18 May 2023

18 May 2023

JobSeeker is still a poverty payment that must be fixed

On Monday, I attended the ACOSS Post-Budget Event where the Federal Treasurer, the Hon Dr Jim Chalmers, spoke to the Budget he handed down the week before.

The consensus in the room was a sense of gratitude for the positive changes (particularly reforms to single parent payments), but a clear intent to continue strong advocacy for the desperately needed support that wasn’t forthcoming. People also expressed a level of anger that more wasn’t done.

I heard the genuine desire from the Treasurer to do more, but no commitments and clear indications that the Government will prioritise ‘fiscal responsibility.’ This highlights a key challenge for our sector to grapple with – how do we make this choice easy for politicians? What do we need to do differently to bring the public along and make it impossible for the Australian Government to do anything other than significantly increase income support payments?

Thanks to ACOSS, and the Raise the Rate team, for building the momentum for change. NCOSS stands with ACOSS in calling on the Australian Government to #RaiseTheRate to at least $76 a day. You can read ACOSS' response to the Federal Budget in Sector News below.

Pokies reform

Last week, I met with the new Minister for Gaming and Racing, the Hon David Harris, and some of his team. The Minister advised that he was moving ahead with reforms he could implement immediately, though changes to regulation, and introducing legislation to ban political donations from Clubs operating pokies.

It’s good to see the new Minister pushing ahead with the NSW Government’s election commitments.

It also looks like the NSW Government is close to finalising the list of who’ll be invited to be part of the individual panel of experts overseeing the trial of cashless gaming technologies and other gambling reform initiatives. I reiterated the need for the panel to include the voices of organisations seeking to minimise the pokies harm, as well as the voices of those with lived experience.

Reimagining the NSW Community Services Workforce

On Tuesday, I attended the Reimagining the NSW Community Sector Services Workshop, commissioned by the Department of Communities and Justice and conducted by Ernst & Young.

The Workshop included representatives from DCJ, front-line service providers, peak bodies, academics and others. Discussions reiterated the immense challenges faced by our sector, including burnout, retention, job security and pay. The room also explored how these can be resolved. We’ll keep an eye on this work and keep you updated.

On the agenda – Mapping Economic Disadvantage

We’ve had a lot of interest in our Mapping Economic Disadvantage in NSW, which uses 2021 census data to update the impacts of poverty across NSW including highlighting where things have improved – or worsened – since the first report, based on the 2016 census.

This week, I will have met with the Ageing and Disability Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald, the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, the Hon Paul Scully, and a team from Regional NSW, to take them through our latest research. Next week, I will be meeting the Minister for Housing and Homelessness, the Hon Rose Jackson.

We are holding a workshop for our members on 29 May, so please make sure you have registered if you want to know more about the findings and how to use the data to advocate for the targeted, local actions that will make a real difference.

Congratulations Carmel!

After five years, Carmel Tebbutt is stepping down from her role as CEO of the NSW Mental Health Co-ordinating Council, to take on the role as CEO of Odyssey House from July. Congratulations, Carmel, on the impact you’ve had at MHCC and best of luck with the new challenge!

Thanks to all who contributed to our Roundtable on First Nations leadership and employment in the social service sector. This is the report, which has been endorsed by Aboriginal Affairs and is also on their website.

The Roundtable was a call to action for the social service sector to improve how Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing inform sector practices; and to consider how the sector and government can more fully support Aboriginal organisations, leadership and employment. The report makes recommendations for government, for the sector as a whole, and for individual organisations.

We hope it is a useful tool and welcome any comments or feedback.

*Ngarala Duba is a Gadigal phrase for thinking about or listening to the ground or country. We use it in reference to the key characteristic of successful change making for First Nations communities – from the ground up.

As part of our Human Rights-Based Approaches in Social Services - 2023 Online Discussion Series, NCOSS is hosting a session on Human Rights-Based Approach in Disaster Responses on Tuesday, 23 May 2023, 1:00pm - 2:30pm.

Join us, and our panel of industry practitioners, as we unpack this fairly new and challenging topic, which is likely to become increasingly relevant to the work of our sector as we deal with fallout from climate change.

