TasCOSS has put forward three budget priorities statements for consideration in the 2025/26 Tasmanian State Budget, due to be handed down on Thursday 29 May 2025.
In our budget statements, TasCOSS recommends a series of initiatives and recommendations that, if enacted by the Tasmanian Government, will lead to improved community services industry sustainability, bring down the cost of living for Tasmanians and improve our collective wellbeing, and breakdown the barriers to digital inclusion for thousands of Tasmanians who are unable to access the social and economic benefits of being online.
The community services industry is one of the fastest growing and largest employing industries in Tasmania, adding around $1.9 billion annually to the Tasmanian economy, and employing more than 28,000 Tasmanians, vitally supported by more than 46,000 (formal) volunteers.
However, until there is significant progress on the structural barriers that cause inequality, disadvantage, poverty and exclusion, the need for the provision of essential community services will continue to grow in Tasmania. A Sustainable Industry for All Tasmanians makes a series of key recommendations to embed changes to community organisations aimed at supporting industry sustainability.
A crucial role for governments is to ensure its citizens have access to the essentials we need for our health and wellbeing. A Good Life for Tasmanians: Getting the Basics Right makes 24 evidence-informed recommendations to improve wellbeing across five critically important areas: collective wellbeing and promoting a lived experience voice; preventive health; safe, secure and affordable housing; income support, food security and energy affordability; and public transport.
So much of what we do daily relies on an internet connection and the skills to navigate the web, but those who face barriers to digital inclusion risk falling further behind. The digital economy delivers huge social and economic benefits, however those benefits are not being equally shared. Digital Inclusion: Tackling the Digital Divide makes nine evidence-informed recommendations aimed at ensuring every Tasmanian has the means and the competency to access the benefits of the online world.
TasCOSS’s budget statements are informed by Tasmanians living on low and inadequate incomes and those experiencing poverty, inequality and exclusion, as well as experts working in the community services industry who possess invaluable firsthand expertise.
If you have queries related to TasCOSS’s budget priorities, please contact us on (03) 6231 0755 or via email.
Click on the budget priorities statement you’re interested in to find out more:
