The Way Forward

The
way
forward
Victorian
Budget
Submission
2022
VCOSS is the peak body for Victoria’s
social and community sector, and the
state’s premier social advocacy body.
We work towards a Victoria free from poverty and
disadvantage, where every person and community is
supported to thrive. We work relentlessly to prioritise
wellbeing and inclusive growth to create prosperity for all.
We achieve these goals through policy development,
public and private advocacy, supporting and increasing
the capabilities of the state’s social service bodies, forging
strong coalitions for change, and explaining the true
causes and effects of disadvantage.
VCOSS’s strength comes from its members and the people
they serve. Our members include frontline service groups,
peak bodies, advocacy organisations and individuals
passionate about a fair, sustainable and inclusive Victoria.
We listen to members and amplify their experiences and
insights. We respect the unique perspectives of people
who experience poverty or inequality, and seek to
strengthen and elevate their voices.
VCOSS is fiercely independent.
Authorised by VCOSS CEO Emma King.
VCOSS acknowledges the traditional owners of country,

pays respect to Elders past and present, and emerging
leaders. Our office is located on the sovereign, unceded
lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation.
THE WAY FORWARD
Victoria finds
itself at a historic
crossroads.
We have a choice: do we shrug off the worst of the
COVID pandemic and return to ‘business as usual’,
or do we genuinely learn from the past 18 months
and forge a new, fairer path forward?
There’s a recurring theme History tells us this will happen Both approaches must
throughout this submission that again. It will happen during the be embraced for Victoria’s
must not be ignored. Whether it’s next recession, after the next post-COVID recovery to be
in sections discussing housing, natural disaster and amid the inclusive and comprehensive.
gender equality, education or some next great technological leap. Taken together, these approaches
other element of social policy, this People will be left behind. Unless. will ensure we grasp the
central point remains constant: opportunity for big, meaningful
Unless we decided not to
things weren’t great before reform, while also repairing the
allow this.
COVID, and COVID only made damage caused by COVID.
things worse. Unless we adopt bold policies
We urge the Victorian Government
and make a conscious choice
Where positive measures were to embrace this bold and positive
to rebuild our state stronger and
taken in rapid response to COVID, vision for our state. The 2022
fairer than before.
these were often temporary or Victorian Budget is an opportunity
highly targeted. Unless we embrace the concept for us to lead the nation on social
of wellbeing as our driving force, and economic wellbeing.
COVID exposed all our society’s
and invest now to make it a reality
cracks and flaws. In a narrow Let’s not waste a minute.
for all people and all communities.
medical sense, the virus spread
the same way wherever it travelled. This submission broadly makes
two types of recommendations
But we know it inflicted
ahead of the 2022 Victorian
disproportionately more pain on
Budget:
specific groups of people: those Emma King VCOSS CEO
without secure housing, those Short-term measures to
without adequate income, those immediately help people – and
without sick leave entitlements, the frontline services that support
those without the refuge of them – to recover from the worst
a safe home. Those without. of COVID, and
Long-term measures to
address systemic challenges and
entrenched disadvantage, and
allow us to build back better.
1
VICTORIAN BUDGET SUBMISSION 2022
Where
to start
2
THE WAY FORWARD
Get started on a Victorian Continue to Bolster mental health

wellbeing agenda support Aboriginal services now, ahead
Recognise the inextricable self-determination of larger reforms
link between social and Ensure Aboriginal Community Immediate steps to help
economic outcomes, and Controlled Organisations have people and the mental
embrace wellbeing as the the power and resources health system straight away.
driving force shaping Victorian needed to govern, plan and
policymaking and budgets. deliver for their communities.
PAGE 6 PAGE 18 PAGE 8
Invest in programs to Create new employment Deliver fairer funding

make COVID recovery participation pathways and longer contracts
culturally inclusive for workers to boost community
More support for those Targeted investments to get sector impact
communities hit hardest women, young people and Remove the roadblocks to
by COVID and lockdowns. other groups into good jobs. social service delivery, workforce
retention and job creation.
Provide early Wipe COVID-era utility Ensure nobody is left

intervention support debts for low-income behind when disaster
to people to prevent households strikes
homelessness Targeted grants to demolish Embed inclusive practices
Offer help early so the water, gas and energy in emergency management
people aren’t pushed debts many households racked before the next emergency
into homelessness. up during lockdown. or natural disaster.
Offer free public Make Victorian homes Boost prevention

transport for school kids climate ready and solar funding from 3% to 10%
in need equipped of the total family
Pre-paid myki tickets for Solar panels on public housing, violence budget
kids who need them, so and home upgrades to keep The best way to end violence
everybody can get to school. houses cool in summer and is to stop it before it occurs.
warm in winter.
3
Chapters and recommendations
A wellbeing state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Progress a Victorian wellbeing agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Strengthen the frontline of our healthcare system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Bolster mental health now, ahead of larger reforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Increase funding for AOD treatment and harm reduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Address major backlogs and gaps in the provision of public dental health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Value the community sector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Provide fair, evidence-based and transparent indexation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Introduce longer-term contracts to increase community service impact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Grow and develop the community services workforce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Provide an industry support package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Invest in the wellbeing of Victoria’s community sector heroes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Reinvigorate volunteering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Build the capacity of small and emerging organisations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Inclusive communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Invest in the capacity of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Ensure our COVID recovery is culturally inclusive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Improve the wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ Victorians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Fund, act on and measure the impact of the State Disability Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Increase and sustain funding for disability advocacy organisations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Support ready access to the NDIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Make transport accessible for everyone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Close the digital divide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Affordable living. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Wipe COVID-era utility debts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Establish ongoing funding for independent energy advice services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Provide paid workers to community information and support services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Provide pre-paid public transport for school students who need it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Expand the Get Active Kids Voucher Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Victorians in work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Invest in place-based initiatives that help sustain, recover and grow local jobs. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Create post-COVID employment participation pathways for workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Sustain investment in employment services for disadvantaged jobseekers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Harness the job creation potential of the community services industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4
THE WAY FORWARD
Stronger early childhood education, schools and skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Keep building the early childhood education and care workforce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Support children’s social, emotional and cognitive development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Reduce school costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Provide more support for students with disability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Support student voice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Boost TAFE supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
A healthy climate supporting resilient communities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Install solar panels on public housing properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Continue making homes more energy efficient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Build the community sector’s capacity in emergencies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Support children and young people to recover from emergencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Support place-based community resilience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Ensure emergency management leaves no one behind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
A safe place to call home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Create the conditions for long-term social housing growth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Provide early intervention support to help keep people in their home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Deliver Housing First for more Victorians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Keep the promise of fair renting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Victorians can thrive and live free from violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Deliver a child and family services system that places the child at the centre
and better supports families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Boost investment in sexual assault services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Invest in Victorian women’s resilience and recovery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Increase spending on primary prevention activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Ensure victim survivors can access the specialised support they need
to recover from family violence – and lift the whole of the system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Strengthen disability-inclusive family violence practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Ensure family violence reforms address the distinct needs of young people. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Stop elder abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Fair and equal justice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Boost legal assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Save money with justice reinvestment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Stop women from becoming criminalised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Let people leave prison behind them. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Make courts modern, safe and accessible. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5
A wellbeing
state
Progress a Victorian Strengthen the • Increase core funding to the

