TasCOSS News August 2012
TasCOS S Tasmanian Council of Social Service
Newsletter
August 2012
Will this baby be a healthy adult?
Social factors are major determinants of health, p 6 Grassroots enterprise facilitation, p 4
Don’t mention the word literacy, p 10
The big switch for power retailing, p 13 1
TasCOSS News August 2012
Contents
From the CEO
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From the CEO
conference
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Engagement, innovation & equity
Enterprise from the grassroots
Join us at the conference in November
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TasCOSS is holding its 2012 conference on Thursday and Friday, 15-16 November, at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart.
Sharing responsibility for health
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This is our first conference since 2008 and we are excited about once again bringing together so many people doing great work in Tasmania under one roof.
Overview of 2012-13 State Budget
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Don’t mention literacy
The theme of the conference is Engagement, innovation and equity. The conference will be structured to encourage creative conversations: to share successes, promote relationships and facilitate the exchange of
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Reform of power sector
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TasCOSS is continuing its advocacy aimed at restoring full, annual indexation to the grants provided by government for service delivery work in the community sector. However, we need your help.
Income management takes off
Information and examples of the sort of impact being experienced in your organisation, and any increase in disadvantage that occurs, are essential to ensure that our representations to government are evidence-
Advertising and insert rates 2012 Advertising (exc GST) Non Members
The aim is to provide inspiration and fresh energy for the important work of our sector. World Vision Australia CEO Tim Costello will deliver the Dorothy Pearce Address as one of the conference’s keynote speakers. Premier Lara Giddings will also speak and participate in a Q&A. To find out more and to register for the conference, visit our website, www.tascoss.org.au
based and demonstrate the real effect on ordinary Tasmanians as a result of this funding shortfall. Please send to beng@tascoss. org.au contact information for the most appropriate person in your organisation to assist us with this: include name, organisation and email address, and a very brief description of the nature of the impact you are experiencing. A TasCOSS project officer will then get in touch with you.
Full
$70
$110
Goodbye to Elida, welcome to Beng
Half
$40
$70
Quarter $25
$40
TasCOSS was sad to lose longtime staff member Elida Meadows in July. Elida has moved on to a role as a policy officer at the Mental Health Council after nearly six years at TasCOSS. Just before she left, Elida finalised a
Inserts (exc GST) Members $85
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knowledge, ideas and experiences.
Cuts to grant indexation: how are they affecting your service delivery?
Change for aged care
Members
2012
Non Members $130
Editor: Gabrielle Rish gabrielle@tascoss.org.au Phone: 6231 0755
Diversity Toolkit for the community services sector as part of her work for the Sector Development
Unit. The toolkit will be launched soon. Ciao bella! TasCOSS has a new staff member, Beng Poh, who joined us in June as executive assistant to the CEO. She previously worked at Lifeline Tasmania. Beng is also a part-time fitness instructor, so she knows how to keep an office in good shape.
The Tasmanian community services sector must not be short-changed on funding of the Equal Pay Case decision
T
he February decision by Fair Work Australia in the community sector Equal Pay Case has the capacity to finally recognise and reward the remarkable work done by employees throughout the sector. The FWA decision has now been put into effect through the 22 June handing down of the Equal Remuneration Order, which sets out the details of the manner in which this historic wage milestone will be put in place. TasCOSS and other community sector representatives are working with the State Government on a project to implement the Equal Pay Case outcome through a steering committee based at the Department of Health and Human Services, which is government’s largest funder of the sector. A small government/sector team is working on a Salary Census of Tasmanian community sector organisations. By the time this newsletter goes to print funded sector organisations will have completed their surveys, which will be supplemented by information sessions throughout the state. The department will then assess the final cost of the implementation prior to making a recommendation to the Minister and the Treasurer over the methodology and quantum of the supplements need by organisations to fund the salary increases payable from 1 December 2012.
Commonwealth support increased
Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced in July that the federal component of the additional funding to the community sector around Australia (for Commonwealth-funded programs) had been increased from $2 billion to
$3 billion – a very welcome recognition. It is understood that this increase has resulted from a recalculation of the Commonwealth supplementation needed to fulfil the Prime Minister’s pledge that her government would pay its “full share” of the wage increases resulting from the wage case. Although the State Government allocated an additional $3 million in this year’s budget, increasing to $12 million in 201516 towards the cost of the FWA decision, TasCOSS has identified in its State Budget response that this allocation will not be sufficient to cover the additional cost to sector organisations. In close cooperation with all sector peak organisations, TasCOSS is actively continuing its advocacy on the need for the State Government to revise its allocation for the ERO once the full picture is understood through the Salary Census. The emphasis of our campaigning is to demonstrate the devastating immediate and longerterm effect on the sector, and the thousands of disadvantaged Tasmanians it supports, through any short-changing of the State Government’s obligation to support the equal pay landmark decision.
Cuts to grant indexation
The current advocacy campaign also includes continuing representations to the State Government on the decrease in the indexation of grants and the impact on sector organisations’ operating costs and capacity to deliver front-line services. It is the sector’s view that all State Government grants, not just those provided by the Department of Health and Human
Services, should be provided with full, annual indexation to allow service providers to deal with additional pressures on their operating costs through increases in the cost of living.
Key points of Fair Work Australia decision • Increase to pay rates in the SCHADS Award in line with the submission made by the Australian Services Union and Commonwealth Government, and supported by the Councils of Social Service around Australia. • Increases range from 19-41% • The rates granted are in line with the rates achieved in the Queensland equal pay decision of 2009. • The rates will be phased in over eight years in nine instalments starting in December 2012, not the five years originally sought by the ASU. • A further 4% will also be paid in instalments over the eight years. This component is comparable to the Queensland component. • The SCHADS Award will also be adjusted to reflect Living Wage Case increases as they are awarded. This will mean that the SCHADS Award will also keep pace with increases in all awards and so maintain the value of the equal pay rates decided in this case.
Tony Reidy TasCOSS Chief Executive
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world. Over this time, the Sirolli Institute has supported the creation of around 30,000 jobs.
