Last month saw a major cabinet reshuffle with significant implications for the community sector. Minister Caitlin Tough is the new Minister for Community Services. In her other portfolios, she also has responsibilities relating to many of the populations and issues on which ACTCOSS and our members focus.
I wrote to her on the day the new Cabinet was announced seeking a meeting. Our sector has this opportunity help make her transition as smooth as possible and to inform her of the unique value of our work. ACTCOSS commits to working constructively with her to represent our sector and our community.
Last month the Government also announced a process to improve commissioning and revise the Social Compact, with ACTCOSS co-chairing a working group on the latter. We look forward to working with Government and representing the community sector on both of these issues.
At the community services estimates hearings last month, colleagues from ACTCOSS and I provided evidence on the role and sustainability of the community sector and challenges for people facing poverty and exclusion.
Outside of this session, our community heard from many of you – service providers, advocates and directorates. MLAs heard about the kinds of issues that arise when processes and systems are not connected to each other and when accountability is unclear. Most critically, perhaps, they heard about what happens when available resources are not enough to meet the needs of the population or to achieve the government’s own aims.
We need to keep our focus on the sustainability of the whole system. We need to make sure people can navigate through the system and get the help they need. If it’s a struggle for well-resourced MLAs to understand how it all works, how can we expect people in crisis or stress to figure it out?
I’d also like to flag our upcoming Adapting Together: ACT Community Sector Climate Adaptation Forum on 26 November. With a theme of Strengthening organisations, supporting communities, the forum builds on ATCOSS’s ongoing work with the community sector to strengthen our ability to adapt to climate change.
Dealing with climate change and hazards has already become a stressor for our community and for our organisations. Increasingly, dealing with these issues will be a core part of our business.
The forum will bring together representatives from the community sector, policy makers and climate experts to share their understanding of the climate issues facing our region, so we can best support the most vulnerable people in our region.
In our annual advocacy cycle, we have started work on the ACTCOSS submission to the 2027-28 ACT Government Budget process. We’ll also be holding introductory budget workshops in August and September for community organisations. If you have any Budget-related questions or comments, please get in touch with our policy team at [email protected]. | 