wellbeing agenda frontline of our community health sector for
‘business as usual’, to ensure
healthcare system services can meet increasing
Governments across the community demand and the
world are looking for new ways Community health services needs of people with complex
to conceptualise and measure are a pivotal part of Victoria’s health and social circumstances.
social progress, and target funding health system. Embedded in • Establish a dedicated Community
initiatives accordingly. The concept local communities, they promote Health Infrastructure Fund
of ‘wellbeing economies’ has healthy living, help prevent chronic to enhance service capacity,
developed to meet this need. disease, and provide care that efficiency, safety and quality,
Iceland, Scotland and New keeps people out of hospital. and client and staff amenity.
Zealand have all integrated This targeted investment would
These services have been on the
wellbeing into the business of alleviate pressure on tertiary
frontline of Victoria’s response
government. This looks different health services by boosting
to COVID-19. Government has
in each jurisdiction, but in all cases out-of-hospital care and allied
relied heavily on community health
relies on the development of local health services. This investment
services to provide public health
indicators to determine and track would also facilitate co-location
information, primary healthcare
desired social outcomes. of complementary services,
and social assistance to people
consistent with the government’s
Victoria should join this global who are socially or economically
strong interest in leveraging
movement. This reform could be disadvantaged and have complex
additional value via partnerships.
progressed in the 2022 Victorian care needs or limited access to
Budget in two ways: appropriate healthcare. They
• A formal declaration in the have stepped up to provide
budget papers that future COVID testing and vaccination
These recommendations
Victorian budgets will include to Victorians who otherwise face
should be considered
wellbeing indicators and an barriers to accessing essential
in conjunction with:
overall wellbeing framing. health information and services.
• Funding to develop a Victorian But the celebratory stories Address major backlogs
Wellbeing Indicators Framework about community health’s impact and gaps in the provision
tailored to the state’s unique conceal an ugly truth – the sector of public dental health
needs and goals. is struggling with inadequate PAGE 10
funding and infrastructure.
This Budget should: Grow and develop the
• Provide surge funding for community services workforce
PAGE 14
community health services
to support COVID recovery.
This surge funding is vital given
the number of Victorians who
need to make up appointments
that were missed during
lockdowns.
6
THE WAY FORWARD
7
A wellbeing
state
Bolster mental While the Victorian Government • Work with mental health peak
has made a welcome commitment bodies (representing services
health now, ahead
to fully fund and implement and consumers) to identify
of larger reforms the Royal Commission’s opportunities to bring forward
recommendations, the system is the timeframe for, and
The Royal Commission into close to being overwhelmed right investment in, Royal
Victoria’s Mental Health System now. There’s an urgent need for Commission reforms that can
revealed that about one in five the 2022 Budget to strengthen make an immediate difference.
Victorians experience mental illness Victoria’s mental health response,
each year. Almost half of all by leveraging existing know-how
Victorians will experience mental and infrastructure in the
illness during their life.1 community-managed sector. These recommendations
Specifically, the Victorian should be considered
Since then, new global research Government should: in conjunction with:
has identified an increase in the
• Rapidly scale existing
prevalence of major depressive Grow and develop the
low-risk, high-impact
disorder and anxiety disorders community services workforce
community-managed mental
associated with COVID.2
health programs. This would PAGE 14
Women and young people are build on the $22m announced
amongst those experiencing the in September 2021 to fast-track Ensure our COVID recovery
greatest increase in psychological more ‘pop-up’ mental health is culturally inclusive
PAGE 20
distress. Reduced mobility is a key support in the community. These
contributor, as well as increasing investments should include a
COVID infection rates.3 Victorians strategic focus on youth at risk,
have emerged from lockdowns women and Victorians from
into a post-traumatic society. migrant and refugee backgrounds,
who have been hit hardest by
the pandemic, as well as carers.
Responses should be gender-
sensitive and trauma-informed.
Given acute workforce
challenges, scaled initiatives
should be cognisant of
workforce shortages and
not require new workers to
be pulled from other sectors.
8
THE WAY FORWARD
Increase funding for • The AOD system is about

to be hit by increased demand
AOD treatment and These recommendations
generated by Victoria’s mental
harm reduction health reforms, and there is should be considered
building pressure from the justice in conjunction with:
People who seek treatment for system, where an already-huge

Grow and develop the
alcohol and other drug (AOD) wait list has expanded.
community services workforce
use already faced lengthy waits When people cannot access PAGE 14
before the pandemic. COVID has treatment voluntarily, they risk
increased the pressure on an being pushed into the forensic Invest in the capacity
already-strained system, blowing system. This puts additional of Aboriginal Community
out wait times even further. pressure on the service system – Controlled Organisations
Modelling indicates that in and is out of step with the PAGE 18
September 2021, there were Government’s Early Intervention

