Sector hands Canberra federal Budget ‘To do’ list

Many charity and not-for-profit (NFP) organisations, however, have proved much more decisive, lodging their annual wish lists of government initiatives in the form of pre-budget submissions.

They range from development of a Charities Investment Fund, designed to provide charities with reduced interest loans for impact investment, to $14.5 million in targeted funding for community legal centres to provide legal assistance to the LGBTIQ+ community.

The Community Advocate has pulled together a snapshot of what the sector is hoping Canberra will deliver on budget night.

Community Council for Australia

In its pre-budget submission the peak body, which represents almost 70 organisations including the the Australian Conservation Foundation, Australian Red Cross and the Brotherhood of St Laurence, made nine recommendations it said would significantly strengthen Australia’s NFP sector.

They include:

• approving Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status for all registered charities in line with the recommendations in the Productivity Commission’s Future Foundations of Giving report
  
• the creation of a Charities Transformation Fund to support cybersecurity and sector capacity development
  
• development of a Charities Investment Fund designed to provide charities with reduced interest loans for impact investment
• the introduction of a targeted estate duty for people with estates valued at more than $10 million, which would include incentives for donations to charities.

Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA)

Multicultural organisation FECCA has urged Canberra to investment more in anti-racism initiatives, inclusive government policies, migrant settlement programs, healthcare, aged care, prevention of gender-based violence, and economic participation.

Proposed measures contained in the organisation’s pre-budget submission include:

• funding the National Anti-Racism Framework to combat discrimination and promote equity
• investing in multicultural health initiatives to improve health outcomes for CALD communities
• supporting women’s workforce participation through culturally responsive childcare services
• reforming migrant skills recognition to ensure equitable employment opportunities
• enhancing access to and equity in government services through inclusive policy design.

Ageing Australia

The national peak body for aged care said budget initiatives that would boost investment in the sector are crucial to ensure the successful implementation of the new Aged Care Act which comes into force in July.

In its pre-budget submission, Ageing Australia called for a raft of measures to address what it believes are three priority areas:

Funding: ensuring aged care services are adequately funded so they can deliver quality care, and will be sustainable into the future

Workforce: building the aged care workforce so the aged care sector can meet growing demand

Reform: supporting implementation of the new Aged Care Act.

Specific recommendations include allocating $600 million to establish an ICT grant program for aged care providers to help them meet the obligations of the new Act, and $9 million over three years to help aged care providers to employ and retain migrant workers.

Jesuit Social Services

The social justice organisation said the 15 recommendations contained in its pre-budget submission aim to highlight opportunities for the federal government to prioritise research, strategies and programs that support children, young people and families.

They include:

• the appointment of a Cabinet Minister for Children with responsibility for the human rights and wellbeing of children in Australia
  
• expansion of the Disaster Ready Fund to strengthen disaster resilience in vulnerable communities
  
• establishment of a First Nations Self-determination and Strengthening Fund for Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs)
  
• boosted investment in programs to collect data on the extent and drivers of family violence and child sexual abuse in Australia
  
• increased funding for the Settlement Engagement and Transition Support (SETS) Program, along with expanded eligibility to include people who have arrived in Australia on humanitarian visas and become Australian citizens.

Refugee Council of Australia

The pre-budget submission of the national peak body for refugees and asylum seekers focused on four priority areas:

• Expanding the government’s humanitarian program
• Investing in a National Emergency Response Framework for people fleeing crisis zones
• Establishing a financial safety net for people seeking refugee protection
• Increasing assistance to countries supporting displaced people and to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

National Seniors Australia (NSA)

The peak consumer body representing older Australians identified the cost of living, tax, health, housing, aged care and banking as key areas of concern it wanted addressed in this year’s budget.

The recommendations in NSA’s pre-budget submission include:

• increasing the age pension by $10 per day to address cost-of-living pressures
• making employment income exempt from the age pension income test
• a 40 per cent increase in the Medicare rebate for GP consultations longer than 20 minutes as a way to reduce out-of-pocket health costs
• lifting the maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance
• an increase in age pension gifting limits to support older people who give to charity.

Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA)

A key plank of the CBAA’s pre-budget submission is a request for increased funding for the Community Broadcasting Program (CBP) and Indigenous Broadcasting and Media Program (IBMP).

CBAA said a commitment by Canberra to ongoing indexed funding is crucial to ensure the sustainability of the community broadcasting sector.

In its submission to the federal government’s recently completed Community Broadcasting Sector Sustainability Review, CBAA said community broadcasters were under intense pressure, with government funding programs failing to keep pace with inflation and rising costs.

The CBAA budget submission has asked for federal funding to be increased from $52 million to $80 million per year – an extra $13.1 million for the CBP and $14.5 million for the IBMP.

