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A Queensland Renewed What is needed for all people in Queensland to have a good life

Priority Action Plan 2020

/ February 2020 A Queensland Renewed Priority Action Plan 2020

About QCOSS

We are QCOSS (Queensland Council of Social Service), Queensland’s peak body for the social service sector.

Our vision is to achieve equality, opportunity and wellbeing for every person, in every community.

We believe that every person in Queensland – regardless of where they come from, who they pray to, their gender, who they love, how or where they live – deserves to live a life of equality, opportunity and wellbeing.

We are a conduit for change. We bring people together to help solve the big social issues faced by people in Queensland, building strength in numbers to amplify our voice.

We’re committed to self-determination and opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

QCOSS is part of the national network of Councils of Social Service lending support and gaining essential insight to national and other state issues.

QCOSS is supported by the vice-regal patronage of His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, Governor of Queensland.

Join us to mobilise a force for equality, opportunity and wellbeing. To join visit the QCOSS website (www.QCOSS.org.au). Photo by Ben White on Unsplash Cover photo by Garidy Sanders on Unsplash

© 2020 Queensland Council of Social Service Ltd. This publication is copyright. Non-profit groups have permission to reproduce part of this book as long as the original meaning is retained and proper credit is given to Queensland Council of Social Service. All other persons and organisations wanting to reproduce material from this book should obtain permission from the publishers.


Contents 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 4

2.0 A vision for Queensland ................................................................................................ 5

3.0 Starting a revolution ...................................................................................................... 63.1 Shifting power into the hands of communities ................................................... 73.2 Investing in community place-based approaches ............................................. 8

4.0 Rebooting the system ................................................................................................. 104.1 Self-determination for First Nations people ..................................................... 104.2 A Queensland where everyone has a home ................................................... 114.3 Improving financial wellbeing .......................................................................... 134.4 A fast and fair transition to a sustainable future .............................................. 17

5.0 Being in service ........................................................................................................... 185.1 Funding sustainability and reform ................................................................... 185.2 Investing in Neighbourhood and Community Centres ..................................... 205.3 Access, inclusion and human rights ................................................................ 21

6.0 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 23


1.0 Introduction We started 2020 at a point of transformational change. We had bushfires in the south; floods in the north, and drought everywhere in between. As many of us were sitting down for Christmas dinner or New Year’s brunch, many others were evacuating; fighting fires; or helping those in need. And help we did – across the country communities have come together to make these events endurable. We can take pride in ourselves, in our firefighters, in our volunteers, in the million acts of kindness and connection we have shown. We have also seen a surge in interest and respect for First Nations ways of traditional land conservation techniques and ways of being.

And now we have an opportunity. An opportunity to harness the kindness, and also the anger. Because we are at a turning point. A point at which it is becoming increasingly clear that we cannot keep doing things the same way. It is time to try something new, time to work together for renewal and transformation.

A future where people, communities, and our environment thrive.

Where we are all connected and supported to respond both to threat and opportunity.

Where we all have a voice in how decisions are made and what happens in our lives.

Where we all have what we need to live full and good lives.

QCOSS stands ready to help create this world. A world of equality, opportunity and wellbeing for every person, in every community in Queensland.

Our journey In 2019 we released a new vision and a new strategy for QCOSS - one that encourages us to be bold in our vision, bold in our work, bold in our words and continue our movement for change. We have identified three key areas in which we can act for change:

• Rebooting the system – overturning the systems and structures that create and perpetuate inequality

• Starting a revolution – building hope and optimism across Queensland through engaged, inclusive and thriving communities

• Being in service – supporting a service system that reflects the community in which it operates.

Importantly, we have also stated how we will make this happen because we know we cannot do it alone. Together with our partners, our members and the broader community, we can make the change we need:

• Leading together – inviting and motivating people and organisations to walk with us, because we are stronger together

• Joining forces – galvanising a force for equality, opportunity and wellbeing • Walking the talk – being a strong, sustainable relevant leader to achieve excellence.

Through this Priority Action Plan, we make our strategy tangible. We share the views of our members and the people of Queensland to influence policy development and drive the systemic change needed to ensure equality, opportunity and wellbeing for every person, in every community in Queensland. Through this statement we tell a story of A Queensland Renewed.


2.0 A vision for Queensland QCOSS is driven by an aspiration for a better future for all, and particularly people who are experiencing the most vulnerability in our communities – our children and young people, seniors, people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, new arrivals to Australia, and people who rely on low incomes to get by.

We are all equal, we all have a voice and a contribution to make.

We call on the Queensland Government to set a bold vision, improve transparency, measure what matters and be accountable for delivering on what Queenslanders value.

Achieving this vision will take participation and effort by all - by community organisations, by communities and the people within them and importantly, by government. We need a government that strengthens our work, that works with us for communities and for individuals and families throughout Queensland.

We call on the Queensland Government to commit to creating a shared vision - by Queenslanders, for all Queenslanders.

By working together and challenging each other we can create social change and ensure everyone benefits from what this great state has to offer.

It is only by working together that we can create a Queensland Renewed.

What is needed? We want the Premier of Queensland to:

1. Work with key stakeholders and the wider community to establish and articulate a clear and aspirational vision for Queensland.

2. Establish a Shared Leadership Group of key government stakeholders, non-government parties and people with lived experience, to drive and support the vision and coordinate strategy, investment and policy approaches, both at a state-wide and local level.

3. Adopt a set of wellbeing measures to track progress and inform decision making across all government portfolios.


3.0 Starting a revolution Building hope and optimism across Queensland through engaged, inclusive and thriving communities.