Enterprise from the grassroots Three Tasmanian regions will benefit from a trial of the Sirolli model of enterprise facilitation
In
March 2012, Premier Lara Giddings announced the Tasmanian Government’s intention to support job creation and innovation in regional areas by running a trial of the Enterprise Facilitation process first used by Dr Ernesto Sirolli in Esperance, Western Australia in 1985. The Tasmanian Council of Social Service has promoted the Sirolli Enterprise Facilitation model as a means to address the root causes of poverty and disadvantage since inviting Dr Sirolli to Tasmania in August 2010, and was delighted to hear the Premier’s announcement. The trial will be held in three regional areas, Circular Head, Scottsdale/George Town and the Huon Valley, over the twoyear period from 2012-2014 at a cost of $950,000. These regions have all been hit by industry downturns in recent times. Jobs have been lost and community confidence has suffered due to the closure of food processing and manufacturing operations, and forest industry restructuring. The Enterprise Facilitation services will assist local people and organisations to develop their business ideas, whether in the form of social enterprises or conventional for-profit businesses.
What is enterprise facilitation?
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Enterprise Facilitation is a grassroots, communityled process that stimulates local economic activity while also building strong community support networks and civic engagement. A
local Enterprise Facilitator, who might wear jeans and has no office, meets people who have ideas or dreams for an enterprise. They meet in convivial places like cafes, around the kitchen table or in a workshop. The facilitator helps them identify where their skills and passion in business lie, and encourages them to team up with others with complementary skills.
It is simpler and more powerful to find someone with complementary skills to join the business team The Sirolli Institute has learnt that no single person is equally passionate and skilled in the three areas of business – product/service development, marketing and financial management. Rather than encouraging someone passionate about marketing, food service or handcrafts to train to learn how to manage their finances, or someone who loves massaging spreadsheets and financial figures to learn to love talking to clients to generate sales, the Enterprise Facilitator says it is simpler and more powerful to find someone with complementary skills to join the business team. The facilitator does not work in isolation. The engine room of an Enterprise Facilitation project is a local team of 30-50 volunteers who meet regularly with the facilitator and use their extensive networks to
help find people, resources and information needed by individual entrepreneurs to make their enterprise a success. This Resource Board provides an incredible mechanism to tap into the pool of often underutilised resources in any community. If the Resource Board is the engine room of the good ship Enterprise Facilitation, the bridge from which the ship is steered is the Project Management Team. This consists of a volunteer group of experienced, successful business and community people who oversee each project. They are responsible for hiring and firing the Facilitator, recruiting the Resource Board, promoting the success of enterprises supported by the project (which is the main way the service is promoted) and managing the project finances. Their skill is essential to the success of a project and its ongoing future beyond any initial funding period. Project Management Teams have been formed in the three Tasmanian pilots, and consist of highly respected community leaders and senior managers from some of Tasmania’s largest companies. The strength of these groups bodes well for the future success of the projects. Each project will be advertising for an Enterprise Facilitator in August or September with the aim of being active by October or November 2012. Enterprise Facilitation is a process tried and proven over more than 25 years in hundreds of communities around Australia and the
The Sirolli Institute says Enterprise Facilitation is: “A model of development that supports the creation of wealth from within your community by nurturing the intelligence and resourcefulness of your people. We champion the development of community pride through the passionate mentoring of local talent.” It is a process that complements but is very different from the top-down regional planning processes that lead to the development of the infrastructure local businesses and communities need to prosper. Enterprise Facilitation is a bottom-up process which harnesses the intelligence and creativity of local people, leading to enterprises that are able to fully utilise the infrastructure developed through top-down processes. An example of the relevance of Enterprise Facilitation to community organisations comes from a recent project set up in Blaenau Gwent in Wales. A sign-writing enterprise employing disabled people lost some important contracts. They asked the local facilitator for help. When the chair of the local Resource Board heard their story, he sent two engineers from his own company to visit them. They discovered that the disabled workers had sophisticated welding skills and gave them a contract to weld high-end components for prestige cars, which his company had been contracting out to companies in Europe. In Australia, an at-risk teenager told a teacher that all he wanted to do was set up a tattoo parlour. This was decades ago, when this suggestion sent shivers down the teacher’s spine. At
a facilitator’s suggestion, the teacher found the two best tattoo artists in Melbourne and arranged for the student to be apprenticed. He came home to establish his own tattoo business and provided an unexpected example of hope and success to his peers.
The role of TasCOSS
TasCOSS was employed by the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts to play a role in coordinating the establishment of the three Tasmanian pilot sites. In the process, we have learnt a great deal about what it takes to create a successful Enterprise Facilitation service, and have now begun working toward establishing a TasCOSS Enterprise Facilitation service. The intention is that the TasCOSS service would cater to two different client groups. The first is community organisations and individuals who wish to establish or expand social enterprises (businesses whose profits are directed to a social or environmental mission rather than personal gain for the owners). These enterprises would be from any and every field of interest, such as social service, health, environment, creative arts, energy efficiency, food and IT. The second client group would be clients of community service organisations – Tasmanians experiencing poverty and disadvantage with a business idea they wish to explore. We envision many of these would be for-profit businesses. This idea is in the early stages of development and will need to attract new funding to support it. Most of this funding will be sought from nongovernment sources. Early responses to the concept have been very positive.
Dr Ernesto Sirolli
"We believe that the future of every community lies in capturing the talent, energy and imagination of its people" From the Sirolli Credo
Tim Tabart Sector Development Unit
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The social services sector has a major role to play in addressing the causes of ill-health in Tasmania
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any people will be familiar with the concept of social determinants of health, whether as a turn of phrase or as a grouping of societal issues including, among other things, housing, poverty, transport, education, work and sexuality. However, our current collective efforts on these social determinants o f health are inadequate. I say this because: 1) There is currently a disconnect between the work of the social services sector and the health sector. 2) There is even greater disengagement between these two sectors and other important parts of our society that have the potential to make an enormous contribution to health and wellbeing. 3) There is currently too little done on preventing poor health and wellbeing and too much on picking up the pieces.