Investment Framework. Improve the wellbeing
3,599 Victorians waiting for
of LGBTIQ+ Victorians
treatment on any given day – The 2022 Budget should: PAGE 21
a 50% increase in just one year.4 • Increase funding for AOD
A perfect storm is brewing: treatment and harm-reduction
• More Victorians are drinking services to meet immediate
alcohol daily, drinking alone and long-term demand, and
more often, drinking to cope with provide Victoria with a modern
anxiety and stress, and drinking treatment system.
earlier in the day.5 Government should also work
• 70% of treatment agencies with the sector to build and
report an increase in the strengthen the AOD workforce
prevalence and severity of and increase the capability of
alcohol-related presentations services to provide culturally
since the pandemic began.6 safe and appropriate responses
• Consumption of illicit drugs has to groups with specific support
increased in both metropolitan needs, including people from
and regional Victoria.7 CALD backgrounds, women and
victim survivors of family violence.
9
A wellbeing
state
Address major This Budget should:

1 https://finalreport.rcvmhs.vic.gov.au/
backlogs and gaps in • Fund a catch-up program
wp-content/uploads/2021/02/
in community clinics (to treat
the provision of public an extra 92,000 Victorians in
RCVMHS_FinalReport_
ExecSummary_Accessible.pdf, p. 3
dental health 2022/23).11 This investment is 2 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/
urgently needed given public lancet/article/PIIS0140-
dental care was restricted 6736(21)02143-7/fulltext
There are 1.5 million Victorian
to emergency-only during 3 Ibid.
adults eligible for public dental
lockdowns and services are
care, but only 175,000 were 4 Data supplied to VCOSS by the
not expecting the Smile Squad Victorian Drug and Alcohol
treated in the year to June 2021
program for schoolchildren to Association.
(11.6% or equivalent to treatment
free up clinic times for adults 5 Foundation for Alcohol Research,
every 8.5 years). In June 2021, the
in 2022/23 because the rollout Alcohol Sales and use during COVID
average wait for non-emergency
is still in the early stages. – Polling snapshop, August 2020.
public dental was 22.7 months.
There were more than 154,000 • Set in train longer-term 6 VAADA 2021. Waitlist Snapshot
changes to the funding model, Survey 2021, November 2021.
people on waiting lists.8 While the
https://www.vaada.org.au/wp-
pandemic has exacerbated wait to increase access to public
content/uploads/2021/10/REP_
lists, timely access to public dental dental care for low-income
VAADA-snapshot-survey_10082021.
is a long-standing issue. Victorians and support a pdf
greater focus on prevention,
7 Australian Institute of Health
This negatively affects quality of life in line with the Victorian and Welfare, Alcohol, tobacco
for low-income Victorians, and has Government’s Early Intervention and other drugs in Australia,
direct and indirect impacts on the Investment Framework. 24 September 2021.
Victorian economy. For example,
8 Data supplied to VCOSS by the
poor oral health is associated with Victorian Oral Health Alliance
other health conditions such as <https://voha.org.au/>
cardiovascular disease, stroke, 9 https://www.dhsv.org.au/__data/
hepatitis C, and pancreatic and assets/pdf_file/0013/2515/links-
oral cancers,9 as well as lost between-oral-health-and-general-
productivity.10 health-the-case-for-action.pdf
10 https://www.bsl.org.au/research/
publications/end-the-decay-the-
cost-of-poor-dental-health-and-
what-should-be-done-about-it/
11 The Victorian Oral Health Alliance
is seeking an annual increment in
oral health funding of $40m per
year, for four years, on top of
current baseline funding. VOHA
calculates that this boost funding,
alone, would deliver an additional
920,000 episodes of adult care
over the four years.
10
THE WAY FORWARD
11
12
THE WAY FORWARD
Value the
community sector
Provide fair, Introduce longer-term Longer-term funding will allow

community service organisations
evidence-based contracts to increase
to make more effective planning
and transparent community service decisions, reduce contracting
indexation impact and employee onboarding costs,
invest in infrastructure, and
establish network and partnership
The rate of indexation that the The Productivity Commission
approaches. It will enable
Victorian Government applies to has found short-term funding
organisations to provide secure
the community sector’s annual is impeding community services
forms of employment that have
funding does not reflect the true from delivering the best possible
positive health and wellbeing
cost of delivering services to the outcomes for the people who
outcomes for staff and help
community. This is not simply an use them.12
remedy challenges with workforce
accounting issue – it constitutes
This Budget provides an attraction and retention. Given that
a real cut to community services
opportunity to effect a major women account for 83.5% of the
funding. It puts jobs at risk and
productivity boost by introducing sector’s workforce, a move away
threatens service quality and
default contract terms of seven from short-term and insecure
access.
years as recommended by the employment will improve
Victoria must: Productivity Commission, or – gender equality.13
• Introduce a fair, evidence-based as part of a phased approach –
and transparent model of default five-year contracts as
indexation that will provide the per New Zealand. To support this
funding required for community shift, the Victorian Government
service organisations to can immediately fund the
effectively deliver essential development of a new long-term
services. contract framework that is
co-designed with the sector.
This model must be responsive
to sector-relevant changes in
award wages and other cost rises –
for example, in 2021/22 a fair,
evidence-based and transparent
model would have delivered a
rate of indexation that accounted
for the increased superannuation
guarantee and the cost of
implementing the Portable Leave
Scheme, as well as the increase
in the minimum wage.
13
Value the
community
sector
Grow and develop the To grow the workforce, the To help develop and retain the
Government can build on its existing workforce, this Budget
community services
Jobs That Matter recruitment should invest in additional
workforce campaign by making the following professional development and
investments: training for the existing workforce,
A thriving community services • Identify existing data – and including the development of
industry is central to Victoria’s data gaps – that can help accessible governance, emergency
long-term economic prospects model demand and leverage the and resilience training.
and social recovery. It is an engine resources of the new Victorian Critically, these investments must
room for job creation and an Skills Authority to match the be accompanied by a Victorian
enabler for many of the Victorian sector’s workforce needs Government commitment to
Government’s flagship policy and with training. address two key structural
systems reforms. • Develop a robust, accessible barriers to attraction and
industry-wide dataset on retention: insecure work and
Pre-COVID, many community
the community workforce, low and unequal pay.
service organisations struggled to
comparable across sub-sectors
secure enough new workers to fill
and tracked over time.
vacancies. Workforce shortages
were particularly acute in regional • Produce a regional workforce
areas. These workforce pressures development strategy.
have been exacerbated by • Leverage insights from the
COVID-19, with exponential growth mental health reforms to develop
in demand for social assistance. strategies to encourage people
with lived experience to
This represents a major existential
become community services
challenge for the community
industry employees and to
services industry – and
support them in their roles.
government.
• Streamline and support paid
The Victorian Government should internships and student
fund an overarching community placements into the industry.
services industry workforce
strategy that enables all parts
of the system to grow and
develop their workforces.
14
THE WAY FORWARD
Provide an industry Invest in the Reinvigorate