A key part of achieving a vision for a Queensland Renewed is ensuring Queensland communities are engaged, inclusive and thriving.

Trust in democracy is rapidly declining across the country, with fewer than 41 per cent of Australians satisfied with how democracy works (down from 86 per cent in 2007 and 72 per cent in 2013).1

Governments alone cannot tackle the problems that matter most, such as increasing social inequality, living affordability, climate change and transitioning regional economies. Most people in Australia do not believe that they and their families will be better off in five years’ time.2 Many feel disengaged from the changes being driven by global forces and they overwhelmingly want a greater say on the issues that matter to them. They want to co-design public services and have a direct influence on policy outcomes through community decision making.3

To do this we need to foster communities where every person contributes, matters and belongs; communities where people’s strengths are valued and where they can work together and make decisions about their own futures. It is essential that we actively seek the views and experiences from the whole community, and especially those experiencing disadvantage who often feel powerless and locked out of our current systems. Connected, engaged people make strong communities.

With major global and environmental forces at play, the revolution towards a new social and economic system is already underway. Deep engagement with communities is needed to solve challenges like increasing social inequality and climate change. To ensure Queensland is well-placed to understand, anticipate and take action to meet future challenges, we are calling for our state government to be unequivocally committed to:

• Shifting power into the hands of communities; and

• Investing in whole-of-government place-based responses.

1 Stoke, G., Evans, M. and Halupka, M. (December 2018). Trust and Democracy in Australia: Democratic decline and renewal. https://www.democracy2025.gov.au/ 2 Edelman Trust Barometer 2019 https://www.edelman.com/trust-barometer 3 Stoke, G., Evans, M. and Halupka, M. (December 2018). Trust and Democracy in Australia: Democratic decline and renewal. https://www.democracy2025.gov.au/


3.1 Shifting power into the hands of communities There is an urgent need to actively engage Queenslanders who feel marginalised by the current political, economic and social systems. We must hear their stories and give people the opportunity to highlight the impacts policy decisions have on them, their families and their wider communities.

With Queensland the most decentralised state in Australia, differences in experiences across communities can be significant. We need leaders that truly listen to communities and seek direction from them, and empower them to drive the change that is needed in those communities.

With around one in six children living in poverty4, it is critical that people experiencing vulnerability have a greater voice in policy development and decision-making processes in Queensland. This includes actively bringing a diversity of voices to the fore, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people with disability, people living in rural and remote communities, older people and many more. We need a government that listens and engages the whole community in a deep and inclusive conversation about who we want to be, where we want to go and how we want to get there. Our leaders must host conversations about how we can enhance our collective wealth, while reducing inequality and promoting our individual and community strengths. Investment from the Queensland Government is required to ensure all people in all communities are supported to have their voices heard, and share their experiences to guide the Queensland Government’s direction and policy development.

What is needed? We call on the Premier to:

4. Commit to developing a comprehensive and coordinated program of inclusive engagement in local communities, which results in a shared vision for Queensland.

5. Ensure that there are real opportunities for people with lived experience to actively participate in decision making.

4 ACOSS and UNSW, Poverty in Australia 2018


3.2 Investing in community place-based approaches We know through evidence and experience that place-based approaches to transforming communities work. Queensland needs a long-term, coordinated approach to create more engaged and resilient communities; communities that can collaborate and co-create locally and leverage resources for maximum benefit.

We call on the Queensland Government to work with communities to establish and implement a long-term vision for place-based approaches in Queensland, to be achieved through:

Strategic coordination The Queensland Government has released a range of strategies which identify place-based approaches as a key priority and approach.

These strategies include:

• Partnering for Growth and Partnering for Impact (Department of Housing and Public Works)

• Connect for Children (Department of Education)

• Activate! Queensland (Sport and Recreation)

• Local Thriving Communities (Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships)

• Stronger Places, Stronger People (Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors).

While we are heartened that the Queensland Government is prioritising place-based approaches, investment and action must be collaborative and coordinated.

We need a whole of government approach for community-led place-based approaches, which must be resourced to coordinate and lead this work across government in partnership with communities and the sector. This involves several key factors:

Long-term vision and commitment - Development of a 10-year strategic plan to ensure that real and lasting change is achieved. It should outline the Queensland Government’s approach to better coordinate the place-based work of various government departments and engagement of communities.

A shared leadership and governance body - The plan should commit to establishing and coordinating a shared governance body at a strategic level, to guide and support place-based approaches across Queensland, support local initiatives and networks and monitor progress state-wide.

Targeted investment - The plan needs to outline the Queensland Government’s approach to investing in workforce development and community capacity needs, required to implement collaborative and meaningful long-term place-based approaches within Queensland. This could include training, development and mentoring.

Resourcing is required to support a deep and broad knowledge of the elements, principles and techniques of place-based approaches and to develop leadership, hosting and facilitation skills. Without this, the Queensland Government workforce and local communities will lack the capacity to effectively support place-based approaches, despite best intentions.


Innovation fund QCOSS calls for the establishment of a Community Innovation Fund to support long-term local communities to implement community-led solutions to local issues. Funding could be invested in projects that address a community-identified need with a community-identified solution.

The Innovation Fund will deliver a range of outcomes – including building the capacity of our communities, while addressing a range of unique problems that exist across our diverse state – cutting across portfolios to deliver diverse outcomes such as regional development, local transport solutions, employment and workforce planning strategies, education outcomes, justice reinvestment, early childhood development and family strengthening.