The core business of the social services sector is inextricably linked to health and wellbeing – whether it is supporting those on low incomes, giving a voice to older Tasmanians or young people, supporting carers or people with a disability, advocating for housing or providing emergency relief for families, providing transport services or advocating social justice causes. The health sector, on the other hand, is traditionally viewed as comprising medical and health care, screening and other health services that focus largely on treating people when they are ill. Despite sharing the common thread of health and wellbeing, the two sectors most often operate in isolation from each other. When a person is unwell, the healthcare system will treat the body (and sometimes the mind) and the social services system treats the broader environmen-
tal conditions (such as housing, income, support) and never the twain shall meet. Yet they are both dealing with people’s health and wellbeing.
that it should play an integral part in planning for the healthcare system of the future and in planning for the health of Tasmanians of the future.
In a society where healthcare costs are spiralling, it is paramount that we strengthen action on the social determinants – the core business of the social services sector – from the point of view of creating a healthier Tasmania.
Rather than focusing solely on boosting clinical services, reorganising healthcare and implementing information technology (such as the eHealth initiative), there must be far greater consideration of issues outside of medicine.
Firstly, we must embrace collaboration between the two sectors that currently ‘own’ these spaces so as to ensure greater sharing in the responsibility for creating a healthy Tasmania. To achieve this collaboration both sectors need to shift their thinking and action.
Here is where we can reduce the demands on our overstretched healthcare system and keep more people healthier.
While there are clearly other reasons why social services are important, the health argument is often overlooked, particularly when it comes to calculating the return on investment. Programs addressing education, housing, transport, the wellbeing of the ageing population, poverty and social exclusion require more than just moral arguments for their retention and expansion. It requires us to make a solid business case that shows that healthcare spending can be reduced by having these programs in place. Making stronger connections between social determinants and medical spending heightens the relevance of social policy to the pressing federal and state concern over spiralling health spending.
Education and literacy form one of the key social
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determinants of health.
With the $325 million federal rescue package for Tasmania’s healthcare system announced in June, now is the time for the social services sector to argue
Making stronger connections between social determinants and medical spending heightens the relevance of social policy Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek announced in June that a Commission on Tasmanian Government Delivery of Health Services would be established to examine how the Tasmanian Government delivered health services and whether they were being provided as effectively and efficiently as possible. Here is a marvellous opportunity for the social services sector to show leadership and foster stronger links with the healthcare and medical sectors. It’s not just the working relationships between social services and health that needs strengthening: we currently also fail to maximise on the fact that other sectors – economic development, business, industry,
transport, tourism, education, arts and others – are intimately linked to health and wellbeing outcomes. Economic opportunity, the infrastructure in our towns and cities, and education opportunities are conditions set not by doctors or hospitals, but by other sectors of society. The leaders who can best address the root causes of poor health and health inequities, and prevent people needing the support of social services, include those outside health and social services. They may include planners, builders, law enforcers, legislators, developers, restaurateurs, business leaders and teachers. These have the potential to be key change agents to address the root causes of inequities in health. This leads to my last point, which is the need for a greater emphasis on prevention of poor health and well-being. Prevention makes sense not only from the point of view that Tasmanians being healthy is a good thing in itself. Also, if we are healthy in the true sense of the word – a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (World Health Organisation) – we require less healthcare and medical intervention, and we require less support from the so-
TasCOSS News August 2012
Sharing responsibility for health
Health starts long before illness – it starts in our everyday lives. The houses we live in, the transport we are able to access, the level of stress in our lives, the job we have or don’t have, the social support we have around us and how much money we’ve got, have as much impact on our health and wellbeing as our genes and behaviours. These factors are known as the social determinants of health. The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, play and age. They are sometimes referred to as ‘the causes of the causes’ because they are the underlying reasons why people experience poor health. Go to www.tascoss.org.au for a set of Social Determinants of Health action sheets. cial services system. This obviously has to be the common goal for both the health and social services sectors. Why then is so little relative effort put into the prevention of poor health and keeping people well, healthy, connected and happy? While there has been some good intention in the health space, efforts in health promotion still tend to target the individual, while ignoring the fundamental causes of poor health and well-being, and inequities in health. For example, criticism was recently aimed at the Federal Government’s Measure Up campaign – an anti-obesity social marketing campaign. Academics labelled the campaign as “portraying fat people as out-of-control enemies of the state”. They said anti-obesity campaigns stemmed from neoliberal ideologies and targeted the most disadvantaged groups in society, with the Government placing responsibility for health inequalities on poor people’s bodies. It is plainly unacceptable that health promotion efforts blame the victim and ignore the social determinants of health. Focusing on the personal responsibility of the victim ignores the fact that choice and responsibility are rooted in the social context. How responsible can one truly be when one is poor, has little cont: page 8
Miriam Herzfeld Health and wellness consultant
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TasCOSS News August 2012
from page 7
education and little to no opportunity? Change has to be about social responsibility, not individual responsibility, if health is the desired outcome. We will inevitably do better, all of us, when we privilege social responsibility. The best way to achieve sustainable health is to address the inequities at the determinants of health level. Health will follow. The social services system is also responsible for prioritising an individual, crisis-management approach with little focus on longterm solutions and prevention. I am not suggesting that this is entirely the responsibility of the sector – far from it. Inadequate resourcing, poor long-term planning, lack of leadership, limited integration and other contextual change have forced the sector to adopt an approach that by and large picks up the pieces.
However, if we continue to use these issues as justifications – for example, “We would love to address broader issues, but our mandate, mission, funding expertise and so forth is not really about the broader issues, so we will focus on the other really and equally important thing” – we will not create a fair, inclusive and healthy Tasmania. The social services sector is superbly placed to demonstrate leadership and unite with not only the health sector but also other sectors to act on the social determinants of health. As part of the sector, readers of this article will know better than most the end result of failure to act on the social determinants of health. Let’s not give anyone who should be involved in the creation of a healthy society the option of getting out of addressing the social determinants of health. The health of all of us is at stake; we must ensure that
the whole of society and all our institutions put our shoulders to the wheel. The following references are acknowledged in the development of this article: • Backhouse, M, 2012, ‘Antiobesity campaigns a form of ‘class war’, NZ Herald, 4:08pm, Thursday Jul 12, 2012. • Goldbery, DS, 2012, ‘Social Justice, Health Inequalities and Methodological Individualism in US Health Promotion, Public Health Ethics, Advance Access published 5 July 2012. • Raphael D and Quiñonez, C, Commentary on Social Determinants of Health Listserv: LISTSERV@YORKU.CA 11 & 12 July 2012. • Woolf, SH & Braveman P, 2011, ‘Where Health Disparities Begin: The Role Of Social And Economic Determinants And Why Current Policies May Make Matters Worse’, Health Affairs, 30, no.10:1852-1859.
