ACT Government investment in community sector plummets 30% as a proportion of all government expenditure – it’s time to ACT for Community
25 October 2024
Today, ACT Council of Social Services (ACTCOSS) CEO, Dr Devin Bowles, has launched the ACTCOSS ‘Community Sector Investment Over Time’ research in front of the ACT Legislative Assembly.
Despite the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis, the ACT Government investment in the community sector as a proportion of all government expenditure decreased by 30% between 2009-10 and 2022-23, according to new analysis by ACTCOSS. In 2009-10, investment in the community sector accounted for 3.6% of the total budget. By 2022-23, it had fallen to a mere 2.5%.
“The 2023-24 ACT Budget Outlook boasts that Canberra is predicted to have the fastest population growth rate of any jurisdiction in Australia. However current funding contracts to community organisations do not reflect this increase of Canberrans, who are being left further and further behind” said ACTCOSS CEO Dr Devin Bowles.
“Canberra’s population grew by 29% between 2010 and 2023, and the Government’s overall expenditure increased by 65% over that period after adjusting for inflation. Disappointingly, funding for the community sector increased by just 15% after adjusting for inflation. That’s about half the rate of population growth and less than a quarter the expenditure increase the Government provided itself” said Dr Bowles.
“The results of this analysis strongly support calls from more than 80 ACT community organisations for an increase in funding for the sector. This includes an annual Population Level Adjustment in all contracts to ensure Canberrans don’t miss out further. The Population Level Adjustment should be retrospective as well as prospective.
“All of the recently elected parties and candidates from across the political pledged to include a Population Level Adjustment going forward, and some included a retrospective measure. The one exception is Labor. This means that about 60% of MLAs were elected on the promise of fairer funding for people experiencing disadvantage and the community sector. Labor promised to consider this issue within the first six months of Government.
“Government has had more than enough time to consider the issue. The community sector has been raising systemic underfunding for over a decade, including in the Counting the Costs report in 2021.
“The community sector is optimistic that an automatic Population Level Adjustment can be included as an essential part of any Parliamentary and Governing Agreement. Any agreement that does not include a Population Level Adjustment will not reflect the will of voters.
“The community sector delivers food, housing and social support to people experiencing the deepest poverty and most severe trauma. Not only do our community organisations help those most in need, but nearly every Canberran uses community services, often without even realising it. This reduction in ACT Government funding over more than a decade is a real blow to our community organisations and the people they help in the ACT,” said Dr Bowles.
“Currently many community organisations are forced to turn away those in need, or put them on waiting lists that are so long that crisis turns into catastrophe.
“The formation of a new government is an opportunity to chart a better course and prioritise a fair go for all Canberrans. Funding for the community sector should be increasing during a cost-of-living crisis” said Dr Bowles.
The CEO of Toora Women Inc, Kellie Friend, said “Demand for our domestic violence and homelessness services has been growing for years. In the last financial year, this demand surged with a 26% increase in clients. A 30% funding boost to take into account over a decade of population growth, would allow us to employ up to 15 extra staff, which in turn, would give Toora the capacity to support an additional 200 women across our spectrum of services.”
“Funding for the community sector and public housing are two of the clearest measures of the importance that a territory government places on social equity,” said Dr Bowles.
“The fact that this reduction in community sector investment occurred even while the Government was generating extra revenue by selling off public housing demonstrates a clear need for the Government to return its attention to those experiencing poverty,” said Dr Bowles.
“This analysis explains why Canberrans feel that poverty, mental ill-health and many types of social exclusion have gotten worse in Canberra” said Dr Bowles.”
A Population Level Adjustment is one of four pillars of the ACT for Community campaign. The other pillars include a request for community organisations to have fit-for-purpose accommodation to facilitate their work, for all aspects of community work to be fully funded, and for a climate change adaptation fund to be established for the community sector to be better prepared to assist with future disasters” said Dr Bowles.
ACTCOSS advocates for social justice in the ACT and represents not-for-profit
community organisations. Follow us @ACTCOSS on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
For more information or comment, please contact
Dr Devin Bowles, CEO, ACTCOSS, on 0413 435 080.
Authorised by Dr Devin Bowles on behalf of the
ACT Council of Social Service Inc (ACTCOSS)