2025 has been a year marked by change and uncertainty — a snap state election, a federal election, two state budgets and two Treasurers later, here we are.
I valued the opportunity to gather with many of our members from across the industry in Hobart last night, to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate the essential contributions of the community services industry. The Minister for Community and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Madeleine Ogilvie, also addressed the room and heard directly from organisations about the challenges and pressures they are facing.
Make no mistake, it is a tough operating environment right now and we stressed this to the Minister. Demand for community services continues to rise and the cost of doing business increases, far outstripping the level of funding provided.
We continue to hear from organisations that have had to let staff go, reduce hours, scale back programs or, in some cases, close service offerings altogether.
Our workforce is stretched, and while we’re deeply committed to getting on with the job of supporting Tasmanians, the constant pressure to ‘make do’ inevitably comes at a cost — to organisations, to staff wellbeing and ultimately to the Tasmanians we serve.
Despite these challenges, there has been progress. At the state election in July, the Coalition of Tasmanian Community Service Peaks came together with a unified voice to call on our elected representatives to ‘Prioritise all Tasmanians,’ by supporting a sustainable industry to meet the current and future needs of all.
We asked the Government for stability, for respect and for a genuine partnership that recognises the immense social and economic value of our industry. And importantly, our calls received bipartisan support.
Since then, we’ve seen some evidence of the first phase of five year contract agreements commence, and we’ve strongly urged the Minister to stand by the Government’s commitment to fast-track industry-wide implementation. Moreover, a Partnership Agreement, which will be developed in the New Year, represents a long-awaited shift in how Government and our industry work together, and we were pleased to see the Minister reaffirm her commitment to this approach in the media this week.
We know the budget outlook for May is challenging and we share the concerns of organisations working in our industry about the Government’s course of action when it comes to finding savings and efficiencies.
The truth is you won’t find many, if any, industry who operates as efficiently as the community services industry. Every dollar invested in our industry saves government’s money in the long run, because it prevents crises before they occur.
In the lead up to the May budget, we will continue to call on the Government to take a balanced, responsible approach to fiscal repair that draws on a mix of equitable revenue-raising measures and targeted investment that prevents costly crises, rather than cuts that guarantee them.
Together, we’ll keep advocating for a sustainable, respected and properly funded industry — one that’s recognised for the essential role it plays in our state’s future. That is what Tasmanians need and expect.
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