Not a TasCOSS member? The Tasmanian Council of Social Service has been an advocate for low-income and other disadvantaged people in Tasmania, and worked for the good of the community services sector for more than 50 years. Membership of TasCOSS starts from as little as $50 a year for organisations (depending on the organisation’s income) and is $57 for waged individuals ($15 concession or unwaged). The benefits of being a member include concessions on TasCOSS conferences and training courses, plus a 20-page printed newsletter three times a year. More importantly, every new member assists TasCOSS in its role of advocating for low-income and otherwise disadvantaged Tasmanians and strengthening the sector that supports them.
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Our membership base is diverse, including post-graduate students, organisations with one paid staff member, 100 per cent volunteer groups and major employers in the sector.
Newest member organisation
The most recent new member of TasCOSS is Anglicare’s Financial Counselling Tasmania service. Financial Counselling Tasmania provides people with advice on organising a budget, managing debt, negotiating with creditors, consumer rights and responsibilities, accessing superannuation, bankruptcy and its alternatives, and gives referrals to other services if needed.
difficulty. Financial counselling is available in Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie. The service also offers outreach to Huonville, Cygnet, Sorell, Rokeby, Georgetown, Scottsdale, Deloraine, West Tamar, St Marys, St Helens, Smithton and in Tasmanian prisons. Contact Financial Counselling Tasmania on 1800 243 232 or click on the support and counselling tab on the Anglicare website, www.angliacre-tas.org.au for more information. • Visit the TasCOSS website to find out more about membership or call 6231 0755 for a membership pack or to take out your annual membership.
Overview of 2012-13 State Budget
This year’s Budget outcome means community services will be belttightening at the same time as demand grows
T
he 2012-13 Tasmanian State Budget was once again delivered in a straitened financial environment, with GST and state tax receipts lower than previous years. The Government made the wise decision to enter into net debt rather than make further serious cuts to front-line services. This has provided welcome relief to DHHS in particular, which has been making savage cuts this year totalling $100 million and would have had to find a further $27 million in savings in 2012-13. The Tasmanian Council of Social Service Budget Day media release, on 17 May, portrayed it as ‘a double-edged sword for struggling Tasmanians’. While we welcomed a small number of spending initiatives, we expressed serious concern over further cuts to community sector capacity, with indexation on DHHS grants set at 2.25% for the second successive year. The Budget included allocations over four years for community sector pay increases resulting from Fair Work Australia’s decision in the Equal Pay Case for disability and other community sector workers. We fear that the allocations are inadequate to meet the full wage increases across the period. While an exact figure for the wage increases is unknown, pending the results of the current Salary Census, our early calculations suggest that the allocation for 2012-13 is short by almost
$2 million and that allocations for future years may be equally, or even more, inadequate. TasCOSS sees these Budget allocations as a beginning rather than an end, and intends to work closely with the Government to ensure that Tasmanian community service workers receive their full entitlements without any negative impact on staff numbers, organisations or service delivery. The Budget did offer assistance to Tasmanians struggling with cost-of- living pressures with new funding over two years for food, energy efficiency and financial counseling programs, additional funds for energy-efficiency retro-fitting of Housing Tasmania dwellings and an exemption for Housing Tasmania tenants from water usage charges. The Budget also included several welcome electricity price and concession initiatives.
There is no new money for services including mental health, disability and child and family services However, there is no new money for existing services including mental health, disability and child and family services, despite the obvious need and increasing waiting lists. Cuts made in the past year to DHHS staffing and services have
Minister Cassy O’Connor with TasCOSS President Noel Mundy at the TasCOSS Budget briefing.
put further pressure on remnant government services and on the community sector, especially in the areas of mental health and alcohol and drug services. The single allocation of new funding for a community sector organisation in this Budget is $125,000 per year for the next four years for COTA Tasmania. In general the 2012-13 Budget was very flat with few real increases or new money. A striking feature of the 201213 Budget papers is their lack of detail – very few line items appeared and funding details were more difficult than ever to locate. TasCOSS will convey this view to the Government and hope that it results in more transparent budgetary reporting in future years.
This free service is available to anyone experiencing financial
Gabrielle Rish
Kath McLean
Meg Webb
TasCOSS Communications and Membership Officer
TasCOSS Social Policy and Research Unit
TasCOSS Social Policy and Research Unit
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Stigma was the first obstacle in researching the motivations of Tasmanians with low core skills
In March 2011, TasCOSS asked
me to conduct a research project into ‘what motivates adults with low core skills to take up literacy programs’. I was aware from the outset that sourcing participants could prove difficult, but having taken on other similar challenging research assignments in the past, I thought that this project couldn’t be any more difficult. How wrong I was! Most adults with functional literacy skills never stop to consider what it would be like not to be able to read letters, emails, text
messages, signs, newspapers or read to their child. Or how difficult it is, day to day, if you can’t write down information, sign your name, fill in forms, know how much something costs or if you’ve received the correct change. Low literacy is a significant problem in Tasmania, with an estimated 47% of adults not to having enough literacy to cope with everyday tasks. Fortunately, as I came to realise, many people also find ways to
What motivates adults to take up literacy programs A simple desire to learn or improve one’s situation. • Staying connected with others. • Helping one’s children learn. • Good-quality learning environments, and the availability of one-to-one tutors. • Tangible benefits following participation, ie job work experience placement • Increased pensions/benefits. • Marketing campaigns to reduce stigma and embarrassment. • Avoiding the word ‘literacy’ (especially in rural/ remote and low socioeconomic areas). • Flexible program delivery, such as home tutoring, evening/weekend classes, one-on-one tutoring, small groups of people at similar levels, a range of community venues, eg sporting/social clubs, men’s sheds. • Free or low-cost programs and the provision of childcare. • More bi-lingual workers/CALD volunteers to support CALD adults on arrival and after initial participation in English classes. • Second -chance programs to assist adults who are excluded from employment or learning opportunities as a result of relatively minor convictions when young. • Partnering with schools to capture young parents, grandparents and carers who want to improve their literacy skills so they can help children learn.