support package wellbeing of Victoria’s volunteering
community sector
Community sector organisations heroes The COVID pandemic has smashed
have been hard hit by the cost of Victoria’s volunteer workforce.
complying with the Victorian
Victoria’s community sector In a regular year, more than two
Government’s COVID public health
workers are the unsung heroes of million Victorians donate their time,
measures and industry roadmap.
the COVID pandemic. They have generating an economic benefit of
These costs include:
responded to a rapid rise in service about $60 billion.14 Volunteers are
a. Increased cleaning and fundamental to the operation of
demand and increased complexity,
sanitation. community and emergency services,
and made radical changes to the
b. Provision of Personal way they deliver services, to and sustain social, sporting and
Protective Equipment. maintain continuity of support creative groups. Volunteering also
c. Reconfiguration of the workforce for vulnerable Victorians. improves the mental and physical
to manage the risk of virus wellbeing of individuals.
This included a massive shift
transmission, and costs
to digital service delivery during But the easing of COVID restrictions
associated with furloughing
lockdowns – often from home, and has not translated into an ‘organic’
staff, disruptions to student
while juggling caring responsibilities bounce-back of volunteers.15
placements, and the loss of
for children. To reinvigorate volunteering, the
volunteer workforce.
d. Expenditure on devices, new Staff have given their all. The 2022 Victorian Budget should:
technology and underpinning prolonged nature of the pandemic • Guarantee adequate and
digital infrastructure. has left staff stressed and sustainable funding for
e. Training and skills development exhausted. place-based volunteering
programs to support the support services and resource
There has been significant
transition to new methods of centres that promote, resource
Government investment in the
service delivery and practice. and facilitate volunteering in local
wellbeing and mental health of
f. New measures to safeguard communities.
Victoria’s healthcare heroes –
staff mental health and and rightly so. There is now • Provide long-term investment in
wellbeing. a need for equivalent investment Volunteering Victoria to enhance
g. Increased administrative in community sector workers. the capacity and capability of
workload. volunteer organisations and
As part of COVID recovery, the
volunteer managers to build a
There are also new and emerging Victorian Government should
sustainable and resilient sector.
costs associated with the select support community sector
• Fund a communications
worker vaccine mandate and the initiatives that:
campaign and develop inclusive
ventilation of worksites as more • Address emergent wellbeing
and multi-language
staff return onsite to deliver services. concerns and support
communications materials,
These costs were unanticipated workforce retention.
workshops, and training
and, given the long-standing • Address the key structural opportunities to boost
sector sustainability challenges, causes of insecure work and participation by making the
there is an urgent need for the low pay in the community volunteering sector more
Government to: sector. inclusive and diverse.
• Fund a post-COVID industry
support package to ensure
essential community services
keep delivering on the other
side of recovery.
15
Value the
community
sector
Build the capacity Working for Victoria (information,

advice and support to enable 12 https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/
of small and emerging completed/human-services/reforms/
diverse organisations to create
organisations COVID emergency response
report/human-services-reforms.pdf
13 ABS. (2020) ABS Characteristics of
roles), and Strengthening Sector
Employment August 2020 (Compiled
A thriving, sophisticated and agile Sustainability (training and using Tablebuilder).
community services industry is development, resources and
14 Ellis, C., Muller, P., & Szeker, D.
vital to Victoria’s rebuild. tools, and information and advice
(2020). State of Volunteering in
to assist disability information Victoria 2020
Many larger operators have the services and advocacy organisations
15 Biddle, N & Gray, M, 2021,
organisational maturity to deliver to transition to NDIS funding). Volunteering during the first year of
a wide range of complex and the COVID pandemic (April 2021),
integrated services, and navigate It would complement an additional
ANU, Canberra.
challenges. (Albeit, battling the proposal to fund VCOSS to
funding pressures noted earlier undertake further research into key
in this chapter.) service and practice adaptations
(please refer to page 38).
However, smaller and younger
organisations (which are often
created to tackle new challenges,
address local issues or meet
emerging types of demand) can
should be considered
struggle to navigate complex legal,
regulatory, financial, employment,
cultural and other organisational Ensure our COVID recovery
responsibilities. is culturally inclusive
The Victorian Government should: PAGE 20
• Fund VCOSS to coordinate

Improve the wellbeing
with peak bodies and experts
of LGBTIQ+ Victorians
to deliver capacity building
PAGE 21
activities for new and emerging
organisations.This would focus Build the community sector’s
on practical help and resources capacity during emergencies
to strengthen governance, build PAGE 38
organisational capability, support
partnership and collaboration,
and optimise impact.
This investment would build on
previous Victorian Government
investments in sector development,
for example: the VCOSS
Governance Healthcheck,
16
THE WAY FORWARD
A thriving, sophisticated and agile

community services industry is vital
to Victoria’s rebuild.
17
Inclusive
communities
Invest in the capacity • Fund the completion of

of Aboriginal Infrastructure Master Plans
across the Aboriginal health
Community sector.
Controlled • Support the establishment
Organisations of Aboriginal community
controlled sobering up services
and residential rehabilitation
Victoria has commenced formal facilities, as an adjunct to the
Treaty discussions with Aboriginal decriminalisation of public
Victorians, established a First drunkenness.
Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria,
and initiated Australia’s first formal There’s also a pressing need
truth-telling body, the Yoo-rrook to address the sustainability
Justice Commission. It also has of the Aboriginal Community
strategies to address trauma, Controlled sector.
support healing and transfer power
and resources in areas such as
child and family services, family
violence, housing, health and These recommendations
education. should be considered
This is an impressive record.
To build on these long-term Value the Community Sector
systemic and structural reform PAGE 13
measures, and further support
Aboriginal self-determination, the
Victorian Government should:
• Increase core funding for
Aboriginal Community
Controlled Organisations
(ACCOs) to meet rising demand
for services, including in the
growth corridors of Ballarat,
Ararat and the Surf Coast.
18
THE WAY FORWARD
19
Inclusive
communities
Ensure our COVID • Maintain funding to multicultural Improve the