It should be set up to support:

• Local decision-making and action

• Outcomes measurement and accountability

• Tackling the causes of poverty and disadvantage, with a focus on prevention and early intervention.

What is needed? We call on the Premier and Ministers to work with key stakeholders to:

6. Develop a 10-year strategic plan to enable coordinated place-based responses across Queensland including a strategic and financial commitment to long-term approaches across urban, regional and remote contexts, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

7. Target investment in capacity building of government and community to work from a place-based methodology (this must include training, development and mentoring).

8. Establish a $10 million Community Innovation Fund over five years to support local solutions, to local issues.


4.0 Rebooting the system Overturning systems and structures that create and perpetuate inequality.

The provision of an adequate social safety net lies at the heart of people being able to truly contribute, matter and belong. A roof over your head, affordable essential services and access to support at times of need are critical to feeling safe and secure in life.

Through our policy and research work and engagement in communities, we know now, more than ever, that a social safety net is critical to support people in times of need.

We must work together to overturn the systems and structures that create and perpetuate inequality.

The priorities for rebooting the system to improve society and economic equity across all Queensland communities are:

• Self-determination for First Nations people

• A state where everyone has a home

• Improving financial wellbeing

• A fast and fair transition to a more sustainable future.

4.1 Self-determination for First Nations people QCOSS recognises the traditional custodians of country on whose land we work and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We are committed to walking alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in a journey to build stronger relationships, understanding and recognition of the history, cultures and diversity that make up Australia's First Nations peoples.

Formally acknowledging and reconciling the wrongs perpetrated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their long legacy of ongoing trauma must be a national priority. We endorse the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which calls on the Australian Government to:

• establish a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution, and;

• establish a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about Indigenous history.

We urge the Queensland Government to be active in advocating to the Australian Government to adopt the Uluru Statement of the Heart to enable healing and reconciliation for all First Peoples in Australia.

We support the launch of the Queensland Government’s Tracks to Treaty process which is being undertaken to reframe their relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland. We also acknowledge the hard work being undertaken in the Local Thriving Communities agenda to make real the ambitious recommendations of the Queensland Productivity Commission. This is important if we are to truly reframe the relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and ensure they have a voice in the decisions that affect them.


What is needed? We ask that the Queensland Government walk alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in a journey to build stronger relationships, understanding and recognition of the history, cultures and diversity that make up Australia's First Nations peoples and commit to:

9. Advocating for the Australian Government to

a. establish a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution; and

b. establish a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about Indigenous history.

10. Continuing their commitment to ‘Tracks to Treaty’ to reframe their relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland.

4.2 A Queensland where everyone has a home Housing is a basic human right and yet many Queenslanders still live without a safe and stable home. There are more than 32,000 people on the waitlist5 for social housing dwellings and more than 21,000 people experiencing homelessness in Queensland6. A Queensland in which everybody has a safe, stable place to call home must be an explicit goal for the Queensland Government. The government has demonstrated it is committed to partnering with the community sector through the Queensland Housing Strategy, including the Partnering for Growth initiative to deliver more social and affordable housing and the Partnering for Impact initiative to reduce homelessness. Nevertheless, social and affordable housing in Queensland remains woefully underfunded. A previous commitment in the 2017 Queensland Housing Strategy for 5,000 additional social and affordable dwellings over 10 years will not come close to addressing the shortfall and indeed sees us go backwards in the face of increasing demand. We know that a minimum of 53,000 dwellings (38,000 affordable dwellings and 15,000 social housing dwellings)7 are needed over the next 10 years if all Queenslanders are to be able to have their basic right to safe, affordable and accessible housing met. Our Housing Policy Statement details the range of actions our elected representatives must take to deliver a holistic, integrated and comprehensive response to declining housing stability and affordability.

We encourage the Queensland Government to invest in a range of initiatives including stock transfers, simplifying regulation and administration, implementing shared equity schemes and support subsidies for new dwellings. There must be a focus on housing in remote and discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

5 2018 Social Housing Register - Data File, Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works (DHPW) https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/social-housing-register/resource/e6d20e17-2b01-41a5-b3d6-2007a9a7c99e 6 Census of Population and Housing: Estimating homelessness, 2016. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/PrimaryMainFeatures/2049.0?OpenDocument 7 QCOSS and Property Council of Qld, Housing Affordability: Tackling the Challenge Together, 2017


We recommend a Housing First approach to ending homelessness – where permanent and stable housing is prioritised as a first step to delivering coordinated, tailored support. Homelessness services require adequate funding to continue to deliver quality services and additional funds are required for wrap around support services for people to sustain tenancies.

And we need rental reform. We are pleased to see the Minister for Housing and Public Works proposed significant changes to current rental law – changes that are critical to supporting renters to be safe, secure and have a home. We are proud to be part of Make Renting Fair in Qld, an alliance of organisations which support progressive reform of our renting laws, so all Queenslanders can make the place they live in their home, whether they rent or own. We have advocated for rental reforms which will:

• Make rental properties a home (improved privacy, end tenancies fairly, minimum standards, permit pets and minor modifications)

• Make renting fair (better access to interpreter services, better regulated tenant databases, fairer agreements and legal protections) and

• Make renting affordable (cap rental increases, prompt return of bonds and timely water bills).

We know from the NDIS that housing is a major issue, and accessible housing is critical to support people with disability, and as people age, to support them into the future. This will require inclusive design and supply. There is a lack of secure funding for housing services targeted at those experiencing vulnerability (for example, mental health, domestic and family violence, youth, ex-prisoners, indigenous, remote, seniors and disabilities). There continues to be limited implementation of universal design in new dwellings, inadequate supportive pathways for seniors to downsize positively, and barriers to alternative forms of community-based housing.