Community Legal Centre’s Australia

A $230 million cash injection to alleviate chronic underfunding of community legal centres across the nation is a key element in Community Legal Centres Australia’s pre-budget submission.

Also on the peak body’s wish list:

• $14.5 million in targeted funding for community legal centres to provide legal assistance to the LGBTIQ+ community
  
• $14.5 million for legal assistance to recent migrants, asylum seekers and refugees
• a $20.8 million investment to offset challenges faced by community legal centres in rural, regional, remote and very remote areas
  
• $3 million over six years for community legal centres to upgrade data and technology systems.

Everybody’s Home

Affordable housing advocacy body Everybody’s Home said in its pre-budget submission that after decades of poor planning and underinvestment, a major ongoing budget commitment was required to meet the rising demand for social and affordable housing.

While welcoming recent federal government efforts to tackle the housing affordability crisis, such as the establishment of the Housing Australia Future Fund, the submission said actions to date don’t match the scale of the crisis.

“Without major reform of investor tax settings, housing will continue to grow out of reach for a growing number of Australians,” the submission said.

Everybody’s Home called for a range of spending initiatives to be included in the federal Budget, including:

• abolishing investor tax breaks such as negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount to reduce speculative investment
  
• construction of an additional 940,000 social housing properties over the next two decades
  
• a 50 per cent increase in the maximum threshold for Commonwealth Rent Assistance
  
• a $450 million annual funding boost for homelessness services.

Mental Health Australia (MHA)

Mental Health Australia’s pre-budget submission said there was enormous pressure on the nation’s collective mental health and wellbeing.

MHA said the prevalence of mental health conditions among young people had increased 50 per cent over the past decade and that mental health issues were now the most common reason for people to see a GP, a situation exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.

Its budget submission called for a wide range of initiatives to address these issues, including:

• funding to progress priority actions identified in the National Mental Health Workforce Strategy, such as better access to training through increased subsidies, placements and traineeships
  
• a commitment to fully funding implementation of the recommendations from the federal government commissioned Digital Navigation Project, aimed at making it easier for people seeking help to navigate the mental health system
  
• ongoing finding for preventive mental health care as part of the National Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Strategy
• adjusting federal government funding for community mental health services to five-year funding cycles, and appropriately indexing all current contracts.

St Vincent de Paul Society

An increase in income support and domestic violence payments is a key element of St Vincent de Paul Society’s pre-budget submission.

Vinnies, which helps desperate and disadvantaged Australians across the nation, has also urged the federal government to:

• increase medical bulk billing services
  
• boost Status Resolution Support Services and the Remote Allowance Payment
  
• improve access to affordable housing, such as by reviewing the level of Commonwealth Rent Assistance and funding more specialist homelessness services
  
• boost funding for the Commonwealth Emergency Relief program.

Volunteering Australia

Volunteering is vital to the nation’s wellbeing but faces ongoing challenges, according to Volunteering Australia.

The nation’s peak organisation for volunteering put forward seven recommendations in its pre-budget submission, saying they were necessary to help volunteering thrive across the nation.

They included:

• expanding the volunteer grants program to provide cost-of-living relief
• increased funding for the Volunteer Management Activity
• investment in coordination and monitoring of the National Strategy for Volunteering
• development of a national volunteer passport.

Council of the Ageing (COTA)

In its pre-budget submission, designed to improve the lives of older Australians, COTA identified four key areas it wants to see addressed by the federal government.

Improving cost of living

• Introduction of a seniors’ dental scheme
• Direct financial support to older people
• Improving housing affordability
• Reducing health expenses
• Improving financial outcomes at and during retirement.

Tackling ageism

• Developing a national ageism strategy
• Reducing older worker age discrimination.

Strengthening protections for older Australians

• Preventing elder abuse
• Improving consumer protections in the areas of scams, seniors’ living arrangements and banking.

Increased access to health and aged care services

• Increased funding for Support at Home packages
• Improved rules and monitoring in relation to aged care co-contributions
• Introduction of a hospital at home scheme.

YFoundations

Funding for a national plan to address the youth homelessness and housing crisis was a key recommendation in youth advocacy body Yfoundations’ pre-budget submission.

The organisation wants the federal government to design and deliver a National Child and Youth Homelessness and Housing Action Plan, and also to:

• review the method of indexation applied under the National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness to ensure homelessness funding keeps pace with the actual costs of homelessness service delivery
  
• raise youth allowance and Job Seeker above the Henderson poverty line to at least $88 a day
  
• end what it described as unfair tax breaks that contribute to generational inequality and drive up housing prices.

More information

NFP sector outlines federal budget wishlist