recovery is culturally and multifaith groups to deliver
wellbeing of LGBTIQ+
tailored information and support
inclusive to communities. Specifically, Victorians
a further two years of investment
Victoria’s migrant and refugee is needed to continue outreach Across almost every measure
communities shouldered a support and other high-impact of health and wellbeing, LGBTIQ+
heavy burden through COVID. initiatives that were established people fare significantly worse than
The pandemic exacerbated by the CALD Communities non-LGBTIQ+ people. This is not
long-standing challenges, such as Taskforce. Additionally, this because of their LGBTIQ+ status,
racism, a lack of secure work, and Budget should fund the but because of the stigma and
social isolation. It also highlighted continuation of the Workforce discrimination they encounter. As
the impacts: high rates of financial of Multilingual Health Educators a result, LGBTIQ+ people are less
hardship, poverty, over-crowded (WOMHEn). This initiative – likely to use mainstream services.
housing, sickness and mental which was originally established
by Jobs Victoria through the The Victorian Government has
health struggles.
time-limited Working for Victoria been a strong champion for
Those hit hardest by COVID will Fund – is still needed to ensure LGBTIQ+ equality. To take the
need more support to recover. the provision of critical in- next step, and further enhance
For Victoria to have an inclusive language health information LGBTIQ+ Victorians’ wellbeing,
post-COVID recovery, this across the state. this Budget should:
Budget must: • Include seed funding for an
• Renew funding for the eight
• Make CALD Victorians Regional Ethnic Communities LGBTIQ+ community-controlled
a priority in all new mainstream Councils to prioritise issues, sector Social Delivery Fund.18
government assistance coordinate resources and lead This Fund would provide
programs announced, local initiatives.16 organisations that are initiated,
particularly those relating to governed and operated by and
• Allocate funds to implement
employment and mental health. for LGBTIQ+ communities with
the statewide Anti-Racism
access to dedicated funding to
Strategy,17 due to be released
deliver programs and services
in mid-2022.
that address the evolving needs
of their communities.
• Fund mainstream services and
education providers to ensure
robust, LGBTIQ+ inclusive
practice.
20
THE WAY FORWARD
These two measures – in concert – Fund, act on During public consultations in

will support more LGBTIQ+ 2020, the Victorian Government
and measure the
Victorians to engage with proposed ‘universal (accessible)
healthcare and social assistance. impact of the State design’ standards to provide
These investments should be Disability Plan overarching support for the new
backed by a long-term, evidence- State Disability Plan. This Budget
based plan that addresses the is a great place to start:
A new four-year State Disability
inequities experienced by LGBTIQ+ • Mandate the application of
Plan is expected to be released
people. To underpin this broader universal design principles
in late 2021. It must be backed
plan, the Victorian Government across all new infrastructure
by action.
should: projects.
• Fund an annual LGBTIQ+ The Budget should fund rolling • Establish a fund to pay for
Health and Wellbeing Survey. action plans that are co-designed accessibility upgrades on
with people with disabilities. buildings that deliver public
These action plans must allocate services and don’t currently
money to initiatives that advance meet contemporary accessibility
These recommendations disability inclusion across standards.19
should be considered government, and include clear
in conjunction with: indicators, targets and measures
for success. This stronger focus on
Value the Community Sector outcomes should be underpinned
PAGE 13 by dedicated investment in
monitoring and evaluation
capability.
21
Inclusive
communities
Increase and –
Reflect the realities of This Victorian Budget should:
demand and unmet need.
sustain funding for • Provide additional resources
– Provide comprehensive, timely, to speed up NDIS Worker
disability advocacy quality support for NDIS and Screening Checks.
organisations non-NDIS issues. • Extend funding for the
existing 34 specialist disability
Disability advocacy organisations practitioners in family services
work alongside people with Support ready that support families to navigate
disability to assist them to access to the NDIS the NDIS.
understand, protect and exercise
their rights.
Participation in the NDIS changes
These services are a key safeguard a person’s life and boosts social These recommendations
against abuse, neglect and and economic activity. But Victoria should be considered
violence. However, people are is currently missing out on the full in conjunction with:
missing out on vital support benefit of the scheme.
because the sector’s funding Grow and develop the
is inadequate and insecure. That’s because we don’t have
enough workers to provide community services workforce
Many organisations have had PAGE 14
to close services, put people on disability care or help people
waiting lists, or shift their focus access the NDIS. Compounding
to information and one-off this is the time it takes for Victorian
advice only. Government officials to screen
and approve prospective NDIS
The 2022 Budget should: workers, with reported delays
• Establish fairer funding of up to three months.
arrangements for the state
This means many Victorians
disability advocacy sector that:
miss out on vital support despite
– Provide disability advocacy having NDIS packages, particularly
organisations with sustainable in outer suburban, regional and
core funding. rural areas.
–
Recognise the complexity
These acute workforce challenges
and duration of advocacy
are shared across all parts of
cases.
Victoria’s community services
system.
22
THE WAY FORWARD
Make transport Close the

