no escape. To leave meant we had no home, and the most important thing for her was to keep a roof over our heads and food in our bellies.

When she finally tried to leave and went to the Department of Housing, she was told she earnt too much. She went to the bank and begged to try and work something out, and they told her if she was going to become a single mum, she wasn't worth the risk.

They then told my father. There were too many incidents, which meant the police got involved.
It was a different system then. My father was placed in a locked mental health facility for not long enough, and when he left, there weren't enough supports.

I entered the system. I was lucky someone noticed, but it wasn't a Cinderella story. Everything didn't suddenly become perfect.

My father died of the results of long term alcoholism, as he never really got the mental health support he needed.

This is before 2000, when we still had some supports in the community.

They don't exist today. My mother had to work multiple jobs to keep that roof over our head, to keep food in our bellies. She was amazing. She could make one chicken last three days. There were five kids.

I'm very thankful for the people of DCJ and Barnardos. I can't thank Barnardos enough.
As a little girl, I remember watching on TV, Bob Hawke saying that no child would live in poverty, and I believed that.

I remember being shown a Medicare card and being told that's how we paid for the doctor.
When did that stop? When did that end? Now you pay the gap or you don't go to the doctor.
I used to believe Australia would always get better.

I was wrong. It's gotten harder, and the fairness is gone. We talk here about early intervention. We talk about making a difference. The earliest intervention is the provision of basic human needs - health, education and housing.

We need homes, not investment properties for foreign investors. Not negatively geared rental portfolios. We need homes where people can live, where children can grow up safe, where communities can thrive.

My family's moved eight times in 19 years. We have two incomes. There is no way we will ever buy a home in the current environment.

Thank you to the Treasurer for making space for additional money for so many services. I really, really appreciate it. It's going to make a massive difference.

Can we find some money to roll out the Love Bites program to New South Wales high schools? Because we can't stop abuse until we teach what it looks like.

We need to show kids what it looks like. So many males I work with don't know that they get to consent.

They're being abused because they don't know that consent is their right. We need to teach them that, we know the Love Bites program works. If we can roll it out, it would make a massive difference.

We have mental health professionals today leaving because they can't help their patients under the current system. I have family members who moved state to get the help they needed, and they're still being turned away because they're not sick enough.

I'm grateful that I was born 40 years ago and not today, because if I was born today, I don't know that there'd be anything here.

Today kids are facing a mental health crisis because they don't see a future. Today, housing is at least 15 times the average salary, and today, health care is a luxury and mental health care is out of the reach of an average Australian.

Today, people enter abusive relationships because they don't know what a good relationship looks like. Let's make that part of high school and primary school, so they know the difference, because those of us who grow up in abuse don't know any different. I thought it was normal.

I thought what I grew up with was absolutely normal and fine, until someone pointed out to me that hiding every night was not okay and sleeping in the back of your closet was not what should happen.

I work in this industry because I wanted to pay it forward. I think a lot of us here are the same, so let's keep paying it forward.

NCOSS joined with other leading social services organisations and issued a joint statement calling on the NSW Government to urgently implement the recommendations of the Drug Summit Report.

The statement signed by Uniting, Salvos, Wesley Mission, Vinnies, The NSW Council of Social Service NCOSS and Wayside Chapel called on the Government to: "Demonstrate leadership and respond promptly and appropriately to the findings of this report. The families and communities impacted by this issue across NSW have waited too long for change."

Read the full statement here.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the state government's commitment to a 3.5% increase in indexation, in line with the minimum wage rise.

Cara Varian, Chief Executive of the NSW Council of Social Service, said the increase in funding to reflect the rising costs of delivering essential social services for communities across NSW was welcomed.

“Reliable, sustained indexation is vital to ensure social service organisations can continue to support people and communities in need,” Varian said.

Read the full article here.

This year, NCOSS' Pre-Budget Submission asks included:

Investment in affordable and social housing, particularly for low-income renters
Financial relief to offset rising energy bills, with targeted support for households in need
Increased core funding for neighbourhood and community centres delivering essential support and connection
Funding for the portable long-service leave scheme

Unfortunately these asks were not met. This year's budget failed to deliver critical investment in social infrastructure to support the state’s most vulnerable communities.

The NCOSS team have put together a budget summary factsheet comparing what we asked for and what has been promised.

Read the summary factsheet here.

NCOSS held the 2025 Post-Budget Breakfast at NSW Parliament House on 2 July.