What is needed? In a Queensland Renewed we want the Premier and Ministers to:

11. Reform and invest in social / affordable housing – this includes a minimum of 38,000 affordable housing dwellings and 15,000 new social housing dwellings. Relaunching an improved affordable housing investment subsidy to focus on new dwellings, and supporting community housing sustainability by investigating stock transfers, simplifying administration, subsidies and diverse tenant allocations, and implementing targeted shared equity schemes.

12. Fully fund the ongoing construction and maintenance of housing supply in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities without affecting other housing and homelessness services.

13. Empower renters – by improving legal protections for tenants including the prompt return of bonds, more secure tenure, removing eviction without reasonable grounds, implementing minimum standards, capping rent increases and funding tenant advocacy services.

14. Reform homelessness programs – through properly funding homelessness services, transitioning to ‘Housing First’ rapid re-housing in long-term housing, with additional funding to enable wrap around support services for people to sustain tenancies.

15. Implement inclusive design and supply initiatives to ensure that all people can have a house that suits their needs.


4.3 Improving financial wellbeing Nobody in Queensland should have to exist in ’survival mode’, making difficult decisions every day about whether to pay the electricity bill or put food on the table. We all deserve to afford the basics in life without spiralling into debt.

QCOSS’ 2019 Living Affordability in Queensland report found that many people simply do not have enough money to get by, especially in regional areas. Incomes have stagnated, while the cost of essentials continues to rise.

Responsibility to address these issues cuts across a range of government portfolios, including Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors, Department of Housing and Public Works, Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, Department of Transport and the State Penalties and Enforcement Registry (SPER) within Queensland Treasury. There is a need for a holistic focus across all government portfolios to improve financial wellbeing by developing and implementing policies that address the systemic issues that lead to poverty and debt in Queensland.

The actions for change, driven through this taskforce, must focus on driving improvement by:

• Strengthening Australia’s social safety net

• Improving transport options

• Improving concessions; and

• Supporting people struggling with debt.

Strengthen Australia’s social safety net In particular, Newstart and Youth Allowance are not providing the support recipients need to survive. The failure of our national elected representatives to increase Newstart and Youth Allowance in 24 years has left these households under increasing financial pressure to afford housing, food, and essential services.

We call on the Premier to publicly confirm support for increasing the rate of Newstart and Youth Allowance by a minimum of $95 per week. This crucial policy decision will not only have positive outcomes for individuals but is also estimated to boost the Queensland economy by $748 million.8

8 Analysis of the impact of raising benefit rates, Deloitte Access Economics, September 2018, (p. 25) https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/DAE-Analysis-of-the-impact-of-raising-benefit-rates-FINAL-4-September-...-1.pdf


Transport As an essential service, transport must be accessible, affordable, safe, fair and sustainable for all Queenslanders. As we have engaged with communities across Queensland it has become apparent that this is not the case.

Transport must be available for all Queenslanders regardless of where they live. Transport planning must take a human rights approach including ensuring access for people with disability, older people, and people living in remote and regional areas. Transport infrastructure is a public asset underpinning many aspects of community and personal wellbeing. Reform is needed to ensure that this essential service is accessible, affordable, safe, fair and sustainable into the future.

Improve concessions We acknowledge and support the Government’s investment in concessions, with an estimated total value of $5.66 billion in 2019-20.9 However eligibility is not consistent, and there are many people missing out on much needed assistance. There is a need for the Premier and Treasurer to improve living affordability for people in Queensland by reviewing concessions across all portfolios to ensure they are applied and delivered equitably to those who need it most by:

• Improving consistency of eligibility across concessions for all essential services

• Applying concessions automatically to people who are eligible (as achieved with public transport concessions by the Department of Transport and Main Roads)

• Ensuring concessions payments are appropriately indexed to keep pace with increases in the cost of essential services

• Ensuring that Concessions Services is appropriately resourced to take a system-wide and co-ordinated approach.

• Improve the consistency of eligibility across essential services’ concessions to address the following long-standing gaps in eligibility for the existing concessions provided by the Queensland Government:

- Extend public transport concessions to Health Care Card holders (not only job seekers)

- Extend car registration concessions to Health Care Card holders and asylum seekers

- Extend the gas concession to Health Care Card holders and asylum seekers (including those who rely on bottled LPG for essential needs such as cooking and/or hot water); and

- Extend the State Government Water Subsidy to Health Care Card holders and asylum seekers (including those who rent and pay their landlord for water).

9 Queensland Government Media Statement, “2019/20 Budget Concessions to assist the elderly and households budgets, 02 June 2019, http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2019/6/2/201920-budget-concessions-to-assist-the-elderly-and-household-budgets


Supporting people struggling with debt Anyone can find themselves in financial crisis and many people do not have enough savings to buffer a job loss, health crisis or relationship breakdown. In 2015-16, 15 per cent of Australian households (about 1.3 million) met the criterion for financial stress with Queensland even higher than the national average at 17.5 per cent of the population.10

More recently, the Centre for Social Impact’s ‘Financial Resilience in Australia 2018’ report found that 11 per cent of the adult population in Australia, (about 2.1 million people) experienced severe or high financial stress or vulnerability, a number that has not shifted over time. A further 55.1 per cent had experienced low financial stress or vulnerability.11

The impacts of financial stress and financial exclusion are devastating for individuals, families and communities. It impacts on people’s ability to make good decisions, and depletes cognitive performance to the extent that people who are financially stressed:

• Make decisions without considering all the alternatives

• Emotionally process risk differently, and therefore make riskier decisions

• Have depleted self-control and therefore greater difficulty staying on track with their commitments (such as a budget or savings plan).

