SACOSS across 75 years

In honour of arriving at our 75th annual report, for our 2021-22 edition we included some voices from the past: extracts from our history, The SACOSS Story, and annual reports from across the decades. Below you will read slices of time that often echo eerily close to experiences of today. Read on to find out more about where we began, and the values that brought us to today…

1940 and 50s

"On 6 June 1946 Reg Coombe put the resolution to a rather scantily-attended Council meeting that, ‘the Youth Welfare Coordinating Council merge into a wider body representing interests concerned with the social welfare of the community as a whole and not youth alone and that the name of this organisation is to be the SA Council of Social Services (SACOSS) (including Youth Welfare Coordinating Council)’. The resolution was accepted with only one, unnamed, dissenter. The structure of the revised organisation was established as Patron, President, six Vice-Presidents, Chairman, 17 members of the Central Committee, and the main body of members consisting of the representatives of all member organisations.”
- The SACOSS Story, 1947-1997, Michael Page, 2002

"The Marriage Guidance committee, inspired by Reg Coombe, seemed to make the greatest impact especially since the Churches group reinforced them for lack of another function. Possibly Coombe had observed early marriage guidance councils during his 1939 travels in the northern hemisphere. He and SACOSS were certainly pioneers of the movement in Australia, where they began about the same time in Sydney and Adelaide. In Adelaide the initial idea was to prepare couples for the perhaps unexpected problems of creating lasting relationships at a time when marriages contracted during the haste and glamour of wartime were collapsing by the thousand.”
- The SACOSS Story, 1947-1997, Michael Page, 2002

The New Secretary: 1952-1956. The secretary/ treasurer had plenty to keep him or her busy. It was necessary to have a mind for detail, to act as a database for information required by the Council and a reporter who could translate Council decisions into the minutes required to record them and the letters to convey them. The job demanded tact, intelligence, patience, a facility with figures to carry out the Treasurer’s duties and a mind orderly enough to keep all the paperwork in order – especially when the Council had no permanent home and the secretary worked out of a briefcase.”
- The SACOSS Story, 1947-1997, Michael Page, 2002

"Lord Beveridge said that the state should be responsible for minimum conditions of health, nutrition, education, and, generally speaking, minimum material standards. But there is a great amount of unhappiness and difficulty curable by social action which is not due only or mainly to lack of money – for example the problems of the old, the children, the unmarried mother and the discharged prisoner. Voluntary action is able to supply certain personal services more effectively ... the Council of Social Service is glad to be a meeting ground where voluntary and statutory bodies meet to work together for the common good ...”
- Annual Report, 1954-55

"Pounds for Pensioners: The administration of this Fund for Christmas Cheer for needy pensioners was undertaken last November at the request of News Ltd. Every effort was made to make the gifts as personal as possible, and all the gift cards bore the recipient’s name in handwriting. Names of needy pensioners were sought from all over the State, and our thanks are due to Town and District Clerks, Ministers of Religion, Doctors and others for their help … Nearly 4,000 gift orders were distributed … we are grateful to all who helped from early morning to late at night so that the orders would be received a week before Christmas Day.”
- Annual Report, 1954-55

The Standing Committee of the Churches, with official representation from Baptist, Catholic, Church of Christ, Church of England, Congregational, Greek Orthodox, Hebrew Congregation, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, Society of Friends and Unitarian churches has met monthly since November 1956 and has studied the social implications of Automation. It has now issued a booklet for group discussion, “You and Automation”. In a review, Dr G. Harcourt of the University of Adelaide says: ‘The compilers … are to be congratulated on the logical order in which the questions are prescribed and on the concise and relevant summaries … They have focused attention on the problems specifically associated with automation … Finally, they ask for a discussion on the relationship between the religious notion of the stewardship of the resources of God’s earth and automation.”
- Annual Report, 1959-60

1960s and 70s

"Although Britain set up the first Council of Social Service 47 years ago, and the bigger cities of the United Kingdom began to take up the idea gradually, the time has now come when even the smaller cities and towns look on a Council as a necessity. It seems in line with this expansion that our own national body, the Australian Council of Social Service, should have been given proper recognition by the Commonwealth Government and be relieved of the constant strain of trying to carry out a national service on a struggling budget. We are grateful to the Government for the financial assistance which will give more freedom to meet the growing scope of work of the Australian Council.”
- Annual Report, 1966-67

