Response to service co-ordination inquiry - move from in-principle support to action
Last week, the Government released its response to the Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Needs inquiry into Service coordination in communities with high social needs. NCOSS made a submission to this inquiry last year, and CEO Tracy Howe gave evidence before the Committee.
The response provides in-principle support to a range of measures, we hope this a first step towards substantive change.
Positive aspects of the response include:
- Support for a review of competitive tendering, a process which NCOSS emphasised can threaten relationships of trust in the sector. This work is being done by the Social Innovation Council, on which NCOSS sits.
- Agreement for longer lead times for tenders in recognition that effective collaboration between organisations is a complex process which takes time.
- A commitment to publishing whole-of-Government on community wellbeing based on Community Indicators Victoria, which will strengthen the evidence base of our work.
We are pleased to see in-principle support for the development of Privacy Guidelines to facilitate information sharing and collaboration between organisations, as well as ongoing consideration of a national centre to evaluate and promote best practice.
We are disappointed that Government did not support minimum funding periods of 5 years The NCOSS Fair Deal Campaign emphasises that funding certainty is crucial for services to be properly co-ordinated, and we urge this be recognised by Government.