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• Homework clubs ideally across the community but especially in low socioeconomic areas.
compensate for their low core skills; some having phenomenal memories, are great networkers or develop exceptional skills in other areas.
We were asking people to speak about something many hid from their partners, families, friends, work colleagues every day of their lives There were two aspects to the research: one was to interview adults already attending literacy programs (N=30); the other was to find non-engaged adults with low literacy who were willing to talk about why they were not taking up literacy programs and what would encourage them to do so (N=60). Initially I contacted community organisations across Tasmania to organise interview dates and times. Many of the community centre staff said it would be difficult to recruit people, but they would try. It quickly became apparent that low literacy is a very personal issue which most people are extremely embarrassed to discuss. Finding research participants was going to be much more difficult than anyone had anticipated. After all, we were asking people to speak about something many hid from their partners, families, friends, work colleagues and the general community every day of their lives. Interestingly, people from nonEnglish-speaking backgrounds did not have the same sense of embarrassment or shame that
TasCOSS News August 2012
Don’t mention the word literacy
many locally born people experienced. Adults from NESB tended to attribute their low core skills to a lack of access and opportunity to education in their country of origin. A breakthough came when the recruitment strategy changed to cold canvassing in shopping centres, coffee shops, shopping malls, bus shelters, outside Centrelink offices, wherever a good cross section of people congregated. The next issue was identifying adults with low literacy, and how to broach the subject without offending people or making them withdraw. The answer was to talk in general terms about the issue of low core skills. Using this approach, most people soon lost their reluctance to engage and, in fact, many actually became absorbed in the discussion. At the end of the interview each person was given a $30 gift voucher in recognition of their time and contribution. Only data from those with a literacy level of one or two, as listed in the criteria of the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF), were included in the research. The benefits of this approach were immediately clear. The majority of research participants in the disengaged group were truly disengaged from educational programs and services and most had no involvement with any local community organisations.
What caused your low literacy?
Many adults with low core skills stated that they didn’t enjoy school when they were younger; this was sometimes due to bullying, being bored or too focused on socialising. Others spoke of school as a refuge from early traumatic events (loss of a parent), or blamed their lack of learning on things like constantly moving schools. Others spoke about being forced to leave school early or that they were eager to get into the workforce and make money.
Some adults said they enjoyed school, but had difficulty learning for some unexplained reason or had some form of disability, such as dyslexia, which was often not picked up until they were adults. Disengaged and engaged adults stated that the main barrier to engaging in literacy programs as an adult was the social stigma and embarrassment. Many adults felt that others in the community were quick to judge and label anyone with low core skills as being ‘dumb’ or ‘stupid’. Most openly stated that they would do anything to avoid others finding out about their low core skills. Others admitted holding various attitudes and
Research participants favoured flexible program delivery, including one-on-one home tutoring.
beliefs that limited their motivation, such as believing that no amount of training or learning would allow them to gain a better income or job. Many engaged adults said they took up a literacy program at a turning point in their lives, such as having an accident or serious illness, becoming a carer, being unemployed, retrenched, retiring, following divorce or having experienced a significant loss such as the death of a partner orchild. These life events often allowed adults time to reassess their lives and to take up learning oppor- cont: page 12
Karen Donnet-Jones consultant
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TasCOSS News August 2012
from page 17
tunities, which they had not considered before. The findings of research have shed some light on an area where little previous research has been done in the Tasmanian context. The adults who shared their stories where brave, funny, interesting and insightful people, who had much to say about how low core skills affected them each day of their lives and what would help them to engage with core skills learning.
Factors that support ongoing involvement in learning • Promotion of life-long learning. • Stable programs with continuity of teachers/tutors. • Non-judgmental teachers/tutors. • Assistance to move between levels of educational programs and services, and into work. • Greater involvement of adults with low core skills in the design, development, delivery and evaluation of low core skills programs. • Joining a low core skills program with a friend. • Assisting people in core skills programs to access other services, eg alcohol and drug, housing, physical and mental health services.
Thank you to all those participants for the privilege of allowing me to listen to your • Recognising and talking about the anxieties that attending core skills programs can raise for adults who had negative experiences many ‘voices’. in their early education. The Tasmanian Voices report can be • Increased opportunities for CALD adults to participate in downloaded from conversational English, ie conversing and making friends with the TasCOSS webother adults whose first language is English while participating in site, www.tascoss. some activity such as learning to drive or craft group. org.au • Emphasising the skills and experience of adults with low core skills, while promoting the benefits of improving core skills. • Identifying young people who are core skills champions.
The big switch
The introduction of electricity retail competition in Tasmania in 2014 will have questionable benefits for low-income households
In
May 2012 the Tasmanian Government announced major changes to the state’s electricity supply industry and to electricity pricing methodology.
The Tasmanian Economic Regulator estimated that the altered methodology shaved about 6.1% off the 1 July price increase this year.
This came in response to concerns about the level of the price rise due on 1 July and to the recommendations of the Expert Panel appointed by the Government in 2010 to review the Tasmanian electricity supply industry.
In concert with the change in pricing methodology, the Government says Aurora Energy received permission from the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) to smooth over several years its income from previous under-recovery of revenue – shaving around 2% off the 1 July price increase.
The Government accepted some, but not all of the Expert Panel’s recommendations. The price rise announced by the Tasmanian Economic Regulator that took effect on 1 July was lower than anticipated due in part to some of the actions taken by the State Government. The change that had the most immediate impact on electricity prices for Tasmanian households was the amendment of the Electricity Price Control Regulations which set out the methodology that the Tasmanian Economic Regulator must use to determine the wholesale price of energy as a part of the regulated retail price. The Department of Treasury and Finance is responsible for making the price control regulations.
In addition, the Government said Transend had elected not to increase its revenue by the total amount allowed by the AER but to accept lower revenue for the coming financial year – reducing the 1 July price rise by an average of 3%. The 1 July price rise ended up being 10.56%, which was significantly lower than the Government estimate that the increase might be as high as 26%.
However, those who work with low-income and disadvantaged Tasmanians know that this 10.56% increase is enough to push many households further into financial hardship.
Longer term reforms
The Government also announced a number of longer term and more substantial changes to the industry. These changes are focused on the introduction of full retail competition, that is, competition between different electricity retailers for customer contracts to supply electricity to homes and businesses. The introduction of full retail competition and the eventual end of retail price regulation are commitments that all states and territories made some years ago in the context of National Competition Policy. Most other states have introduced full retail competition but cont: page 14
The methodology used previously inflated the price of energy that Tasmanian households and small businesses paid while the average market price declined. The Expert Panel’s report suggests that the disparity between the spot or market price and the wholesale price paid by Tasmanians in recent years was as high as $45 per megawatt hour (with a regulated price of $75/MWh and a market price between $30-$50/MWh).
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All residential customers will be asked to choose between a standard or a market contract.
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TasCOSS News August 2012
The Tasmanian Government has been introducing retail competition to large electricity users, in a number a tranches determined by annual usage, for several years. It had intended to introduce retail competition for all electricity customers in 2011 but delayed it due to uncertainty about the viability of competition with only a single major electricity wholesaler in the state (Hydro Tasmania). It was thought that the lack of wholesale competition would deter retailers from entering the Tasmanian retail market. To address this barrier, the Government has decided that the Tasmanian Economic Regulator will regulate Hydro Tasmania’s wholesale activities to ensure that all retailers have access to wholesale energy at fair prices and that Hydro does not misuse its market power. It is uncertain whether or not retail competition will result in lower prices for all Tasmanian households.
Low-income households with histories of payment difficulties will be less attractive to retailers In other states where full retail competition has been introduced, prices have continued to rise, including in Victoria where the retail price is no longer regulated. The Tasmanian Government has stated clearly that price regulation will continue in the state ‘until the Government is satisfied that competition is fully effective’.
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The Government has decided that the risk to Aurora Energy’s retail business in a fully competitive market would be too great and has decided to sell Aurora’s small retail customers to new retailers and to transfer the remainder of the retail business to Hydro Tasmania’s mainland
Energy industry reforms • Introduction of full retail competition in Tasmania from 1 January 2014. • Sale and transfer of Aurora Energy’s small retail customers to three new privately owned retailers, to be effective from 1 January 2014. • Independent regulation of Hydro Tasmania’s wholesale market activities in Tasmania by the Tasmanian Economic Regulator from 1 July 2013.
paired through disability, mental illness or other factors. There is a danger that consumers may not fully understand the market offers made to them. Like mobile phone contracts, energy contracts can be complex and the benefits and disadvantages may be unclear. Not all consumers are fully aware of their usage patterns and may not understand which terms and conditions will suit their particular household circumstances. It is concerning that marketing practices do not always provide clarity in this regard.
• Merger of Aurora Energy’s distribution business and Transend’s transmission network from 1 July 2014.
While energy marketing activities are regulated under the National Energy Customer Framework, it is essential that compliance is carefully monitored and enforced, and that breaches are appropriately penalised.
retail company, Momentum Energy.
Pay As You Go
This means that from 1 January 2014, all Tasmanian households will have their electricity supply provided by a new retailer. After that occurs, the new retailers will compete to attract customers away from their assigned retailer and on to a new contract. Customers will have the choice to remain on a ‘standard contract’ (or ‘standard offer’, with a regulated price) or to take up a ‘market contract’ (or ‘market offer’) for which the price and/or terms and conditions may vary. Experience from other jurisdictions indicates that energy retailers engage in vigorous marketing activities which include door-to-door and telemarketing, and often offer inducements unrelated to electricity service or price (such as free football club membership or a free DVD player). Retail energy marketing activities have caused significant problems in other jurisdictions, especially with vulnerable consumers, such as those for whom English is not a first language and those whose comprehension or judgement may be im-
Aurora Pay As You Go customer contracts will also be sold. It is likely, given the need to maintain dedicated point-of-sale agents for card re-charging, that the entire APAYG customer base (about 37,000 households) will be sold to a single new retailer. It is also likely that APAYG prices will remain unregulated. The planned merger of the Aurora distribution and Transend transmission businesses into a single company is likely to provide cost savings in the long run. Obvious savings will be made by merging corporate structures, while additional savings will be realised through combining regulatory, maintenance and other field staff and sharing networkrelated equipment. It is likely that the new network entity created by the merger will remain under state ownership.
Impact on low-income households
It is not clear whether these longer term reforms will benefit all Tasmanian households. The Government obviously puts value on choice and expects that customers ‘should receive a price benefit’ from being able to choose their retailer.
However, this has not necessarily been the case in other jurisdictions, where some retailers have cherry-picked households they see as low-risk and potentially profitable. These are generally more affluent households, and they are offered lower prices in return for regular, on-time payment by direct debit or other low- cost payment methods. Low-income households with histories of payment difficulties will be less attractive to retailers, although there will be an obligation, on some retailers at least, to provide contracts to all households. All retailers will be required to have a Hardship Policy in place, approved by the Australian Energy Regulator, and to provide a Hardship Program for customers who are experiencing difficulty paying their electricity accounts. Approved Hardship Policies must include access to negotiated payment plans, as well as referral to external assistance from financial counselling and emergency relief services. However, Retailer Hardship Poli-
cies do not require retailers to provide emergency relief funds such as those currently provided to customers by Aurora Energy via emergency relief providers in Tasmania. Aurora currently allocates more than $300,000 per annum for distribution to its customers experiencing hardship. This will be sorely missed by many Tasmanians in need. All households will have access to standard-offer contracts with prices regulated by the Tasmanian Economic Regulator. However, many may be persuaded to take up a ‘market offer’ that may not be well understood and that may include disadvantageous conditions, such as high penalties for late payment or price increases after a fixed period. In addition, all households may be subject to persistent and intrusive marketing from electricity retailers, at least in the early stages of competition. Some will be more vulnerable to such marketing than others, it is therefore vital that marketing activ-
ity is closely monitored and that robust regulation and consumer protections are actively enforced. The fact that electricity supply is an essential service makes it imperative that electricity remains affordable to all households, regardless of their income and regardless of the nature of the electricity market.