Often the source of this financial stress is a low income combined with high debt. We also know that people who are experiencing financial stress are more vulnerable to predatory practices by payday lenders and high cost consumer lease companies. These companies actively target their services to people in areas of high socio-economic disadvantage. There is a lack of access to face-to-face No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) delivery in many regional communities (with this gap in service delivery being met by predatory mobile consumer lease companies).

There are many community organisations providing advice and direct advocacy to clients on living affordability issues, including neighbourhood centres, financial counsellors, financial resilience workers, community legal centres and a range of other community organisations delivering No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS), emergency relief and tenancy advice. However, funded services are struggling to meet demand particularly in rural and remote parts of Queensland as evidenced by the constant and unacceptably long wait times to see a financial counsellor (this can be at least two weeks in metro areas and up to six weeks in certain rural areas).

Every person in Queensland should have someone they can trust, who has their best interests at heart, if they find themselves drowning in debt. Without the right support a small debt can quickly become a complicated financial crisis.

10 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017, Household Expenditure Survey, Australia, Cat: 6530.0, viewed February 2020, https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Latestproducts/6530.0Main%20Features72015-16?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6530.0&issue=2015-16&num=&view 11 Centre for Social Impact, Financial Resilience in Australia 2018, 2018, https://www.csi.edu.au/media/2018-Financial-Resilience-in-Australia.pdf


What is needed? To achieve financial wellbeing for all Queenslanders, we call on the Premier to establish a cross-sectoral taskforce with representation across all relevant portfolios alongside key peak bodies, and a strong connection to community services delivering on-the-ground support. The taskforce will:

16. Strengthen Australia’s social safety net by advocating for an increase to the rate of Newstart and Youth Allowance by a minimum of $95 per week.

17. Address gaps in affordable transport in regional Queensland by supporting communities to identify and deliver place-based responses to local transport problems, such as expanding the Demand Responsive Transport trials into regional areas and ensuring that solutions are co-designed with people who use public transport including those with disability - for example by commissioning a ‘journey-mapping’ study for Queenslanders with disability, navigating the Queensland transport system.

18. Improve access and uptake of concessions by ensuring eligibility is fair and consistent across all essential services and application processes are automated so everyone who is eligible, receives the assistance to which they are entitled.

19. Advocate for the protection of people from harmful payday lending and consumer lease practices, by passing the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Small Amount Credit Contract and Consumer Lease Reforms) Bill 2018 and commit to ongoing active monitoring of emerging business models and practices across the financial sector.

20. Support people to reduce and pay off unmanageable State Penalties Enforcement Register (SPER) debts by fully implementing the Work Development Order program and improving approaches to unrecoverable debt.

21. Improve access to safe, affordable credit options for regional Queenslanders in financial stress by investing $3 million per annum into on-the-ground service delivery and outreach, to provide better access to No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) via locally based community organisations.

22. QCOSS proposes that the Premier establish a cross-sectoral taskforce with representation across all relevant portfolios alongside key peak bodies, and a strong connection to community services delivering on-the-ground support, to work collaboratively to improve financial wellbeing across the state.


4.4 A fast and fair transition to a sustainable future Climate change is not only a threat to our environment, it threatens people’s homes, livelihoods, health, quality of life, employment and increases risks and burdens for future generations. It is a social justice and intergenerational equity issue.

Climate change hits people living on low incomes or experiencing disadvantage first and hardest. They often contribute the least to emissions and have the fewest protections from climate change impacts. People who experience poverty and disadvantage are also worse off if the transition to a clean economy is poorly managed and inequitable. They pay disproportionately more of their incomes on essential services and have less choice and control to reduce costs. For these individuals and families, support is required to enable them to access energy efficiency mechanisms including appliance and solar energy programs.

Queensland is the most vulnerable state in Australia to climate change. We are highly exposed to extreme weather and Queensland has borne 60 per cent of the total economic costs of extreme weather in Australia in the decade from 2007 to 2016.12 As the climate changes, these events are likely to continue, which means a focus not only on rebuilding but also ensuring communities can adapt and thrive in the face of our changing climate. This includes building capacity in community sector organisations to provide appropriate services to their communities.

The Queensland Premier must take effective action on climate change. This includes prioritising energy efficiency reductions for low-income renters, supporting communities and organisations to become more resilient to extreme weather and natural disasters, and investing to develop community-led place-based strategies to transition our regional economies to a more sustainable future.

What is needed?

Climate change action must be taken by the State Government with a fast and fair transition to an affordable renewable energy system to be achieved through:

23. Developing an energy efficiency strategy that includes targeted responses for households unable to take action, including minimum energy efficiency standards for renters and support to help low-income households upgrade to energy efficient appliances.

24. Improving access to the benefits of affordable low emissions technologies by targeting solar programs to renters and low-income households and supporting the implementation of community-led renewable energy projects.

25. Developing a state-wide map of vulnerability to climate change, including data on social vulnerability and environmental risks. Investing in community-led place-based strategies to identify the economic opportunities, skills and supports needed to transition people and communities identified as being most at risk, to a more sustainable future.

