Held in the NCOSS Courtyard on Thursday 26 May, this important day begun with the weather clearing and the opening of proceedings by NCOSS Director Alison Peters. Alison acknowledged the history of the Old Children’s Court premises and said that this day was about understanding the past and its impact for the future generations. She highlighted the commitment that NCOSS has made with its first community forum this year in bringing forth Aboriginal issues and self determination.

Alison introduced Michael West from Metro Land Council to do the official Welcome to County and he led us on a journey of understanding that this is Aboriginal land and always will be Aboriginal land on which we stand. Michael shared with us the importance of Welcoming people to your country, as a measure of cultural goodwill and the importance of acknowledging past injustices but excepting reconciliation.

We were then honoured to have Uncle Max Harrison a Yuin Elder perform a traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremony. He invited all present to move closer and the circle engaged us be part of a special time of cleansing for this site and renewing its spirit. Max spoke of being a proud Aboriginal man and shared his story of truly understanding Aboriginal culture and what we do to our environment, where our first people have always walked and lived. When I looked around the guests were captivated in the words of this softly spoken Elder and this itself sent a strong message of healing for this building.

Justice Health is responsible for the provision of healthcare to people within publicly run correctional and juvenile justice centres in NSW and will be responsible for the treatment and care of all NSW forensic patients after 1 July 2011.

Justice Health, as part of the NSW Department of Health, is independent from the Department of Corrective Services. In 2002 Justice Health established the Consumer and Community Group (CCG) to provide a forum for issues related to the health needs of adult and juvenile detainees to be raised and a mechanism through which to advocate for the delivery of international best practice health care for those in contact with the criminal justice system.

Current members of the CCG are:

• Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS)
• NSW Users and Aids Association
• Shine for Kids
• Hepatitis NSW
• Public Interest Advocacy Centre
• Mental Health Coordinating Council NSW
• Consumer Advisory Group Community Restorative Centre; and
• Individuals representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Chaplaincy Services and Inmates. 

Download:

• Report from Justice Health CCG Forum, 5 May 2011: Health Priorities for Prisoners and Young Offenders New!
• Forum Agenda
• Presentation - Alison Stevens, Executive Director Governance Justice Health
• Justice Health CCG Presentation - Peter Dodd, Public Interest Advocacy Centre (CCG representative) 

Every Australian Counts is the campaign for the introduction of a National Disability Insurance Scheme. The NDIS will revolutionise the way people with a disability, their families and carers are supported in this country.

The NDIS will be a new support system for people with a disability, their families and carers. It will transform the way services are funded and delivered, ensuring people are better supported and enabling them to have greater choice and control.

NCOSS supports the introduction of the NDIS and encourages you to take action to support the Every Australian Counts campaign.

Every Australian Counts website:  www.everyaustraliancounts.com.au

The election of the O’Farrell Government in NSW offers many opportunities for the community sector. A new Government gives us the opportunity of new relationships, individually and collectively, as well as expectations for positive change. It offers a chance for reflection and review and opens the prospect of new ways of working that will make a difference.

The measure of all of these opportunities must always be whether life for those on low incomes, who are vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalised gets better.

The Rental Affordability Snapshot released today by Anglicare highlights a key problem facing low to moderate income households. It tracked all private rental properties available for rent in Sydney, the Central Coast and the Illawarra earlier this month to see how many were affordable and appropriate for households receiving government benefits.

Of the 10,144 properties for lease, only 123 were affordable using the 30% of income benchmark. If target households spent up to 45% of their income on renting, putting themselves into rental stress, there will still only 1,600 properties potentially available.

These findings highlight the need for the Federal and NSW Governments to work together to expand the supply of both social and affordable housing, as NCOSS has been advocating for some time.

Download: Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot - full report

12 April 2011
The South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) recently led submissions to the Productivity Commission and the federal parliamentary inquiry into gambling, on behalf of the national network of Councils of Social Service. 

The COSS Network are concerned that the $20m campaign being undertaken by the Australian Hotels Association and Clubs Australia is misleading, particularly the claim that people will need a 'licence to punt'.

SACOSS Director, Ross Womersley responded to the AHA campaign: "Far from being a 'licence to punt', the pre-commitment scheme currently under consideration is a basic consumer protection tool that allows all gamblers to budget how much they will spend".

NCOSS supports the SACOSS position on this issue.