16 Ethnic Communities Council of
accessible for digital divide Victoria estimate: $20m/four years.
everyone 17 Ethnic Communities Council of
Victoria estimate: $36m/four years.
The internet is a service as
18 Thorne Harbour Health estimate:
Transport services enable people essential as electricity or water.
at least $40m/two years.
to get to school, travel to work, But more than 300,000 Victorians
are on the wrong side of the ‘digital 19 As recommended by Infrastructure
participate in their community Victoria in its 2021 update of its
and visit loved ones. But many divide’.20 This makes it harder for
30-Year Infrastructure Strategy
regions are poorly served by public people to apply for a job, get the for Victoria.
transport, while existing services most out of school or connect
20 Australian Bureau of Statistics,
and infrastructure are often with family and friends. Household use of information
inaccessible to people with The Victorian Government can technology 2016–17, www.abs.gov.
disabilities or mobility challenges. au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8146.0
build on current initiatives that
Infrastructure Victoria’s 30-Year improve access, affordability and
Infrastructure Strategy provides digital literacy, by allocating new
a roadmap to resolve these money to:
problems. This Budget should • Install free NBN across all
include a new five-year public housing.
Accessible Transport • Subsidise NBN services for
Infrastructure Blitz, advancing low-income households.
priority projects that: • Give dongles and devices to
• Make public transport fully more students, particularly those
accessible and compliant in large families forced to share
with legislated requirements. a device.
• Expand and better link transport • Expand current ‘digital skills’
services in communities training programs to reach more
experiencing transport Victorians, including seniors,
disadvantage, including outer culturally and linguistically diverse
metropolitan, regional and rural Victorians, young people and
communities. carers. (This could include
funding for community services
Community transport should
organisations to establish
also be supported to play its
technology mentor roles,
part. Currently, the sector is
modelled on jobs that were
underfunded and undermined by
temporarily created through the
complex funding arrangements.
Working for Victoria scheme.)
This has created a patchwork of
services with different availability, While the Government boosts
scope, eligibility and fees. digital access and skills, it must
also continue to fund non-digital
This Budget should:
information services.
• Increase funding to existing
community transport providers
so they can meet current
demand.
• Fund a study of unmet need
to inform future evidence-based
investments that fill service gaps.
23
24
THE WAY FORWARD
Affordable
living
Wipe COVID-era This Budget should: Despite some slight easing in the
rate of utility cost growth during
utility debts • Establish a one-off ‘Utility
Debt Demolition’ payment the pandemic, the support offered
of up to $2,000 that assists by the Utility Relief Grant Scheme
The Victorian Government has eligible low-income households still hasn’t kept pace. The current
a wide range of policy, regulatory to clear their utility debt. value of support on offer is well-
and funding levers to support short of what low-income
Additionally, the Government
people to pay for essential utilities households require.
should consult with stakeholders,
like electricity, water and gas. The safety net should do more
including community sector peak
But utility bills and debts have bodies and organisations that than just cushion the fall.
mounted during COVID and our represent low-income households
safety net has been found wanting. and other vulnerable consumers,
Data from the Victorian regulator to review and determine an
that shows average energy debts increase in the Utility Relief
for households that are getting Grant Scheme base rate.
help from their retailers is $1,097
The Utility Relief Grant Scheme
(electricity) and $816 (gas).21 For
is a key thread in Victoria’s overall
the most vulnerable households –
support system.
those who experience ongoing
affordability issues and have
barriers to accessing help from
their retailer – the average
electricity debt (alone) is
Support is not keeping pace with price rises.
a whopping $1,876.22
60
50
40
% increase
30
20
10
0
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
9/
9/
9/
9/
9/
9/
9/
9/
9/
9/
9/
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
/0
01
01
01
01
01
01
01
01
01
01
01
Utility Relief Grant Utility costs Utility costs (trend)
25
Affordable
living
Establish ongoing • The existing Energy Info Hub These organisations are
managed by the Consumer increasingly being called upon
funding for
Policy Research Centre. to assist people post-COVID.
independent energy • Community education and But 90% of the workers in
advice services outreach activities, including these organisations are unpaid
drop-in clinics. volunteers. Roughly a third of
Victoria’s retail energy market is • In-home support for people agencies are run entirely by
complex. While there have been who need extra assistance. volunteers.23
important changes to help people The Government should also This is an unstable position in
make informed choices, apply for explore options to introduce normal times, made even worse
upgrades and access entitlements, Free Home Energy Assessments by the shrinkage of the state’s
the system remains confusing and to low-income households, volunteer workforce due to the
overwhelming for some. which would be referred from pandemic.
Community sector organisations the Frontline Energy Assistance
The Victorian Government should
play an important role providing Program.
fund a new program to:
information, advice, practical
• Hire at least one paid support
assistance and advocacy support
worker in each of Victoria’s
for people enduring, or on the Provide paid workers
community information and
cusp of, energy hardship. to community support services.
However, funding for this work is information and This will ensure continuity of
patchy, and not secure over the support services support to the community, and
long term. To get the most from
guidance and support to
Victoria’s energy reforms, the
volunteers.
Victorian Government should Community information and
establish an ongoing Frontline support services are often the
Energy Assistance program that ‘first port of call’ for Victorians
offers graduated support. seeking assistance. They provide
help to about 500,000 Victorians These recommendations
Delivered by a collaboration of should be considered
each year, in the form of material
experienced community sector in conjunction with:
aid, food, financial counselling,
organisations, this program would
budgeting assistance, No Interest
provide sustainable funding for: Reinvigorate volunteering
Loans, personal counselling,
• A new centralised telephone information, advocacy support
PAGE 15
information, advice and referral and referrals.
service.
26
THE WAY FORWARD
Provide pre-paid wellbeing teams facilitated access The Victorian Government should:
to pre-paid travel for students
public transport for • Refine the program to offer
experiencing transport upfront payments for uniforms
school students who disadvantage. An evaluation and equipment, so families
need it found that it increased school don’t face unmanageable
attendance and punctuality, and upfront costs.
decreased student stress. • Expand the program to include
Travelling to school and home
Government investment in an other recreational activities, like
again costs money, and constitutes
ongoing statewide program would music, drama and visual arts.
a hidden education expense.
contribute to Education State goals
This expense is a barrier to full
and strengthen school-based
attendance and participation in
action on mental health. 21 https://www.esc.vic.gov.au/sites/
school activities, especially for
default/files/documents/
children and young people from
Victorian%20Energy%20Market%20
low-income households and
those in crisis (for example, young
Expand the Get Active Update%20-%20%20
September%202021%20-%20
people who are experiencing Kids Voucher Program 20210923_0.pdf#page=7
homelessness). 22 https://www.esc.vic.gov.au/sites/
default/files/documents/energy-
No child or young person should Physical activity helps children customers-during-covid-september-
have their education compromised maintain health, form friendships, 2021-update-20211026.pdf#page=4
because they can’t afford a bus relieve stress and experience 23 Data supplied by Community
ticket or a tram or train fare. wellbeing in their formative years. Information and Support Victoria
To address this, the Victorian (CISVic), from a survey of 55
The Victorian Government’s
Government should: services.
Get Active Kids Voucher Program
• Establish an ongoing statewide supports these goals by lowering 24 https://www.westjustice.org.au/
program, delivered by the cms_uploads/docs/westjustice_
the barriers to community sport
Department of Transport, travel-assistance-program_
participation for low-income nov2020_digital.pdf
that provides pre-paid public families. This is done by
transport to students in need. reimbursing eligible families for
The program should build approved out-of-pocket expenses.
on evidence from successful There is scope to improve
place-based pilots like the this program, at a time when
WEstjustice Travel Assistance supporting and encouraging
Program.24 Under the Travel children to re-engage with
Assistance Program, school community sport after COVID is
looming as a significant challenge.
27
Victorians
in work
Invest in place-based Create post-COVID