12 Climate Council of Australia, Welcome to Queensland: Renewable one day, and the next, and next, 2019


5.0 Being in service Supporting a service system that reflects the community in which it operates.

The community services sector plays a critical role in supporting thriving communities and progressing A Queensland Renewed. The community services sector is a crucial element of every community in Queensland. It provides the safety net that we all need in periods of our life. It ensures that people with disability can live full lives, supports seniors to age well, and houses, feeds and supports individuals and families to move through tough times.

While funding of community services occurs across the Queensland Government, the Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors plays a critical role in supporting the sector as a whole. Through the Partnering for the Future Strategy it has worked with key sector bodies to consider actions that are needed to ensure the sector is well placed to respond to changing demand, and that they are able to play their role effectively as critical parts of communities.

Funding decisions must reflect the reality that a strong, resilient and responsive social services sector is essential to enabling many Queenslanders to live a good life.

It is critical that local communities inform funding decisions, and that organisations and individuals working in the sector are resourced to respond effectively based on community need across the state.

Community services have a strong social justice mission and must remain faithful to it, especially in times of crisis and upheaval. The diversity of community services - large and small, general and specialist, mainstream and community-controlled - must also be encouraged, celebrated and prioritised, as each caters to different community needs. To ensure Queensland’s community services sector is recognised and valued as critical social infrastructure and well positioned to meet future challenges, we are calling for the state government to commit to:

• Funding sustainability and reform

• Investing in Neighbourhood and Community Centres

• Supporting access and inclusion and human rights.

5.1 Funding sustainability and reform A level of funding certainty is required to support the sector to continue to deliver services, enable successful reform and support organisations to provide services into the future. QCOSS supports the government’s move to five-year contracts and asks that this be continued across all service delivery.

It is also important that funding is adequate to meet the real costs of service delivery including adequate indexation and operational costs. It means looking forward to ensure our social service system is resilient to the trends and challenges we will face in the future.

The Social Services Category Council is an ideal place for government and the sector to solve the complexities of social services investment. It requires effective and resourced leadership to resolve the immediate and complex issues. This is an opportunity to take a leadership role in the procurement of social services and drive coordinated activity across


government and the sector and provide an effective advocacy voice to federal government. Among other actions the Category Council could assist in:

• The roll out of five-year contracts across all social services to ensure the sustainability of services required to meet the needs of people across the state.

• Ongoing assessment of required funding levels across all community services including the impacts of federal government decisions.

• Supporting the shift to outcomes-based funding including development of whole-of-government investment frameworks to support place-based approaches.

• Investing for quality service delivery through ensuring funding can support networking and coordination activities of workers, and the necessary travel time for their services.

• Consistency of funding for management and operations to ensure ongoing viability and sustainability of services.

Two key issues are front of mind for community services in 2020 for consideration by the Social Services Category Council:

• Portable Long Service Leave - The implementation of Portable Long Service Leave (PLSL) for community services is an important step to support parity of wages and conditions for workers in the community services sector. It also supports retention of workers in the sector, a long-time challenge. However, implementation of the new scheme must be planned and considered, and organisations supported to transition. This includes provision of increased funding of 1.35 per cent to support the increased costs incurred. Failure to increase funding risks service provision.

• Equal Remuneration Order (ERO) – Jobs and services in communities are at risk as the Commonwealth Government has not committed to continue the ERO supplementation payments from July 2021 to assist organisations. This supplementation was made in response to the Fair Work Commission’s landmark decision to pass an Equal Remuneration Order (ERO) to gradually increase wages over an eight-year period from December 2012 to December 2020. This decision was made to address the gendered undervaluation of work performed in much of the community services sector. As a result, governments across Australia, including the federal government, provided additional funding to ensure that community sector organisations could pay higher wages and maintain quality services.

What is needed? To support funding certainty and adequacy we ask funding decision makers to:

26. Appropriately resource the Social Services Category Council as an ongoing mechanism for shared leadership on investment reform including:

a. Ongoing assessments of the suitability of funding levels across all community services including the impacts of federal government decisions.

b. Support the shift to outcomes-based funding including development of whole-of-government investment frameworks to support place-based approaches.

c. Investing for quality service delivery by ensuring funding can support networking and coordination activities of workers and travel time for their services.


27. Continue the rollout of five-year contracts across Queensland Government departments to ensure the sustainability of services required to meet the needs of people across the state.

28. Support effective implementation of Portable Long Service Leave (PLSL) provisions with additional funding required to support the implementation of the 1.35 per cent levy required across affected organisations.

29. Seek immediate funding of the Equal Remuneration Order Supplementation by the federal government post June 2021.

5.2 Investing in Neighbourhood and Community Centres

Locally based, community-led support is vital to help people navigate what’s available to them and make sure the systems are accessible and available to those who need them, no matter where they live.

Queensland’s neighbourhood and community centres are critical place-based infrastructure in their communities, playing an important role in supporting individuals at different stages of their lives, whether it be for inclusion in the community or at times of crisis. The current funding model does not work for many of these centres. It is a model that compromises the viability of the service; makes workers unsafe; and jeopardises outcomes for individuals. It significantly risks and limits the social and public value of these organisations and the contribution they make to their communities. The funding model for these centres needs to be corrected and expanded to recognise the critical role they play in responding to increasing demand and complexity of need.

There is a range of work either completed or underway that provides advice on possible investment and performance frameworks. However, this work has been undertaken mostly in isolation from each other and sometimes without consultation with the sector. Joint leadership to navigate the path forward will support effective decision making and the change management required for implementation. Existing frameworks include:

• Investment Management Standard (IMS) 2017 – this process developed a program logic map including benefits, KPIs, measures and investment recommendations. The process was endorsed by Queensland Treasury and managed by the then Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, supported by QCOSS and QFCA.

