Introduction
Good morning and thank you for inviting me to join you for this year’s conference.
I honour the Ngunnawal people and pay my respects to their elders, past and present.
The ACE TEAM: Chair, Keryl Neville; Deputy Chair, Donna Faulkner; and CEO, Lucy Macali; (Macali)
DEEWR Deputy Secretary, Malisa Golightly; Commissioner Graham Innes; ladies and gentlemen; friends and former colleagues.
For you, this conference is an annual opportunity to share your own challenges as a sector as well as some of your innovative solutions to those challenges. But this year’s conference, ‘post-Kevin 07’, is also a timely opportunity to consider how you can continue to be integral to a social inclusion agenda for Australia
It is a dynamic Conference program - covering training, support for people living with mental illness, mapping the future, indicators, the important role of research and of course the all important networking that events such as this make possible.
Today is an opportunity for me to share with you some of the Government’s priorities as we focus on policies to bring about a more inclusive community where everyone is able to participate in worthwhile and fulfilling ways.
I note that there is a session on ‘working better with the APS’ is on the Conference program. A better and more respectful relationship between Government and the not-for-profit sector is a key plank in our social inclusion plans and I will also talk to you today about some of the actions I’m taking to develop that relationship.
Social inclusion is about maximising participation which meets the needs of individuals and benefits the entire nation.
In the area of maximising the employment participation for people with disability, we have a lot of work to do. As Minister O’Connor outlined yesterday, Australia is ranked 13 out of 19 countries by the OECD for employing people with disability and we are at the bottom list of 16 countries when it comes to employing people who receive disability benefits.
It is why we intend to invest in this policy area quite heavily - the Mental Health & Disability Employment Strategy will be released later this year. I hope you continue to be engaged in the current discussions and consultations as the strategy is taken forward. The input from the sector in this process has been invaluable.
For the last six months, I too have benefited enormously from consultations with many of you, including those in the ACE network and the wider disability services sector.
I have benefited from insights into what is working well in the sector, what is working less well, and of course, what Government can do better and the areas of service delivery that can be better designed and delivered for the benefit of people living with disability.
But perhaps most usefully in my thinking about social inclusion and how we drive such an agenda, has been very good advice that we must always consider the impacts of our policies and programs on people, rather than de-personalising disability and mental illness - that by objectifying this disparate group of people, we distance ourselves from the very people with whom we are intimately involved in this policy area.
People living with disability or a mental illness must be seen first as people - people with ideas, thoughts, hopes and dreams and unique perspectives and who have an enormous contribution to make to Australian life.
It is crucial that we all seek to empower them both through our policies and in the services we deliver. And that’s easier than it sounds, if it means that our starting point is that we are working with, rather than for those living with disability and that we value diversity and the potential of self-determination.
Empowerment is possible when we start by building on the possibilities and potential for people living with disabilities or mental illness, rather than from a perspective of
a welfare-deficit approach. It is unashamedly an optimistic and inclusive approach.
We should also not presume to talk about disability policy without substantial input from people living with disability. Beyond such discourtesy is the risk that policies we might propose will be based on a false premise.
These are good starting points that will allow us all of us - Government, service providers and carers - to maximise the inclusion and participation of those living with mental illness and disability, and the participation of those who face barriers to participation.
Social Inclusion as a Priority
To put people at the centre of service delivery is not easy - but it must be the central tenet in our social inclusion agenda.
· It requires us to ask, ‘who is doing the excluding and why’? Not an easy question for many.
· It recognises that we cannot rely on one-size-fits-all approaches.
· It recognises the importance of place - what works in one place, might not in another.
The Government recognises that all Australians have a right to find and retain meaningful employment, access services, connect with friends and family and their local community.
And despite much economic prosperity, too many Australians are missing out on that opportunity - whether it’s one of the 100,000 Australians who finds themselves with no roof over their head every night, or one of the one in four job seekers who has been unemployed for more than five years.
Action cannot happen soon enough. The costs are not only social, but economic. Our national labour market is tight; we are experiencing continued economic growth. Australia’s long-term prosperity depends on securing the full social and economic participation of all Australians. If not, we will pay a high price for peoples’ ongoing marginalisation in the decades ahead.
But to deliver outcomes, we have to develop some very new approaches and partnerships.
We know we have a huge task ahead, but we have already started this important work and we are now formulating new policy frameworks to help us deliver on our social inclusion priorities.
We must ensure this most important principle is recognised in all aspects of the Government’s work - let me show you how:
On Tuesday the Prime Minister tabled in the Parliament a National Interest Analysis, signalling that Australia proposes to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
This Convention recognises that people with disabilities are entitled to enjoy all human rights on an equal basis with others; and assists countries to promote awareness of those rights to enable people with disability to participate in society.
Last Friday Minister Macklin announced a $1.9 billion boost to funding for people with disability, their families and carers at the Disability Services Ministers’ Conference. $1.9 billion to provide 2,300 in-home support places, 2,300 support accommodation places, 9,900 individual support packages and 10,000 much-needed respite places. I am sure that the Parliamentary Secretary Bill Shorten will provide further information to you tomorrow on the National Disability Strategy.
In the 2008/09 Budget, the Government has made significant commitments in areas such as education and employment; early childhood education; school retention; homelessness; literacy and numeracy; and Indigenous health.
Minister O’Connor outlined yesterday details of the $3.7 billion the Government is spending on a reformed employment services system to give greater support to unemployed people, particularly those who face real barriers.
And that’s what it’s all about - helping the most disadvantaged Australians to move into sustainable work through a simpler, more effective and better targeted employment services system. By reducing administrative red tape for employment service providers, you will be able to spend more time delivering outcomes for job-seekers.