TasCOSS News August 2012
only Victoria has completely deregulated prices as well.
The Tasmanian Council of Social Service believes that the State Government must ensure that adequate protections are in place – and that these are rigorously enforced – to ensure that no Tasmanian household will be disconnected from electricity supply solely for inability to pay. For further information, read Energy for the Future: Reforming Tasmania’s electricity industry, May 2012, Tasmanian Government. Available for download from the Department of Finance and Treasury. http://www.treasury.tas.gov.au/domino/dtf/dtf. nsf/v-elec-ref/0/
Kath McLean TasCOSS Senior Policy and Research Officer
Standards and performance pathways breakthrough TasCOSS is very pleased to have received funding from the Department of Health and Human Services to provide an online system that will drastically reduce the time it takes community service organisations to complete the processes required to meet industry quality and safety standards. TasCOSS will engage the Bradfield Nyland Group to create an online portal providing access to their patented commercial tool, the Standards and Performance Pathways (SPP), designed specifically for Australian community service organisations.
The system will also give organisations access to tailored tools and resources to support them to improve their management and governance. The SPP is available on an annual subscription basis. The TasCOSS portal will allow Tasmanian organisations to use the service at a significantly reduced rate.
TasCOSS is working to develop a pricing structure that is fair and equitable for organisations of varying sizes. It is hoped the SPP will be available through the portal by October. For more information, contact Tim Tabart, tim@tascoss.org.au or 6231 0755.
The DHHS funding will also pay the subscription fees for 120 organisations for one year.
Tim Tabart Sector Development Unit
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Changes for aged care
The new federal Living Longer. Living Better reforms recognise the realities of Australia’s ageing demographic
Australia has an ageing popu-
lation, with Tasmania in the lead as the most rapidly ageing of all states and territories. By 2020 almost one in four Tasmanians will be over the age of 65 and by 2050 this figure is expected to be one in three. It has been apparent that to avoid a crisis in the provision of aged-care services in Australia, especially as the baby boomers reach older age during the next decade or so, significant reform of the current system is needed.
A single entry point for all inquiries relating to aged-care assistance and services will be created The looming reality of an ageing Australian population, and the policy and service provision challenges this presents, languished for many years in the political ‘too hard’ basket. In 2010 the federal Labor Government recognised, to its credit, that addressing this issue could be delayed no longer and embarked on a process of seeking solutions and options for reform. The first step in this process was to commission a comprehensive inquiry by the Productivity Commission on the nation’s agedcare system and how it might best meet the needs of older Australians in coming decades.
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This inquiry released its final report, Caring for Older Australians, in March 2011. This year, in April 2012, the Gillard Government responded to the Productivity Commission’s report with an aged-care services reform package, Living Longer. Living Better.
The Living Longer. Living Better package provides $3.7 billion over five years and represents the commencement of a 10year reform program. Overall, the direction of these reforms has been well received – they are based on principles of equity, greater say for consumers and funding of more services. The reforms are seen as wellfocused and a good beginning.
Key elements of the reforms
1. An easier way to get information, enter and navigate the system A single entry point for all inquiries relating to aged-care assistance and services will be created – an aged-care gateway. This gateway will be a national call centre, operating from 1 July 2013, and providing local information on aged-care services. It will simplify the process of seeking information and receiving referrals to appropriate services. As part of the gateway, in early 2014 a linking service will start operating to assist older people with multiple needs to access housing, health, disability, financial and aged-care services. Also in 2013, a new website called My Aged Care will begin. On this website people will be able to find information about aged-care services and also make comparisons between services. The implementation of the new reforms will include a national assessment framework which will mean that when a person enters the aged-care system a single assessment will be made which can be used for any or all services that may be required by that person. 2. Flexible assistance to remain living independently at home
A primary focus under the new reforms will continue to be support for people to remain living in their own homes. People assessed as requiring assistance to live independently in their home will have access to two programs for that support: • Home Support Program – for those who require some basic help, which will be an integrated service including meals, transport, respite care and home maintenance. • Home care packages – providing services for those with higher needs, ranging from a couple of hours a week through to 10-14 hours a week. Additional funding will be provided through the care packages for those requiring higher levels of care due to dementia. From 2013, as part of the switch to a consumer-directed approach to aged-care services, people will have more say over the services they receive and the delivery of their home care packages. The mechanism for this will be the Consumer-Directed Care initiative, which has been trialled over the past two years. Over the next 10 years the Government will fund an additional 80,000 care packages to meet the need for these services. 3. Changes to residential care The Living Longer. Living Better reforms will remove the distinction between low and high residential care and, as with home care packages, provide additional funding in the residential care setting for consumers who require higher levels of care due to dementia. A more consumerdirected approach will also be implemented in the residential care setting.
In the current aged-care system, arrangements for paying for services are not standardised and are inequitable. The Productivity Commission found that the current system inequitably advantages those who are wealthy. Under the Living Longer. Living Better reforms, the fees and charges for all services have been remodelled with a view to achieving greater equity. The methods of means-testing have been reviewed to create a fairer system for working out how much people will pay for the care they receive. There will be more options for how you pay for residential aged care – including lump sums, periodic payments or a mixture of both. And, as with the current system, the Commonwealth will remain the major source of funding for aged-care services. Fees and costs under the new system will be monitored by a new Aged Care Financing Authority. As a criticism of the reform package, COTA (Council on the Ageing Australia), has raised the fact that it does not include government support to unlock the equity in your home to pay for care if that is what suits you best. Nor does it prevent the pension status of people who downsize or move to accommodation that better meets their needs being affected by the money their house sale puts in their bank account. 5. Developing a sustainable workforce An enormous challenge in meeting the current and future aged-care needs of Australia is ensuring that there is a sufficient and appropriately skilled workforce to deliver the services that are required. Working in aged care and geriatrics has traditionally been low- paid and low-status, so the reforms have focused on improving the wages and conditions of the aged-care workforce to en-
sure that an adequate and appropriately remunerated workforce can be attracted and retained in the sector.
