Strong Community, Healthy State
Current issue: the national pay equity case
The South Australian Council of Social Service, together with other members of the Strong Community Healthy State (SCHS) campaign group, has been actively working over the last few years to secure better conditions for the sector and to improve longstanding issues of attraction and retention.
SACOSS believes that the current pay equity case is likely to deliver a long overdue advance in wages for the deeply committed people working in our sector. In turn this should assist all our organisations as we seek to attract and maintain a skilled workforce.
However, a positive decision about increased wages will inevitably place all community service organisations under enormous pressure. It is therefore imperative that we urgently begin the task of persuading both federal and state governments to fund in full the wage increases we expect will flow from this case.
For more information, and the opportunity for online engagement:
A background to the Strong Community Healthy State Campaign
Strengthening the non Government Community Services Sector
The Strong Community Healthy State Campaign was formally launched in 2007 by SACOSS, the Association of Major Community Organisations (AMCO), the Australian Services Union (ASU) and the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU). These organisations collectively represent a large number of agencies and workers in the community services sector in South Australia. Working collaboratively with the many other stakeholders, the Campaign aims to strengthen the non government community services sector and its capacity to deliver quality services, to advocate and lobby and to help to empower vulnerable and disadvantaged South Australians.
The Strong Community Healthy State campaign works as a long-term partnership network to strengthen the non government community services sector. It has developed a number of demands which underpin its activities and unite the interests of the many different stakeholders in the sector who share the vision of a Strong Community Healthy State. These recognise that the ability to offer secure employment is critical to creating a stronger, more cohesive sector that can provide high quality services to disadvantaged and vulnerable South Australians.
These demands are as follows:
- Jobs must be decent jobs with fair wages and be offered on a permanent or long-term contract basis.
- Posts should offer minimum guaranteed hours, with upward flexibility and reasonable workloads.
- Employing organisations should be supported to create structured career paths and development programs.
- Workers should be enabled to develop career paths that recognise their skills and experience.
- Mechanisms should be developed that allow mobility across the sector.
- Mechanisms for negotiating wage increases and improvements should be clearly established.
- Job classification structures should match the work performed.
- Differing modes of employment should be researched and developed.
- Training and skills development should be prioritised to optimise the quality of services to clients.
- There should be a sector-wide workforce attraction and retention strategy.
What needs to be done?
Following a period of economic growth in the state, there has been an expansion in job opportunities in a range of occupations with a corresponding growth in community services. However, the growth of better remunerated opportunities in other industries has seen experienced workers continue to leave the sector to move to those providing better conditions and pay.
As is the case globally, the sector in SA has experienced increased responsibilities and regulation with less funding, competition for scarce resources and shortage of volunteers. The predominantly female workforce, whilst strongly motivated by a service ethic and a commitment to their work, has been negatively affected by increasingly onerous workloads, long hours and low rates of pay. Workforce development is an urgent focus of attention given the changing demographics in the community services sector. The client group of the sector includes vulnerable adults, families and children at risk and clients with high and increasingly complex needs: it is therefore imperative that community services agencies have the best and most skilled staff available to them.
The campaign group has been undertaking concrete actions to address these issues that threaten the sustainability of the sector and its ability to deliver high quality services to disadvantaged and vulnerable South Australians. These include
- research and projects on key aspects of workforce development
- awareness-raising and information-dissemination to sector employers and employees
- advocacy and lobbying of government
A primary objective is to reduce the damaging and unfair differential in salary levels and conditions of service between the community services sector and a number of other industries, which inhibits recruitment and contributes to the 'skills drain'.
Key activities for 2010 are assisting the sector to understand and implement the award and campaigning for governments to fund the outcomes of the national ASU pay equity case.
Additionally, the group will be overseeing research and development projects on key aspects of workforce development in partnership with the Department for Families and Communities.