"After 18 years of splendid service to the Council as Secretary/Treasurer, Miss Casely resigned at the end of June, 1970. Through this long period she has left a wonderful record of work for the Council, of the extent of which few can have any real comprehension. There have been times of difficulty and frustration, of much hard effort and seemingly little result – yet, through all this, Edith Casely never gave up – her refreshing and contagious faith in the purposes of the Council made a steadily expanding impact within its work. The solid achievements of the Council during this period of almost two decades of vast social readjustment, have been very significant.”
- Annual Report, 1969-70, Mrs E.M. Hutchison, Executive Officer

"Temporary Emergency Housing Survey: The problem of finding emergency accommodation is one faced almost daily by welfare organisations in South Australia. Many Social Workers have expressed concern at the difficulties experienced by people, families and individuals who are temporarily displaced because of some emergency (medical, social or financial), and are without accommodation. There is very little suitable accommodation available for people in such circumstances. The South Australian Council of Social Service ad hoc Housing Committee has been concerned about this matter for some time and to get factual details of the situation surveys were made in 1973 and 1974.”
- Annual Report, 1973-74

1980s and 90s

"There are many challenges ahead. Not least of these will be to address with utmost honesty the problems confronting long-term unemployed people in our State. The future of so many young people and families is at stake that policy formulation should be regarded as above party politics. Ideological posturing and political point scoring have no place in efforts to meet the needs of growing numbers of disadvantaged persons in our nation. Now is the time for statesmanship rather than politics.”
- Annual Report, 1980-81, Gary Killington, Chairman

"Increasingly, it appeared to the Council and its members that Labor Governments of the early 1980s regard sound economic management as incompatible with reforms undertaken on the scale, or at a pace, which would significantly reduce poverty in Australia in the short term. This realisation has confronted the welfare community with a dilemma. Having long sought improvements in welfare and taxation policies well beyond the slow incrementalist approach of most recent Budgets, the welfare community must now decide, in the face of mounting criticism both from inside and outside Parliament, whether further to pursue these goals, or to accept a more limited programme of change.”
- Annual Report, 1983-84, Lange Powell, Executive Officer

"We are a nation in which the vagaries of birth, age, sex, race and differing abilities and circumstances pre-determine who will prosper and who will be shut out. We are a nation in which major economic policies favour the better-off and in which the privilege of wealth is underwritten by the taxation system, despite the [recently held] Taxation Summit. These structural inequalities and their implications for poverty, have been exacerbated during the past decade, particularly by three major factors: firstly, by demographic changes. Australia has an ageing population, an increasing proportion of whom are dependent on diminishing incomes during their post-retirement lives. Many elderly Australians live in what is euphemistically called “genteel poverty”. Poverty is never genteel; poverty is an outrage. Secondly, economic changes; job opportunities are shrinking, both as a result of economic downturn and as a result of the new technology … Thirdly, there have been significant social changes; the emergence of a single parent family – 96% of which are headed by women, and the transient nature of family life where one in every three marriages today ends in divorce or separation.”
- Annual Report, 1985-86, Judith Roberts AM, Chairperson 

"In our field there has been a commitment for many years to trying to improve consumer participation etc. It will be important that we work with consumers of community services to find a way for their interests to be represented in the new ‘industrialised’ social and community services sector. That is, a commitment to the principle that consumers are an industry partner in this industry.”
- Annual Report, 1989-90, Helen Disney, Chairperson

"Some of those opportunities to work with consumers have moved me deeply. When you have the opportunity, as I have had at SACOSS, to meet consumers in almost every area of human service delivery, you realise the significance of this sector as a whole and the challenge we face to have middle (and upper) Australia understand and appreciate the contribution community services and consumers make to our society. The notion that this industry is a drain on the public purse and that the private sector is the fount of all wisdom and the model for productivity astounds me now. The failure to acknowledge this sector’s contribution and the value of home-based care in the Gross Domestic Product makes absolutely no economic sense.”
- Annual Report, 1993-94, Elizabeth Morgan, Executive Director

"Issues presented by rural communities focussed very much on the withdrawal of services by Federal and State Governments and companies with an ever growing reliance on volunteers to provide services and to build communities. People from rural communities regularly have told us how exhausted they feel and how frustrated they are that indirectly they are being asked to assume more responsibilities in community development and in supporting individuals in need. There was also considerable concern coming from smaller rural communities about the future of their towns and growing tensions with regional centres and Adelaide.”
- Annual Report, 1997-98, Mark Henley, Executive Director 