initiatives that help employment
Economic recovery will
sustain, recover and participation be contingent on getting
grow local jobs pathways for workers Victorians back to work...
As we learn to live with
Across Victoria, communities are Thousands of Victorians have COVID, the Victorian
leading the charge on postcode lost jobs, had working hours Government can fast-track
disadvantage, or navigating reduced, or stopped working or recovery by making
changes to their local economies looking for a job because of caring targeted investments in
brought about by industrial responsibilities or health concerns those groups hardest hit
transition, emergencies and natural during the pandemic. by COVID: women and
disasters or demographic shifts.
Economic recovery will be young people.
More than ever, it’s important contingent on getting Victorians
that the Victorian Government back to work. The participation
gets behind community-led, rate took 50 months to recover
place-based initiatives. This after the recession of the 1990s.25
includes: As we learn to live with COVID,
• Continuing to fund the the Victorian Government can
Suburban Revitalisation fast-track recovery by making
program – maintaining current targeted investments in those
commitments, with additional groups hardest hit by COVID:
funding to enable expansion into women and young people.
new activity centres where there
is identified community need. Young people
• Supporting community-led • Fund programs designed to
responses to social and address social and economic
economic challenges in regional scarring and create new jobs
Victoria, through future funding for young people in the youth
rounds of the Regional Jobs sector (including additional
and Infrastructure Fund. traineeships), as detailed in the
Victorian Youth Sector Coalition’s
proposals26 for a COVID Youth
Recovery Initiative and a Young
Peer Workforce Program.
Women
• Fully implement the
recommendations of the Expert
Panel inquiry into Economic
Equity for Victorian Women.
28
THE WAY FORWARD
29
Victorians
in work
Sustain investment in • Establish a coaching program

employment services to support disadvantaged
jobseekers in their first year Jobs Victoria Employment
for disadvantaged of employment. This initiative – Services (JVES) provide
jobseekers designed to prevent intensive, individualised
disengagement and placement support to help
breakdown and modelled on
Jobs Victoria Employment disadvantaged jobseekers
the youth worker support model
Services (JVES) provide intensive, get work-ready and
that has been established in the
individualised support to help connected to good jobs.
VCOSS Jobs Victoria Community
disadvantaged jobseekers get These services are
Traineeship Pilot Program –
work-ready and connected to complemented by the
could commence with a
good jobs. These services are Jobs Victoria Advocates
community services industry pilot.
complemented by the Jobs
• Provide funding to implement Program and Jobs Victoria
Victoria Advocates Program and
the cross-government bicultural Careers Counsellors.
Jobs Victoria Careers Counsellors.
workforce strategy, to increase These programs do not
These programs do not have the engagement of culturally and have secure funding.
secure funding. There is an linguistically diverse communities
economic and a social imperative in Jobs Victoria services and
to guarantee recurrent funding programs.
to JVES, and the Advocate and • Invest in data analytics
Counsellor programs. to systematically capture
The 2022 Victorian Budget high-value data from the
should also: Jobs Victoria advocate, careers
• Recommit funding to the First counsellor and mentor roles and
Jobs project, which supports apply it to policy and program
secondary and post-secondary development.
students living in public housing,
who need assistance to find their
first job ever, or their first job in
their field of study.
30
THE WAY FORWARD
Harness the job • Giving community sector

employers the confidence and 25 C Winzer (2020), ‘Strength in
creation potential numbers: boosting workforce
capacity to create new jobs,
of the community by continuing to provide wage
participation after COVID-19’
[opinion piece], Council for
services industry subsidies through the Jobs Economic Development Australia,
Victoria Fund (with the level https://www.ceda.com.au/
of subsidy lifted from up to NewsAndResources/Opinion/
Victoria’s healthcare and social Workforce-Skills/Strength-in-
$20,000 to up to $50,000).
assistance workforce has tripled numbers-boosting-workforce-
• Funding the implementation participati
in size since the 1990s. It now
of strategic industry and
employs more people than 26 Submitted to the Victorian
workforce development Government by the Youth Affairs
any other industry, and is the
priorities in the Victorian Council of Victoria, as convenor of
third-largest industry based on
Government and community the Victorian Youth Sector Coalition.
contribution to GSP.27
sector’s 10-Year Community 27 Based on Gross Value Added –
Government reforms, an ageing Services Industry Plan. Chain volume measures, Victoria
population, and the social and (2019 –2020). Source: Australian
economic impacts of COVID Bureau of Statistics (November
2020), Australian National Accounts:
have increased demand for
State Accounts.
services. This has created the These recommendations
conditions for strong employment should be considered * Chapter icon: Flaticon.com
growth. However, the sector’s job in conjunction with:
creation potential is hamstrung.
It’s hard to attract and retain Value the Community Sector
workers because of low pay, PAGE 13
insecure work and the cost
(time and money) of re-skilling.
The Victorian Government can

support the sector’s job creation
potential in this Budget by:
• Instituting funding reforms
that enable community sector
employers to offer secure jobs.
For example, by providing
adequate funding indexation,
fairer unit pricing, and
longer-term contracts.
31
32
THE WAY FORWARD
Stronger early
childhood education,
schools and skills
Keep building the Support children’s To ensure all children have