Hundreds of social sector advocates came together to discuss this year’s state budget and its impact on our state’s most vulnerable people.

Thank you to the Treasurer Daniel Mookhey and Shadow Treasurer Damien Tudehope for coming to listen and talk with the sector, to Kate Mason for sharing her lived experience and to our fantastic community-led panel, Giancarlo de Vera from BEING - Mental Health Consumers, Di Kapera from Mission Australia, Kate Harrison Brennan from Sydney Policy Lab, our CEO Cara Varian, and to Alexandra Smith for hosting.

Thanks also to Kate Washington MP and NSW Department of Communities and Justice for joining this crucial conversation.

Thank you to all who attended, shared your stories and made this event another highlight for the essential social service sector.

To those who attended, please fill in this survey to help us improve the event for next year.

If you missed it, you can watch the video here.

NCOSS is hosting a free public briefing with the Australian Services Union (ASU) about the Fair Work Commission’s proposed changes to the SCHADS Award.

In April 2025, the Fair Work Commission found evidence of gender-based undervaluation in certain SCHADS Award classifications and has proposed changes to address it. While the Commission’s finding is welcome, aspects of the proposed restructure are cause for concern as they could result in pay cuts for some current and future workers.

The Council of Social Services network wrote a joint submission to the Fair Work Commission expressing concern about the potential for some employees to have their pay reduced. Read the submission here.

In response to submissions and advocacy from the social services sector and unions, the Commission is considering options and timeframes to allow further consultation to design a more appropriate Award classification structure that reflects the complex and diverse work of the sector.

Angus McFarland, Branch Secretary ASU NSW & ACT, will give an update of the current situation and what lies ahead, to help you understand what the changes may mean for you and your organisation, followed by a Q&A.

When: Tuesday 15 July 2025, 12pm - 12:45pm AEST

Register here: https://www.ncoss.org.au/register-asu-sector-briefing-on-schads-changes/

Contact NCOSS Policy Officer Justine Lee justine@ncoss.org.au if you have any questions.

From 1 July 2025, the portable long service leave scheme for the community services sector commenced in NSW. Workers can accrue up to 6 weeks’ paid leave after 7 years of recognised service — even if they change employers.

If you are an employer, visit www.longservice.nsw.gov.au to:

Check your eligibility to take part in the scheme
If eligible, register your organisation and your employees
Sign up for updates
Access factsheets and FAQs

Importantly:

If you and your employees are eligible for the scheme, register early (between 1 July to 31 December 2025) to help employees become foundation workers and claim long service leave after 6 years.

Don’t forget to keep records and set aside a 1.7% levy on ordinary wages quarterly from 1 July 2025. Payment of the levy to LSC will start via online portal in April 2026).

This year NAIDOC Week is celebrating 50 years of recognising the voices, culture and strength of First Nations peoples.

NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.

Visit the NAIDOC website to find NAIDOC Week events in your local area.

The Guardian has done a roundup of the best First Nations documentaries to watch this week.

The NSW Government is developing a new state-wide Strategy to improve mental health and wellbeing in NSW.

Development of the new Strategy is being led by the Mental Health Commission of NSW and will involve all of state government. The new Strategy will shape and support whole-of-government work for the next ten years. It will include a focus on the mental health service system as well as the broader goal of better mental health and wellbeing for all in the community.

NCOSS will be developing a submission. If you would like to talk to us about it or provide input, please email NCOSS Policy Lead Elyse Cain.

Consultation for the new Strategy is open from 10 June – 29 August 2025.

We’re inviting not-for-profits, community groups, and social enterprises to collaborate with UTS Shopfront on visual design projects in Semester 2, 2025.

You'll be partnered with skilled UTS students, supported by academics and industry experts, to develop high-quality design outcomes that support your mission — at no cost to your organisation.

Projects can include:

Visual branding or rebranding
Marketing collateral
(flyers, posters, social media templates, brochures, illustrations, digital design assets)
Event branding and promotional materials

Projects will run from August to October 2025 (over 12 weeks). Email us at shopfront@uts.edu.au or submit your project here ASAP.

Women’s Health NSW have been engaged in a project to address non-fatal strangulation and sexual choking. They’ve created an online learning hub called It Left No Marks with resources for women, service providers and healthcare professionals.

With more than half of young Australians aged between 18 and 35 having engaged in sexual choking in their lifetime, Women’s Health NSW developed a resource called, Sexual choking: A health promotion approach.

