Services can’t meet demand as thousands turned away

MEDIA RELEASE

More and more Queenslanders are turning to community and social service organisations for help. However, an increasing number are turned away by a sector struggling with demand. The annual Australian Community Sector Survey released by the Australian Council of Social Service today shows Queensland organisations provided services on 1,682,781 occasions during 2009/10. This is an increase of 7 per cent. On 44,292 occasions clients were turned away. This is up 6 per cent.

“These figures show how the global financial crisis continued to affect disadvantaged Queenslanders long after everyone thought we were in recovery,” says Queensland Council of Social Service President Karyn Walsh. “The true situation following the floods and cyclones of the past summer is actually much worse than is reflected in this survey. 

“The extent to which people are struggling financially is also reflected in the breakdown of where need has increased the most. Financial support services demand increased by 73 per cent, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service demand is up 18 per and there is a 17 per cent increase in child welfare services.

“This flood of people seeking help is the physical manifestation of the QCOSS Cost of Living report released in May this year. It outlines how an increasing number of lower income Australians are being tipped into poverty by prices of essential items like housing, electricity, transport and water rising at well above the rate of inflation,” says Karyn.

The survey reveals that only 40 per cent of community service organisations in Queensland felt they had the capacity to meet demand. More than half are targeting their services more tightly. “This targeting commonly occurs when demand outstrips capacity and organisations direct services only to those with the greatest need or those in immediate crisis,” says QCOSS Director Mark Henley.

“Unmet need was greatest in mental health, housing and homelessness, family and relationships, youth and legal services. Unfortunately the high level and variety of unmet needs is consistent with both an increasing complexity in the issues service users face and the fact policy and service-delivery systems are often ill-equipped to deal with this complexity,” says Mark.

Most organisations surveyed relied heavily on government funding and believed the funding they received was insufficient to cover the true cost of delivering contracted services. This is in line with the Productivity Commission’s 2010 finding that government funding for community services routinely covered only 70 per cent of the service delivery cost. The survey found this shortfall impacted on services’ ability to innovate or plan for the future.

“Many respondents said excessive contractual requirements impacted on their ability to deliver services,” says Mark. “And 73 per cent felt these constraints affected their ability to speak publicly about issues facing service users. There is evidence that excessive reporting and red tape associated with both state and federal government funding takes resources away from delivering services. It is particularly burdensome for smaller organisations to manage these processes.”

The full Australian Community Sector Survey results can be found at www.acoss.org.au.

Mark Henley 0448 075 087, Karyn Walsh 0413 619 785

Mark Jeffery 0419 732 583, Jenny Whitworth 0417 779 819