Download:  SACOSS Media Release 11 April 2011 'Licence to punt' claim unreal

Australians excluded from mainstream banks and services will be assisted to access fair and appropriate financial products, including loans, under a $6.27 million Australian Government pilot.

The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, launched the initiative at the Fitzroy and Carlton Community Co-operative in Melbourne  The Co-operative is one of five community development finance institutions (CDFIs) across Australia that will be supported under the pilot project. These institutions have all demonstrated a commitment to supporting vulnerable Australians to get access to financial services. They provide individuals and organisations who are able to repay a loan but who are excluded from mainstream banks and services with access to safe and affordable credit.

Download:  Media Release - New Financial Services for Disadvantaged Australians

In its recent submission to the Parliament of Australia Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform Inquiry, the COSS network supported a universal and mandatory pre-commitment scheme as a means for reducing problem gambling.

The Gambling Impact Society is circulating an on-line petition in support of a universal pre-commitment scheme. The proposed Federal gambling reforms aim to prevent people getting into difficulties with poker machine gambling and assist those who may be developing problems.

The petition can be accessed at: www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/gis

The Community Services Performance Monitoring Framework for Funded Services (PMF) was published in 2006. Since then, Community Services has implemented formal performance monitoring for the following programs: Brighter Futures, Alcohol and Other Drugs (AoD), Supported Accommodation and Assistance Program (SAAP), and Families NSW using the Framework.

Based on comments received from peaks, funded services and Community Services Partnerships & Planning staff, an updated version of the Framework has been prepared. The updated Framework:

• reflects the current practical application of formal performance monitoring with service providers in Brighter Futures, AoD, HNK OOHC, SAAP, and Families NSW.
• includes additional information on performance-based contracting to provide clarity on the context of formal performance monitoring.
• incorporates current templates for the main PMF tools: the Service Provider Self Assessment and the Performance Improvement Plan.

The updated Framework document has been loaded to the Community Services website. Please note that the revisions do not include any significant changes to policy and practice related to the PMF but rather bring the documentation up to date with existing practice.

In the coming year, Community Services will work towards the introduction of formal performance monitoring arrangements based on the PMF to the small number of funding programs that have not already done so.

Contact: Any queries you have about the updated Community Services Performance Monitoring Framework for Funded Services should be directed to the mailbox: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Download: Performance Monitoring Framework for Funded Services

The Australian Council of Social Service welcomes the Federal Government's prompt action to fund essential work to restore infrastructure damaged by the floods in Queensland, including the imposition of a temporary flood disaster levy, but believes spending cuts in high priority areas such as affordable housing should be avoided.

"Overall we are pleased that the Federal Government has acted quickly to support the vital reconstruction efforts of the Queensland Government and support the idea that all Australians with the means to contribute to this effort do so through a flood disaster levy," ACOSS CEO, Dr Cassandra Goldie said today.

"This is similar in principle to previous levies for purposes such as the buy-back of guns after the Port Arthur massacre, which were widely supported. An income tax levy with an exemption for low income earners is the fairest approach.

"The main weakness of the proposed levy is that it covers less than one-third of the predicted flood costs leaving the rest to be met through spending cuts in other areas. However, ACOSS supports the use of cuts in poorly targeted spending to assist with the reconstruction effort.

"Indeed we have called for more action to rein in poorly targeted spending in the Federal Budget, including tax concessions that mainly benefit high income Australians. For instance tax breaks on golden handshakes and removal of tax shelters on private discretionary trusts would have raised in the order of $2.5 billion per year.

"ACOSS is disappointed that some of the spending cuts affect programs that are vital to improve the living standards of people on low incomes, especially the National Housing Affordability Scheme which is being cut at a time of great need for affordable housing, both before and after the floods. The axed Greenstart scheme also had the potential to assist low income households to reduce their energy costs.

"ACOSS is supportive of the other proposed cuts to the carbon abatement scheme, which on the whole were not efficient and well directed programs. Nevertheless it is important that the partnership agreement with the Queensland government requires reconstruction to be done in accordance with high standards of energy and water efficiency, and for proofing against future climate-related risks.

"The community and social services sector is playing a crucial role on the ground assisting those most affected by these floods and therefore has a key role to play in the decision making process, including the Flood Taskforce," Dr Goldie said.

• Also see ACOSS Opinion piece: Responding to a national crisis: business not the only voice in town: http://www.acoss.org.au/media/opinion/responding_to_a_national_crisis_business_not_the_only_voice_in_town