2000 to 2010

"There is a great deal of talk about the new economy: we know that it can benefit the world. To date there is precious little evidence of this on a per capita basis. More poor people are without food. If we look at SA as an example: 20 years ago we were essentially a middle class state. Now we have over 7,000 people homeless on any one night. Over 23% of households have incomes below the poverty line in SA. For me the new economy provides some opportunities but unless we seriously manage the synergies between environmental, economic and social policies – as distinct from simply adopting the language of sustainable development – and unless our governments take a leadership role in helping us to define our future in those terms, then a new economy will be for nothing.”
- Annual Report, 2000-01, Gael Fraser, Chairperson

"SACOSS was a partner in a major conference on sustainability held in April with over 300 participants. The SA Collaboration was launched at the conference. Bringing SACOSS, the Conservation Council of SA, the United Trades and Labor Council and the Multicultural Communities Council together, the Collaboration supports research and action to promote a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable society.”
- Annual Report, 2003-04, Pam Simmons, Executive Director

"Over the past year I have been really impressed with the way SACOSS has taken up the issues of poverty and inequality … Unfortunately, under the current federal government, it seems that the principles of equality and fairness no longer receive the recognition and respect they deserve. Easy-going acceptance of the rights of each individual to pursue, and be granted, opportunity, seems to be on the decline. We have let suspicion come into our attitudes and a feeling that opportunity for one will result in a dimunition of opportunity for one’s self. I was, however, pleased to see the withdrawal of the Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill 2006 recently, which was a piece of legislation contrary to Australia’s fundamental generosity as a nation.”
- Annual Report, 2005-06, Barbara Garrett MBE, President

"SACOSS, through our Blueprint for the elimination of poverty, has continued to put cogent and robust arguments and public policy alternatives to the South Australian Government and community. These are not always popular and seldom universally supported positions. In the main, they require a re-prioritising of agendas and public expenditures – a redistribution of community wealth.”
- Annual Report, 2006-07, Simon Schrapel, Chair

"This year has been exciting as we plan for the state election in 2010: the aim for this election is to build on the concept of participative democracy. We are aiming to get as deep into the community as we can and bring the people of South Australia closer to the politicians. We have developed a range of ‘principles papers’ to inform the development of the policy platforms that will be taken to the election, and have planned a range of advocacy days for people with lived experience of disadvantage to talk directly to those politicians.”
- Annual Report, 2008-09, Karen Grogan, Executive Director.

2011-2021

"At a time when individuals are increasingly being blamed and shamed for the failure of a poorly performing social infrastructure and economy, we have stepped up to be not only a voice for low income South Australians but to have a direct impact on areas of policy and service delivery at a local level, and gain some real ground. After intensive policy and advocacy work, and political campaigning, a number of amendments relating to tenant protection, hardship processes and consumer advocacy were made. In relation to the State Water Bill, we also were successful with the campaign for the consumer impact review of the National Energy Retail Law and for funding to conduct a scoping study on the need for a Consumer Credit Legal Service.
- Annual Report, 2011-12, Helen Connolly, Chair

"Woolies – The Pokies People, held its AGM in Adelaide this year and activist shareholders concerned about profits being generated from their poker machine holdings, and the level of harm flowing through problem gambling, forced Woolworths to hold an EGM to consider changing its constitution. This would have meant limiting and making its machine holdings safer. We joined with local activist group Communities Against Pokies in supporting protests outside the EGM and with the help of shareholder proxies obtained from SACOSS members, voted in support of the proposed amendments. Inevitably, the vote failed, but for a moment a huge light was shining on the problematic contribution of pokies to our community and Woolworths’ role and brand as a family friendly grocer. We are still working to get funding to enable SACOSS to construct some longer term policy and advocacy work in this crucial area.”
- Annual Report, 2012-13, Ross Womersley, Executive Director

"An ongoing concern is the impact of a new face of inequality – an inequality that has emerged because of the way the digital world has changed our lives, including changing the way we make things, the jobs we do, the way we do business, the way we learn, the way we communicate, the ways we can come together even across vast distances, and so it goes on. The trouble is, and the story is not an unfamiliar one, some of us are resourced in ways that mean we have the ability, the equipment, the skills, and the access to use these opportunities for the best. But there are also substantial groups of people who are not. The more separate and distant they get from the good things the digital world offers, the more they fall behind and in the end, miss out.”
- Annual Report, 2017-18, Ross Womersley, CEO & David Panter, Chair