Homelessness is one of the greatest social challenges this country faces, and the Government has made it a key priority. $150 million will be spent building 600 homes across Australia for families and individuals who are sleeping rough.
Our Homelessness Green Paper is also out for discussion to gather the best ideas and initiatives to tackle Australia’s homelessness problem and help determine the course of action we take on this in the coming decade.
Getting the right start in life through fair access to education is critical to building a socially inclusive Australia for tomorrow. That’s why we’re investing $520 million for universal access to preschool for all children in the year before formal school.
There’s more than $30 million for the home interaction program to help disadvantaged children prepare for school, and the Government is creating up to 238,200 new vocational training places for those outside the workforce.
Budgetary measures were announced to help voluntary organisations continue their important work, including our improved and expanded $63 million Volunteer Grants Program. Australia’s 5.2 million volunteers are the life-blood of the not-for-profit sector, and therefore a key part of the Social Inclusion agenda.
Where disadvantage divides communities, volunteering unities us, and I am currently considering opportunities to further promote and support volunteering efforts on a national level.
These are the first steps forward - our first down-payments - as we make systemic changes in the way in which Government, business and the not-for-profit sectors work together to deliver services and develop policy.
In our first six months of government, we have started putting in place the partnerships, policies and structures through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) that will ensure real reforms can take place.
It’s about getting past the redundant old blame game between levels of Government and reforming the way that payments are delivered to target policy priorities.
The Social Inclusion Committee of Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, will drive a whole-of-government approach. The Committee is being supported by an inter-departmental working group of Secretaries.
And to drive coordination the Social Inclusion Unit is right at the centre of government - in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. This will put in place the mechanisms to enable real ‘joined-up’ service delivery - an overarching framework to guide the whole Government and whole Ministry.
Two weeks ago I attended the first meeting of the Social Inclusion Board, which took place in Broadmeadows, Victoria, The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister were there to welcome and encourage the Board members in their work..
The Board members agreed that innovation, early intervention and active strategies are all key ways to delivering evidence-based outcomes.
They has assured us they won’t be wasting any time in their important task of consulting widely, and bringing advice to Government on how the Social Inclusion agenda can be taken forward.
We are also building on the important work of Professor Tony Vinson, ‘Dropping off the Edge’ which showed that 1.7% of postcodes in Australia accounted for more than seven times their share of the major indicators that cause poverty and disadvantage. We are building on this research and using the data available to us across Government agencies to map effectively where there are black holes in service delivery and the greatest needs.
Working with the Not-for-Profit Sector
I cannot emphasise how important our service providers in the not-for-profit sectors are - and the significant role they must play - in helping to implement the Government’s Social Inclusion agenda. Not only do we need you as partners in the delivery of good quality services, but also partners in ideas and innovative thinking.
By its nature, the sector is broad, diverse and adaptable - and has remained so through changes of government and differing economic circumstances. Hard-working staff and volunteers within the sector have always been there - at the sharp end of service delivery - meeting the needs of disadvantaged Australians, helping them to find work.
But, I am also aware of the many challenges your organisations face. The government knows it needs to cut the red tape imposed on the sector that can drown even the largest and most sophisticated organisations, making it difficult for you to achieve your aims, to stay true to your mission or objects, and draining your resources.
We want to get a much better picture of the substantial impact and contribution that the not-for-profit sector makes to Australian society. The best national data we have dates back to 2001, and many things have changed since then. This is why we are working with the Productivity Commission to developing a new tool to measure this contribution.
ACE is a strong advocacy network. The Government is restoring the right and opportunity for the sector to advocate for and be a voice for the people they represent. If we are to develop and deliver the best policies and outcomes, we need advice and feedback.
On this front, I have led a cross-portfolio review of all Commonwealth contracts with not-for-profit sector organisations to ensure they do not contain anti-advocacy clauses. These were inserted into contracts by the previous government to deter organisations from criticising policy decisions.
This was a dark period for organisations in the sector that were ‘trained’ or tamed by that government - and it has to stop. It will stop.
We want to build - and re-build - a new partnership with the sector, based on mutual respect and trust.
It is important to take an evidence-based approach to our social policy - especially when it comes to social inclusion. We can learn a lot from countries like the UK, Ireland and Canada - especially around the "Compact" agreement developed in those countries.
What role would a similar process deliver for Australia? I have announced our commitment earlier this year for us to work towards such an agreement. The process is important and I suggest some principles as follows:
First, the process around developing the National Compact should model a respectful approach based on genuine and sustained collaboration.
Secondly, experience shows it is important to agree on an approach and timetable for addressing issues and concerns so that the National Compact can be a driver for positive change.
Thirdly, we have to focus on what the needs of the community are - and if services and programs are being best focused on meeting real and positive outcomes.
I see consultations, discussions and feedback as being paramount in this process. Specifically, it is essential that the sector finds a representative voice and develops an accurate picture of itself and its contributions. I am currently talking with the Not-For-Profit Roundtable about this issue.
In short, I think our outcomes need to be realistic and appropriate, with a focus on key benchmarks and national targets that can guide us forward.
Consultations will begin shortly and I expect to be able to report back to the Government early next year on the content and form of such a Compact.
Conclusion
We want to develop an environment which enables the not-for-profit sector to thrive, grow and work with us on shared outcomes that will build a more inclusive Australia.
I see that your agenda covers some of the more complex and challenging issues about drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness - I’m intimately familiar with the work you do in this space and I know that is becoming very difficult. When we add to those barriers to employment issues of homelessness, poverty, poor health, violence, failed relationships and single parenting - yours is a sector that represents our social inclusion ideals.
Thank you for your work, your commitment, your perseverance and your enthusiasm!