• Griffith Review – this review has been underway for some time and the results are not yet known, however it is understood that this will likewise provide advice on the practice framework that can directly inform investment models and recommendations for funding.

• Queensland Families and Communities Association (QFCA) – has been funded to develop a performance framework.

• Individual centres – many individual centres have conducted or are conducting program logic processes.

• Gateway Hub – Logan Together is also undertaking a project to develop a model for gateway hubs.


QCOSS and QFCA have undertaken to bring these frameworks and these stakeholders together. One common element across all these pieces of work is the acknowledgement of the central role of neighbourhood centres in community development and creating stronger thriving communities.

What is needed? QCOSS proposes that immediate action be taken to increase funding to neighbourhood centres including:

30. Rent subsidies for those centres that are not in department owned facilities and therefore using a larger share of base funding for rent. This will help address inequities across centres.

31. Implementation of a funded community development strategy for centres, to ensure that over three years all centres have the capacity to undertake this important work in communities.

32. Funding and support for a specialist Neighbourhood and Community Centre Workforce Strategy to support supply of workers including:

a. Managers with skills in both community development and management/business

b. Community Development workers and skills c. Development of administration workers through upskilling d. Providing a suite of resources / supports to enable staff to deliver

improved outcomes.

5.3 Access, inclusion and human rights Everyone deserves to be able to fully engage in their community and feel a sense that they contribute, matter and belong.

To achieve this, we need inclusive, accessible policies and practices across all government portfolios and non-government services. This means better information about the accessibility of our public spaces, information in formats that meet community need, and improving access to Indigenous language, foreign language and Auslan interpreter services.

We need true partnerships across government and community to ensure the diverse voices of Queenslanders are integrated into policy and program design, and implementation. This includes engaging with the experience of people with disability, people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, seniors, those who are digitally excluded and people with low literacy and numeracy skills, to ensure their needs are met.

Digital technologies are increasingly essential, yet we know many Queenslanders are digitally excluded due to barriers to access, affordability or lack of skills to successfully engage with online information or services. As more people, businesses and government services go online, the disadvantages of being digitally excluded are increasing. This digital exclusion reflects and compounds other areas of disadvantage, with people on lower incomes, older people, and people with disability all likely to be less engaged in the digital world.


To ensure Queensland is a state that ‘walks the talk’ when it comes to equality and inclusion for all, we must also work together to bring the new Queensland Human Rights Act to life by ensuring everyone in Queensland has the information and support they need to safely and confidently assert their rights under the Act.

What is needed? We must ensure Queensland is a state that actively champions accessibility, inclusion and human rights for all. To achieve this, we are asking the Premier to:

33. Enable genuine co-production of policies and programs through equitable representation by people with lived experience, to have their voice heard, their dignity promoted, their expertise recognised and their time valued through development, decision-making and implementation, with appropriate supports.

34. Bring the Human Rights Act to life across the state by investing in training for service providers, funding individual advocacy to support people to make complaints under the Act and implementing an extensive program of community education to support all Queenslanders to understand and assert their rights under the Human Rights Act, with targeted approaches for people most at risk.

35. Work with the community to develop an online portal about the accessibility of public spaces, including the sharing of peer experiences through crowdsourcing public review and comment.

36. Boost the availability of language, Indigenous and Auslan interpreter services across government and funded non-government services by improving workforce planning and increasing funding to meet community need and increased costs associated with the passing of the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017.

37. Ensure all government information and services are accessible to those experiencing digital exclusion by providing free, unmetered access to Queensland government websites, ensuring information is offered in alternative non-digital formats and investing in local face-to-face support to assist people who are unable to access information online.


6.0 Conclusion And so, in this Priority Action Plan we make our strategy real. We set out our priorities for change.

Change in how we lead: leading together with a collective vision and with shared decision making, hand in hand with the people of Queensland.

Change in our communities: building communities where everyone has a voice, where investment and priorities are set locally, where government and communities work together to create outcomes for all.

Change in our systems: hearing and learning from First Nations voices and ensuring that all people have all they need for wellbeing - a home, enough money to eat and sleep and live in peace, and hope for a future.

Change in our sector: where increasing demand for services, increasing complexity of issues can be met with services that are accessible, sustainable and responsive to the needs of the people and communities they serve.


Appendix

What is needed – a complete list

A Vision for Queensland 1. Work with key stakeholders and the wider community to establish and articulate a

clear and aspirational vision for Queensland.

2. Establish a Shared Leadership Group of key government stakeholders, non-government parties and people with lived experience, to drive and support the vision and coordinate strategy, investment and policy approaches, both at a state-wide and local level.

3. Adopt a set of wellbeing measures to track progress and inform decision making across all government portfolios.

Starting a revolution Building hope and optimism across Queensland through engaged, inclusive and thriving communities.

4. Commit to developing a comprehensive and coordinated program of inclusive engagement in local communities, which results in a shared vision for Queensland.

5. Ensure that there are real opportunities for people with lived experience to actively participate in decision making.

6. Develop a 10-year strategic plan to enable coordinated place-based responses across Queensland including a strategic and financial commitment to long-term approaches across urban, regional and remote contexts, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

7. Target investment in capacity building of government and community to work from a place-based methodology (this must include training, development and mentoring).

8. Establish a $10 million Community Innovation Fund over five years to support local solutions, to local issues.

Rebooting the system Overturning systems and structures that create and perpetuate inequality.

9. Advocating for the Australian Government to

a. establish a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution; and


b. establish a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about Indigenous history.