TasCOSS News August 2012
4. Who is going to pay?
Additional elements of the reform package include: • Increased funding for the National Aged Care Advocacy program. • Quality and regulation monitored through the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency. • An Aged Care Reform Implementation Council established to oversee the implementation of the reforms over a 10-year period, including a review of progress after five years. A key message from the sector and the community to the Productivity Commission during their consultation on aged-care reform was that aged-care services should no longer be provided on a rationed basis, but should rather be an entitlement for all Australians as they become older.
A primary focus of the reforms is support for people to remain living in their own homes.
It was widely argued that older people should be entitled to access appropriate services to meet their needs and that the aged-care sector needed to be reformed to meet that requirement. Unfortunately, this has not been achieved in the Living Longer. Living Better reform package.
implemented overnight. While there is some disappointment in the length of the timeframe for the implementation, there has been widespread agreement from the sector and from consumers that these reforms take Australia a number of steps in the right direction and are most welcome.
While the reforms show every sign of being a genuine improvement on the current system, and there is to be a significant increase in the number of packages of care and residential places available, services will still be rationed and are likely to still fall short of meeting the projected need.
For more information on the Living Longer. Living Better aged care reforms:
Of course, as with any major reform process, the Living Longer. Living Better reforms will not be
• Department of Health and Ageing information and fact sheets http://www.health.gov. au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/ Content/ageing-aged-care-review-measures-living.htm • COTA Australia fact sheets http://www.cota.org.au/australia/Achieving/cma.aspx
Meg Webb TasCOSS Policy and Research Officer
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Income management takes off
What started as a control measure in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities is now being extended to Centrelink clients in urban areas
Income
management began as part of the Howard Government’s Intervention into Northern Territory Aboriginal communities in 2007. On 29 June this year, Federal Parliament passed the Stronger Futures legislation, which has entrenched income management in the Northern Territory for 10 more years and extended it to five new areas from 1 July. The new areas for this social experiment are Bankstown – a suburb of Sydney, Playford in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, the Victorian regional centre of Shepparton, the north Queensland city of Rockhampton and Logan, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Tessa Boyd-Caine ACOSS
Federal Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin, who was booed at the national NAIDOC Week event in Hobart on 9 July because of her support for the Intervention, maintains that not all families have the skills to balance their budgets. She says income management will ensure the children of these families get fed. A key part of the income management strategy is the BasicsCard. People referred for income management receive only half of their Centrelink allowance in cash, with the other half put on the card for the purchase of essentials from approved stores and businesses.
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“Imagine having to ask a government agency permission to pay your regular bills; think about the stigma of shopping with a card that marks you as a social security recipient who can’t manage their money,” acting Australian Council of Social Service CEO Tessa BoydCaine wrote in the Herald Sun newspaper on 15 July.
“Compulsory income management is a policy based on stereotypes rather than hard evidence. The basic idea is that recipients of social security payments are not good at managing their money, waste it on alcohol or gambling, don’t care for their children properly, and/ or have adapted to life on benefits,” Dr Boyd-Caine said. “As with most stereotypes, these things are sometimes true. But policies based on a stereotype will only make life harder for the majority who are simply struggling to meet all of their living costs and search for jobs on payments as low as Newstart Allowance, which is $35 a day.” The Federal Government is spending more than $117 million to fund the bureaucracy needed to micro-manage the spending of just 4000 Centrelink clients, according to the peak National Welfare Rights Network. Income management will cost around $6000 per person under management. There is strong opposition coming from the five communities being used for the trial of income management outside of the Northern Territory. “Rather than helping people look after their families better and manage their money better, income management punishes and stigmatises people in our community who are already struggling,” said Woodville Community Services executive officer Pam Batkin, a member of the Not in Bankstown Not Anywhere Coalition. “When so many people across our community agree that the Newstart Allowance is simply not enough for anyone to live on, there is something profoundly wrong with the Government
spending so much to manage the spending of a single person on this allowance.”
Rather than helping people look after their families better and manage their money better, income management punishes and stigmatises Randa Kattan, executive director of Arab Council Australia and spokesperson for the Bankstown Coalition, visited NT communities in late 2011 to see first-hand the impact of income management. “From the bush to Bankstown, people do not need income management. They need job opportunities, higher incomes and improved social services,” Ms Kattan said. “But here in Bankstown Stronger Futures means the same punitive approach that we see in the NT. Only $2.5 million has been allocated for community-based programs, while $23 million will be spent on income management.” Terry Stedman, chairman of the Logan Indigenous Community Justice Centre, said: “We are very concerned about the absence of any way of evaluating decisions made to refer people onto income management and the lack of an appeals process.” “Instead of punishing people the Government should be spending this money on ensuring enough support services for these families.” Information courtesy of Australian Council of Social Service
Beng Poh
Tony Reidy
Executive Assistant to the CEO
Chief Executive Officer
Jill Pope
Gabrielle Rish
Finance Officer
Communications and Membership Officer
Dale Rahmanovic Wynne Russell
Development Officer Sector Development Unit
Social Policy and Research Officer
Tim Tabbart Meg Webb
Development Officer
Social Policy and Research Officer
Sector Development Unit
Klaus Baur Kath McLean
HACC Project Officer/Consumer Engagement
Senior Social Policy and Research Officer
Sector Development Unit
The Tasmanian Council of Social Service, TasCOSS, was established in 1961. TasCOSS is the peak body for the Tasmanian community services sector.
Our mission
To advocate for the interests of low-income and otherwise disadvantaged Tasmanians, and to serve as the peak council for the state’s community services industry.
Our vision
Lure Wishes Adult Literacy Support Officer
TasCOSS is supported by the Department of Health and Human Services.
A fair, just and inclusive Tasmania. Sponsored by Hesta.
conference
2012
Engagement, innovation & equity HOBART
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