Using practitioner examples, the booklet and digital resource model how you might talk to different audiences about this now-common sexual practice.

The NSW Multicultural Centre for Women’s and Family Safety (Adira Centre) has marked one year of supporting women and children experiencing domestic and family violence from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

The Adira Centre is a specialist service within Settlement Services International that works to support the service sector across NSW to respond confidently to the often complex and challenging needs of migrant and refugee women and children experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence.

The centre offers collaborative casework support, advice and peer consults, training and other flexible support to other services in the community sector. Please contact Kavitha Vijayaraj (kvijayaraj@ssi.org.au) for more information.

Supporting Placement Stability for Children in Out of Home Care
FACSIAR
29 July, Online
Free | Register here

In this webinar, Dr Nafisa Asif, Senior Researcher in FACSIAR and Dr Fred Wulczyn, Director for the Center for State-Child Welfare Data USA, will present findings from the Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study (POCLS).

The analysis looks at the impact of placement stability on children, their development and wellbeing and factors that can enhance the stability of placements. They will be joined by DCJ staff who will discuss practices to encourage placement stability and enhance carer support and satisfaction.

Rural, Regional and Remote Summit
Community Legal Centres NSW
22-24 July, Port Macquarie
$45-$150 | Register here

The RRR Summit is a rare and exciting opportunity to unite Community Legal Centres operating in rural, regional, and remote areas for a three-day, in-person event focused on professional development, knowledge exchange, and sector-wide collaboration.

Day three of the Summit welcomes community organisations for sessions on legal capacity in rural, regional and remote areas; care and protection; partnerships with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations; and climate justice and innovation.

Supporting Neurodivergent Young People Using Violence in the Home
Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare
30 July, Online
$260 | Register here

Supporting neurodivergent young people using violence in the home requires a specialised, therapeutic approach—one recognising their unique needs while ensuring the safety and wellbeing of their families.

This three-hour interactive training is designed to equip professionals with the skills and strategies needed to work effectively in these complex situations.

Building Strong Foundations: Housing First Approaches for NSW
Homelessness NSW
7 August, Sydney
$50 | Register here

As part of Homelessness Week 2025, Homelessness NSW is hosting a special event focused on strengthening Housing First approaches across our sector.

This event will explore how informal alliances, local systems, and culturally-adapted models are supporting more effective responses to complex homelessness — especially in regional and Aboriginal contexts.

Penrith Safe Communities – Domestic and Family Violence Grant
Closing Date: 25 July 2025

The Safe Communities – Domestic and Family Violence Grant funds primary prevention initiatives that target the underlying drivers of domestic and family violence.

Applicants must:   

provide services or be located in the Penrith LGA and deliver initiatives in the Penrith LGA that benefit Penrith residents.  
be a not-for-profit organisation that is incorporated or have evidence of auspice from an incorporated organisation with an ABN.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Building Digital Skills Grant – Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities
Closing Date: 1 August 2025

Building Digital Skills grants help organisations to support older Australians aged 50+ through free digital mentoring sessions. A range of resources and support materials are available to help organisations to deliver this program, including the learning courses available on the Be Connected learning site.

This round of Building Digital Skills grants is for organisations supporting older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be connected.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Pride Foundation Australia Small Grants
Closing Date: 14 July 2025

Pride Foundation Australia (PFA) runs a Small Grants Program throughout the year that supports projects proposed by individuals, organisations and/or communities who would otherwise be limited by the constraints of other funding programs.

The project needs to directly or indirectly assist, involve and benefit LGBTQIA+ people and promote positive social outcomes and mental health in the community.

This funding round will give priority to First Nations people and communities, newly arrived migrants, refugees and people from CALD backgrounds.

For more information, please visit the grant information page.

Some of the latest from our Jobs Board:

Policy and Engagement Officer (Sydney) Council On The Ageing (NSW) - VIEW JOB

Operations Manager (Sydney CBD) Detour House Inc - VIEW JOB

Multicultural Peer Navigation Officer (Sydney CBD) ACON Health - VIEW JOB

Director - Policy, Research and Communications (Sydney CBD) LGBTIQ+ Health Australia - VIEW JOB

AOD Community Service Worker (Inner West Sydney) We Help Ourselves (WHOS) - VIEW JOB

Financial Counsellor (Sydney CBD) University of Sydney - VIEW JOB