10. Continuing their commitment to ‘Tracks to Treaty’ to reframe their relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland.

11. Reform and invest in social / affordable housing – this includes a minimum of 38,000 affordable housing dwellings and 15,000 new social housing dwellings. Relaunching an improved affordable housing investment subsidy to focus on new dwellings, and supporting community housing sustainability by investigating stock transfers, simplifying administration, subsidies and diverse tenant allocations, and implementing targeted shared equity schemes.

12. Fully fund the ongoing construction and maintenance of housing supply in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities without affecting other housing and homelessness services.

13. Empower renters – by improving legal protections for tenants including the prompt return of bonds, more secure tenure, removing eviction without reasonable grounds, implementing minimum standards, capping rent increases and funding tenant advocacy services.

14. Reform homelessness programs – through properly funding homelessness services, transitioning to ‘Housing First’ rapid re-housing in long-term housing, with additional funding to enable wrap around support services for people to sustain tenancies.

15. Implement inclusive design and supply initiatives to ensure that all people can have a house that suits their needs.

16. Strengthen Australia’s social safety net by advocating for an increase to the rate of Newstart and Youth Allowance by a minimum of $95 per week.

17. Address gaps in affordable transport in regional Queensland by supporting communities to identify and deliver place-based responses to local transport problems, such as expanding the Demand Responsive Transport trials into regional areas and ensuring that solutions are co-designed with people who use public transport including those with disability - for example by commissioning a ‘journey-mapping’ study for Queenslanders with disability, navigating the Queensland transport system.

18. Improve access and uptake of concessions by ensuring eligibility is fair and consistent across all essential services and application processes are automated so everyone who is eligible, receives the assistance to which they are entitled.

19. Advocate for the protection of people from harmful payday lending and consumer lease practices, by passing the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Small Amount Credit Contract and Consumer Lease Reforms) Bill 2018 and commit to ongoing active monitoring of emerging business models and practices across the financial sector.

20. Support people to reduce and pay off unmanageable State Penalties Enforcement Register (SPER) debts by fully implementing the Work Development Order program and improving approaches to unrecoverable debt.

21. Improve access to safe, affordable credit options for regional Queenslanders in financial stress by investing $3 million per annum into on-the-ground service delivery


and outreach to provide better access to No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) via locally based community organisations.

22. QCOSS proposes that the Premier establish a cross-sectoral taskforce with representation across all relevant portfolios alongside key peak bodies, and a strong connection to community services delivering on-the-ground support, to work collaboratively to improve financial wellbeing across the state.

23. Developing an energy efficiency strategy that includes targeted responses for households unable to take action, including minimum energy efficiency standards for renters and support to help low-income households upgrade to energy efficient appliances.

24. Improving access to the benefits of affordable low emissions technologies by targeting solar programs to renters and low-income households and supporting the implementation of community-led renewable energy projects.

25. Developing a state-wide map of vulnerability to climate change, including data on social vulnerability and environmental risks. Investing in community-led place-based strategies to identify the economic opportunities, skills and supports needed to transition people and communities identified as being most at risk, to a more sustainable future.

Being in service Supporting a service system that reflects the community in which it operates.

26. Appropriately resource the Social Services Category Council as an ongoing mechanism for shared leadership on investment reform including:

a. Ongoing assessments of the suitability of funding levels across all community services including the impacts of Federal Government decisions.

b. Support the shift to outcomes-based funding including development of whole-of-government investment frameworks to support place-based approaches.

c. Investing for quality service delivery by ensuring funding can support networking and coordination activities of workers and travel time for their services.

27. Continue the rollout of five-year contracts across Queensland Government departments to ensure the sustainability of services required to meet the needs of people across the state.

28. Support effective implementation of Portable Long Service Leave (PLSL) provisions with additional funding required to support the implementation of the 1.35 per cent levy required across affected organisations.

29. Seek immediate funding of the Equal Remuneration Order Supplementation by the federal government post June 2021.

30. Rent subsidies for those centres that are not in department owned facilities and therefore using a larger share of base funding for rent. This will help address inequities across centres.


31. Implementation of a funded community development strategy for centres, to ensure that over three years all centres have the capacity to undertake this important work in communities.

32. Funding and support for a specialist Neighbourhood and Community Centre Workforce Strategy to support supply of workers including:

a. Managers with skills in both community development and management/business

b. Community Development workers and skills c. Development of administration workers through upskilling d. Provide a suite of resources / supports to enable staff to deliver improved

outcomes.

33. Enable genuine co-production of policies and programs through equitable representation by people with lived experience, to have their voice heard, their dignity promoted, their expertise recognised and their time valued through development, decision-making and implementation, with appropriate supports.

34. Bring the Human Rights Act to life across the state by investing in training for service providers, funding individual advocacy to support people to make complaints under the Act and implementing an extensive program of community education to support all Queenslanders to understand and assert their rights under the Human Rights Act, with targeted approaches for people most at risk.

35. Work with the community to develop an online portal about the accessibility of public spaces, including the sharing of peer experiences through crowdsourcing public review and comment.

36. Boost the availability of language, Indigenous and Auslan interpreter services across government and funded non-government services by improving workforce planning and increasing funding to meet community need and increased costs associated with the passing of the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017.

37. Ensure all government information and services are accessible to those experiencing digital exclusion by providing free, unmetered access to Queensland government websites, ensuring information is offered in alternative non-digital formats and investing in local face-to-face support to assist people who are unable to access information online.


Equality. Opportunity. Wellbeing.

www.qcoss.org.au

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