Community Services Sector

Queensland’s Community Services Sector provides effective, inclusive human services by supporting communities in building skills, finding solutions and promoting social justice.

The Community Services Sector employs over 100,000 Queenslanders and over 66,000 people volunteer their time to support the Sector and the community. In 2008-09, organisations in the Sector spent $5.2 billion on direct and indirect community service activities (QCOSS, 2010).

A strong and sustainable Community Services Sector is crucial for providing effective and inclusive human services that support communities to build skills and find solutions. The Sector also plays a vital advocacy role to remedy disadvantage in our society. Community services have consistently demonstrated enormous benefits to Queenslanders, including enhanced responsiveness, cost effectiveness, flexibility and innovation.

Investment in the community services sector strengthens these benefits and builds the capacity of organisations to deliver crucial services, ensuring a solid base for preventative approaches.

Local Diverse and Strong Project
Jul 2011
The Local Diverse and Strong project explores specific attributes which describe the role, value and contribution of a range of service models and types within the broader not for profit sector that are essential to sustain in vibrant, vital and healthy communities.
Pay Equity Project
Jan 2011
Information on the federal Equal Remuneration Case, the Vital Services, Decent Pay campaign. This page also includes resources for organisations to lobby for pay equity and funding to match and to address the workforce and organisational implications of their industrial relations obligations.
Queensland Community Services Sector Development - QCOSS' role
May 2011
In moving towards a fair, inclusive and sustainable Queensland, the role of Sector Development is to value, promote, support and develop the capacity of non-government organisations to provide assistance to vulnerable Queenslanders and to contribute to policy making on sector issues.
Unit Costing Project
Aug 2011
To support organisations in the transition to output based service agreements, QCOSS has self funded the development of a Unit Costing Tool. This is a strategic tool that organisations can use to determine the full-cost of service delivery, including what proportion of services are self-funded. For organisations who have yet to negotiate their output based service agreement, this tool will allow them to determine what level of outputs can be delivered within existing resources. The tool is currently being piloted and will be available on Community Door by late August, early September 2011.
Media Release $2 bn announcement will help disadvantaged in Qld.
Nov 2011
The Prime Minister’s announcement today that the Federal Government will fund the outcome of the national Equal Pay case is good news for disadvantaged Queenslanders, says the Queensland Council of Social Service.
Submission Common Service Agreement Submission
May 2011
After consultation with our members, the community sector more broadly, and the Centre for Philanthropy and Non-Profit Studies at the Queensland University of Technology QCOSS lodged a submission regarding the Common Service Agreement to the Department of Communities.
Submission Community Contract Management Review - Report for Department of Communities
Mar 2011
In late 2010 the Department of Communities engaged external consultants to review their contract management processes. As a part of this internal review, QCOSS was requested to provide a report that captures the contract management experiences of the community services sector. The findings of this report indicate that processes allowing for strong working relationships between organisations and CSO/CROs alongside the sharing of accurate and timely information will have a strong, positive effect on how contracts are managed.
Community Door
May 2011
Community Door is a comprehensive online resource for Queensland's community services sector. The site contains detailed information to assist organisations with their strategic development including the areas of Governance, Funding, Reporting, Financial Management, Quality Assurance, Service Delivery as well as resources relating to reform of the sector.
Community Services Futures Forum
Jun 2011
The Futures Forum is an independent coalition of 50 state-wide human services, peak organisations, service providers and networks in Queensland that serves as a vehicle to identify state-wide strategic issues of concern for the sector and to explore collaborative action to address these issues.
Policy Paper Community Services Sector
Nov 2009
QCOSS policy position in relation to the Queensland Community Services Sector. It outlines issues such as the need for culture change, funding approaches, ongoing challenges in the workforce and building sector capacity, It then recognises progress to date and outlines QCOSS recommendations for addressing the issues.
Community Services Sector Charter
May 2011
Provides information on how the Community Services Sector Charter was developed through extensive consultation with the community services sector.
Documenting Good Shared and Collaborative Practice
May 2011
The Documenting Good Shared and Collaborative Practices activity identified and documented existing good practice demonstrated by consortia of community based organisations,
Report July 2009, Cost of Providing Specialist Disability Services and Communities Services in Queensland
Jul 2009
The final report entitled ‘Cost of Providing Specialist Disability Services and Communities Services in Queensland’ has been released. This was a study commissioned by the (then) Disability Services Queensland and Department of Communities as part of the Funding Policy Project (previously the Fair level of Funding project) in 2006-2008. The research was done by the Social Policy Research Centre (University of New South Wales) and Griffith University.
March 2008, Futures Forum submission to the Qld Public Accounts Commitee Inquiry into the Management of Funding to NGOs
Mar 2008
Submission by the Queensland Community Services Futures Forum to the Queensland Public Accounts Commitee Inquiry into into the Management of Funding to Non-Government Organisations. QCOSS also made a submission to this inquiry.
Submission March 2008, Qld Public Accounts Commitee Inquiry into the Management of Funding to NGOs
Mar 2008
In March 2008, QCOSS prepared a submission for the Queensland Public Accounts Committee Inquiry into the Management of Funding to Non-Government Organisations. The submission emphasised the significant impact of unnecessary and ineffective reporting requirements on organisations and highlighted the need for a shift to more meaningful data collection and evaluation, paired with a reduction in red tape. The Community Services Futures Forum made a separate submission into this Inquiry.
Newly Qualified Workers Project
Jun 2011
This research project seeks to create knowledge about newly qualified workers' workplace support and development needs across diverse fields and geographical contexts of service delivery. It will examine factors impacting on job satisfaction and retention, and aims to develop practice models for workforce support and development.
Media Release Non-profit community sector adds $2.7billion to economy and employs 60,000 in Queensland
Mar 2011
A snapshot of the non-profit community sector in this state released today reveals its contribution to the economy and life of Queensland. The non-profit sector injects more than $2.7billion into the economy each year and employs more than 60,000 people to provide community services in every corner of the state. Sector Profile 2010 reveals the huge impact that the non-profit community sector has in Queensland.
Promoting the Value of the Sector
May 2011
Resources to raise awareness of the current crisis around recruitment and retention, and the need for better rates of pay in this sector.
Queensland Compact
May 2011
The Queensland Compact is designed to guide the relationship between the Community services sector and the Queensland Government. The Compact essentially commits both parties to a set of principles and commitments to work together in a respective, productive forward-looking relationship that benefits the community.
Media Release Queenslanders support fair go for community sector
Apr 2011
An overwhelming majority of Queenslanders (92 per cent) believe community sector workers should be paid at least the same as workers doing similar jobs in other industries. The Queensland response mirrors national figures in a survey conducted as Fair Work Australia retires to consider the outcomes of the equal remuneration case brought by the Australian Services Union on behalf of community sector workers.