Our panel members include:

Dr Grant South, from Ngunya Jarjum’s ‘Planning For Disaster’ Project
Lisa Cameron de Vries, Technical Director, Phoenix Resilience
Fay Jackson, General Manager of Inclusion, Flourish Australia
Anne Crestani, Project Lead, Resilient Villages Blue Mountains

Attendance is free, but registration is required. You can do that here.

Our last Regional Members Meeting was held on 3 May 2023. We heard from Leo Patterson Ross (CEO – Tenants Union NSW) and a tenants advocate from the North Coast about what they are seeing in the worsening rental crisis. In particular, there are real concerns about no-grounds evictions, particularly related to rent increases, as well as ongoing availability and suitability issues in those places hit hardest by recent disasters.

While there are certainly positive indications from the NSW Government regarding reforms to renter protections, there is plenty of work to do as we collectively work through the proposals to ensure they are adequate and avoid unintended consequences.

The 2023 Mapping Economic Disadvantage in NSW project tells the story of poverty and economic disadvantage in NSW by analysing and mapping poverty rates.

The research breaks down poverty rates and gives us a sophisticated picture of where people living with disadvantage are located and who they are – including their age, sex, employment, family arrangements, and housing tenure. It shows us that the characteristics of disadvantaged people can vary strikingly from one community to another. It also shows us how the picture of significant economic disadvantage has changed since 2016.

There are two reports for this research and two tools:

NCOSS encourages all those interested in poverty to use these tools to better understand the extent and concentration of economic disadvantage in our State.

New South Wales' peak social services body has welcomed the state government's proposed rental reforms, but warned that one policy could worsen the issue it's trying to address.

Speaking a day after the new Labor government introduced its rental bill to parliament, the acting boss of the NSW Council of Social Service said the attempt to outlaw secret bidding on properties listed for lease could backfire.

The proposed reform would require real estate agents to notify all applicants for a property if someone has submitted a bid higher than the listed price.

"While we understand the intention of this measure, we hold great concern around the potential unintended consequences," acting NCOSS CEO Ben McAlpine said.

"Having to disclose a higher offer to every applicant may result in a bidding war that knocks out candidates who otherwise would have had a chance.

"Silent rental auctions may result in unfair rental outcomes. We urge the NSW parliament to closely consider the implications of this as it debates the bill."

Read the 9 News article by Daniel Jeffrey here.

Peak social services body NCOSS broadly welcomes the NSW Labor Government’s Bill in Parliament to better protect renters, but has expressed concern around some components.

“The situation where you need to fork out a bond for the next rental while waiting for a refund from your existing one is simply untenable for low income households,” NCOSS Acting CEO Ben McAlpine said.

“A portable bond scheme will reduce stress and strain on renters, so we are pleased to see this sensible measure included in the Bill.”

Read the media release.

New research shows that the poverty rate for regional NSW is higher than Greater Sydney, with the young, the elderly, and home-buyers and renters hardest hit. The study also found a direct link between poverty and residential costs, with the housing crisis a key driver of poverty in regional areas.

“These statistics are devastating, showing the grim reality of poverty reaching into every suburb and town in NSW – but with some communities really bearing the brunt,” Ms Quilty said.

Read the Newcastle Herald article here.

Research by the University of Canberra's NATSEM, commissioned by NCOSS, showed that between the 2016 and 2021 censuses an extra 104,000 solo households emerged in NSW, their proportion growing to 25% of the state’s homes. The NCOSS report found the rise in poverty among those living alone is linked to more people working part-time compared to 2016. There are also higher rates of poverty among those who live alone.

The report said political discourse often focuses on families living in poverty, leading policy makers to lose sight of how many people living alone are struggling.

“Things are at a point where we just absolutely have to do something and invest in social housing to really help those who are very much on the margins,” the chief executive of NCOSS, Joanne Quilty, said.

Read Jordyn Beazley's full article in The Guardian here.

The Australian Council of Social Services welcomes many measures in the Federal Budget, handed down by the Federal Treasurer, the Hon Dr Jim Chalmers on 9 May.

