MEDIA RELEASE: New SACOSS report 'The State of Concessions in South Australia' identifies serious problems in the system of concessions which support low income South Australians. It examines utilities, transport, health and cost of living concessions and argues that the system is poorly designed, with gaps, poverty premiums and arbitrary requirements and barriers to access.
OPINION PIECE: Analysis shows Adelaide rents – even in the cheapest suburbs – are unaffordable for low-income earners. SACOSS CEO Ross Womersley calls for urgent State Government action before COVID rental support comes to an end this year.
MEDIA RELEASE: SACOSS welcomes the Productivity Commission’s recently-released final report into National Water Reform. It calls for a commitment by State and Territory Governments to each develop a definition of, and to ensure access to, a basic level of water services for all Australians - a call made by SACOSS in its submisison for SA.
UPDATE: Seventy-five organisations from across Australia have written to state and territory Cabinet Ministers calling for minimum standards for rental properties to safeguard the health of renters and protect them from the impacts of climate change.
MEDIA RELEASE: The Legislative Council Select Committee inquiry into the privatisation of public services heard evidence from SACOSS that the selling off of public housing in South Australia increases inequality in the state. The last 30 years has seen a massive reduction in the public housing estate, as houses have been sold off or demolished for private land sales.
MEDIA RELEASE: The South Australian Council of Social Service recently met with service providers and community leaders from across the Hills and Mallee regions in the areas of health, mental health, aged care, family services, local government, charitable organisations and more, to share information, highlights and challenges.
OPINION PIECE: With the state government’s announcement this week about tightening the eligibility criteria for public housing you could be forgiven for thinking the real problem is we have wealthy people rorting the system and taking the place of more deserving people, writes SACOSS CEO Ross Womersley.
MEDIA RELEASE: A range of key groups have made a powerful joint statement on the need for the State Government to step up to ensure that all South Australians have access to safe, affordable, and secure water. The call came as the State Government progresses work on its draft Water Security Statement for South Australia – the first major statewide strategy for over a decade.
MEDIA RELEASE: Councils of Social Service nationally have called on Commonwealth, state and territory governments to heed medical and scientific consensus that young children do not have the developmental capacity to be held criminally responsible, and raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 years of age.
MEDIA RELEASE: As Adelaide prepared to host the 11th Australian Space Forum SACOSS highlighted the other end of the technology spectrum, as many South Australians struggle with digital connection and digital literacy, as evidenced in the Australian Digital Inclusion Index.
MEDIA RELEASE: SACOSS' Falling Through the Gaps report casts a light on the issue of access to safe, secure and reliable drinking water services in regional and remote South Australia. It also provides practical solutions that can bring real change, to ensure that communities in these areas can have this fundamental need met.
MEDIA RELEASE: SACOSS' Living Without the Basics Conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre today cast a light on a range of topical issues relating to housing, water and energy efficiency, their intersection, and some of the impacts for health, well-being and costs of living.
MEDIA RELEASE: In evidence to its National Water Reform Inquiry, SACOSS CEO Ross Womersley told the Productivity Commission that action is needed to address issues of water quality, reliability and cost of water services for regional and remote SA communities.