New data released by TasCOSS today reveals Tasmania’s community services organisations are being overwhelmed by rising demand and increasing costs, as inadequate funding fails to keep pace. As a consequence, Tasmanians are missing out on essential services.
A statewide Community Services Industry Sustainability Pulse Check found three-in-five (60%) organisations have had to turn people away over the past 12 months, and 48% are cutting services due to a lack of resources.
TasCOSS CEO, Ms Paula Wriedt, said the findings showed funding pressures were now directly affecting Tasmanians’ access to essential support.
“When 81% of organisations are reporting increased demand without additional resources, we have a serious service capacity problem,” Ms Wriedt said.
“Demand is rising at the same time as wages and other operating costs, but funding simply isn’t keeping pace.
“As a result, only one-in-five (21%) organisations consider themselves financially sustainable, and 53% expect to make a loss this financial year.
“This is an avoidable crisis unfolding in slow motion. Current projections point to further service rationing and job losses until, ultimately, organisations are forced to close their doors.
“Organisations cannot indefinitely absorb the funding gap by drawing on reserves, reducing staffing, delaying investment or limiting services. Eventually, as we’re already witnessing, that pressure reaches the Tasmanians who rely on our services.”
Jordan River Service is a place-based community organisation supporting people across Bridgewater, Gagebrook and Herdsmans Cove through its community pantry and a range of other community programs.
Jordan River Service CEO, Ms Mel Best, said inadequate funding that had failed to keep pace with rising costs was putting increasing pressure on the organisation.
“Food insecurity is a major concern in our community, which is why we operate the Waterbridge Community Pantry and Café. But its operating costs receive no direct government funding, so we fund it from our core Neighbourhood House funding,” Ms Best said.
“On the demand side, we’re increasingly seeing working families requesting assistance only a few days after payday because their wages simply aren’t covering the essentials.
“For many Tasmanian families, no amount of careful budgeting can plug the growing hole in the household budget. When the cost of housing, food, power and transport exceeds what’s coming in, there’s simply nowhere left to cut.
“We expect to make a loss this financial year. Our costs are rising by around 4.5%, while our government funding is indexed at just 3%, and we’ve had to move to a four day working week to ensure we can safely cover our Houses.
“There are 35 Neighbourhood Houses across Tasmania doing this kind of place-based work. We see and hear what our communities need, stretch every dollar as far as we can and consistently deliver above our funding levels.
“But without adequate funding, it is ultimately people already experiencing disadvantage who feel the impact.”
“These findings should be a catalyst for action and we are calling on the Tasmanian Government to commit to working with the industry on reform,” Ms Wriedt concluded.
The industry is calling for:
- A fit-for-purpose indexation approach that reflects the actual cost of doing business (76%);
- Funding for mandated wage increases to ensure organisations aren’t left to absorb workforce cost increases into already stretched budgets (66%); and
- Greater certainty through longer-term funding agreements and earlier funding decision (53%).