ACOSS CEO, Dr Cassandra Goldie, said:

"The real increases to base rates of JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and Rent Assistance will still leave more than one million people in poverty, unable to afford three meals a day and a roof over their head. Whilst every dollar counts, the $20 a week increase to JobSeeker and related payments is well below the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee’s finding that it needs to rise by at least $128 a week to ensure people can cover the basics.

“The government is providing an increase of $2.85 a day for people with the least. The Stage 3 tax cuts will deliver $25 a day to people on the highest incomes. We have our priorities wrong."

Read the ACOSS media statement here.

Rental reform has been a priority as NSW Parliament sits for its first few days of business. Aspects like implementing a Portable Rental Bond Scheme, and applying introduced restrictions on soliciting bids more broadly across the sector are good.

But we're very concerned the current approach to ending 'secret' rent bidding in the Bill introduced this week could instead entrench rent auctions – not a good outcome for renters.

Listen to the Tenant's Union's CEO, Leo Patterson-Ross, with Richard Glover on ABC Radio Sydney's Drive.

Blacktown Multicultural Abuse Prevention Forum
NSW Ageing and Disability Commission
Forum
23rd May 2023

The forum will bring together experts from key services to:

Talk about what they are identifying in the community in relation to abuse, and the barriers to reporting abuse within culturally diverse communities
Discuss best practices across agencies to improve safeguards for older people
Offer practical solutions on how you can provide culturally informed support

The panel will include speakers from:

NSW Police
Older Women's Network
Seniors Rights Service
SydWest Multicultural Services
NSW Ageing and Disability Commission

Healing our Sector
AbSec
Conference
13 - 14 June 2023

The biennial NSW Aboriginal Child & Family Conference is a key event for those working with Aboriginal children and families in NSW. Our conference theme this year will be 'Healing our Sector'.

While we'll discuss strategies for involving Aboriginal youth, families and communities in developing services and systemic change; we'll also be using the conference to perform an industry health check, giving our sector a chance to be heard and discuss methods of self-care and improvement during a time of unprecedented change, upheaval and environmental challenges.

This year's conference aims to also share best practices, celebrate our achievements and set future directions for delivering better outcomes for Aboriginal children and young people and their families and communities.

Register here.

Safe - Strong - Supportive
Fams 2023 Conference
17 August 2023

Our expert speakers will challenge and inspire you to think differently. We will discuss ways to:

reimagine our sector
amplify client voices in evaluation
widen the lens of child protection, and
futureproof the early intervention and prevention NGO sector

And there’s more! We are offering fact-packed and practiced based interactive workshops, ‘something a little bit different’ sessions combined with the opportunity to network with like-minded people.

You will leave after an extensive, uplifting day with new knowledge and practical tools and tips to implement in your everyday work.

Rural Scholarship Opportunity!

Fams is reinvesting all registration fees to support our rural, remote and regional colleagues to attend by offering a scholarship. NFP organisations from eligible locations can apply for up to $500 towards travel and accommodation.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn from the best and make a positive impact in your community. Register now.

Changes to Workplace Laws: What Your NFP Needs to Know
Justice Connect’s Not-for-profit Law and Lander & Rogers
23 May 2023

Recent reforms to workplace laws include extensive changes to the Fair Work Act, new sexual harassment laws, and rules about managing risks to mental health in the workplace.

Are you up to date? Are you concerned about how upcoming restrictions on the use of fixed term contracts might affect your not-for-profit?

Join Justice Connect’s Not-for-profit Law, and a guest presenter from Lander & Rogers; specialist workplace law team, as we unpack key reforms and answer some frequently asked questions.

Register here.

Get Ready/Preparedness Coordinator (Blue Mountains) – Mountains Community Resource Network – VIEW JOB

Operations Manager (Northern Rivers) – Northern Rivers Women’s and Children’s Services – VIEW JOB

Team Leader – Kin Connect; Disability Groups Coordinator (Sydney) – Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation – VIEW JOB (Team Leader, Kin Connect); VIEW JOB (Disability Groups Coodinator)

Project Worker – Speak Out Dual Diagnosis (South Sydney) – Weave Youth & Community Services – VIEW JOB

Work Placement and Support Officer– (Western Sydney – Immigrant Women’s SpeakOut Association of NSW – VIEW JOB