access to vital play-based learning
early childhood social, emotional
the Budget should also:
education and care and cognitive • Extend Free Kinder for 2022.
workforce development • Invest in place-based programs
that increase connections
Universal access to three-year-old Victorian children have missed between early learning providers
kindergarten is one of the biggest out on important opportunities and children and families.
reforms ever undertaken in early to engage in play-based learning
childhood education and care. due to the pandemic.
But its success hinges on the This won’t be rectified quickly.
availability of suitably qualified Even in a COVID-normal
workers. environment, many families
continue to experience financial
Currently, the sector is
hardship or remain separated
experiencing significant staff
from other children, families and
shortages, made even worse
early learning settings.
by COVID-19.28
Playgroups must be part
The Victorian Government is
of the solution. They are an
working to attract and retain
important pathway into three- and
staff through programs like the
four-year-old kindergarten, and set
Early Childhood Scholarships.
kids up for success at school.
It should build upon this and:
• Create a supported traineeship However, playgroups will need
program in not-for-profit additional support to bounce back
kindergarten and long day after the significant disruption of
care settings. 2020 and 2021. Victoria should
build on the work of the Education
This traineeship would combine
State Early Childhood Reform Plan
‘earn and learn’, on-the-job
and invest $561,000 over three
mentoring and personalised
years to reinvigorate playgroups,
support, helping attract more
by supporting first-time parent
people to the sector (including
groups to transition to baby
people from diverse backgrounds).
playgroups.
Such an approach would also
help new workers to build their
networks and confidence,
driving up retention.
33
Stronger early
childhood
education,
schools and skills
Reduce school Provide more support

costs for students with
The Victorian
disability Government’s Disability
Victorian parents make a significant Inclusion Package is a
contribution to funding their Every school should be inclusive welcome investment that
children’s state school education. for students with disabilities and will improve outcomes
The Government has improved provide the right support for for students with disability
the Parent Payment Policy in students to thrive. by implementing a new
recent years. However, some The Victorian Government’s funding model and
students are still ‘priced out’ Disability Inclusion Package is strengths-based
of full participation in school life. a welcome investment that will functional needs
This increases disengagement and improve outcomes for students assessments...
bullying, and decreases learning with disability by implementing
and wellbeing outcomes. However, the roll-out
a new funding model and
will take five years.
Currently, schools can pressure strengths-based functional
parents to pay for items not needs assessments. It will also
deemed part of the official build the capacity, skills and
‘standard curriculum’. knowledge of school staff.
To prevent this, the Victorian However, the roll-out will take

Government should: five years. Many students will finish
• Formally declare digital school without getting access to
devices, school uniforms, and the right support. At a time of
VET costs as an essential part heightened job insecurity and
of the standard curriculum. unemployment for young people,
this will further disadvantage
• Fund schools to provide these
young people with disability.
essential items to all students.
Government should:
• Speed-up implementation of
the Disability Inclusion Package
measures by bringing forward
investment in this Budget.
34
THE WAY FORWARD
Support student Boost TAFE

28 Australian Children’s Education &
voice supports Care Quality Authority, National
Children’s Education and Care
Workforce Strategy: Public
Student wellbeing is inextricably The Victorian Government has consultation findings May 2021,
bound in student agency. At a boosted the capacity of the TAFE 2021; United Workers Union,
time when prolonged periods of sector and rolled out popular Exhausted, Undervalued and
Leaving: The crisis in Early
remote and flexible learning and and successful initiatives like
Education, August 2021.
stay-at-home measures have had ‘Free TAFE’.
29 https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/assets/
a “major and cumulative impact”
This has meant more women, COVID-Engagement/CCYP-Youth-
on the mental health and wellbeing
people with disability, and people Survey-Snapshot-June-21.pdf
of children and young people,29
from culturally and linguistically 30 https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-
the Victorian Government’s
diverse backgrounds have been and-statistics/data/all-data/
long-standing policy commitment vet-qualification-completion-rates-
able to engage in training.
to student voice can play a key 2019-data-slicer, published 7
role in recovery. However, too many students are September 2021.
dropping out before earning their 31 https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/
In this environment, it is critical
qualification.30 images/stories/committees/eic-LA/
that all major policy and systems TAFE_access_inquiry/Report/
reforms actively support student To increase TAFE course
LAEIC_59-02_Access_to_TAFE_
engagement. completion, the 2022 Budget learners_with_disability.pdf
should:
Government should invest in
• Fund TAFEs to deliver more
student skills, knowledge and
wrap-around support to
confidence to ensure all students
students at risk of
can participate in opportunities
disengagement.
to have their say.
• Invest in additional scholarships
The Government can do this and bursaries to ensure
through: peripheral costs are not a
• The establishment of a Student barrier to study for students
Agency Fund to resource low on low incomes.
socio-economic status schools • Fully fund and implement
to support students to engage all the recommendations of the
in civics education, including Victorian Parliament’s Inquiry
debating and leadership activities. into access to TAFE for learners
• Investment in assistance for with disability.
advocacy organisations who
This Inquiry recommended new
support children and young
resourcing to strengthen the
people (for example,
transition process into TAFE
organisations that work with
(including greater enrolment
students with disabilities),
support); dedicated funding to
building on the Government’s
meet the needs of learners with
current investment in the
disability (including a separate
Victorian Student Representative
fund for costs incurred for making
Council (VicSRC).
reasonable adjustments); funding
for initiatives that boost workforce
capability; and investment in
improved data collection, to drive
continuous system improvement.31
35
A healthy climate
supporting resilient
communities
Install solar panels Continue making

on public housing homes more energy
The rollout of retrofits
properties efficient to social housing and the
development of new
More than half a million Victorian Energy efficient homes are better minimum standards in
homes now have rooftop solar.32 at staying cool in summer and rental properties are
That means one in five households warm in winter, while keeping commendable, but
are saving money on power bills energy bills down. low-income home-owners
by producing their own energy
The rollout of retrofits to social are missing out on
and selling what they’re not using.
housing and the development of structural upgrades.
But public housing residents new minimum standards in rental A majority of Victorians
are missing out, despite living in properties are commendable, living in poverty live in
poor quality dwellings that cost but low-income home-owners are
owner-occupied homes.
a fortune to keep cool in summer missing out on structural upgrades.
and warm in winter. A majority of Victorians living in
poverty live in owner-occupied
A program to install rooftop
homes.
solar on suitable public housing
will make tenants healthier and The Healthy Homes Program
save them over $800 a year on improved the energy efficiency of
electricity bills. 1,000 homes in west Melbourne
and the Goulburn Valley. Healthy
The program would also create
Homes should be expanded
more than 1,000 jobs and help
to all low-income households
Victoria meet its new emissions
in Victoria.
reduction targets.
Recent modelling by ACOSS and
Deloitte showed an investment of
$5,000 would reduce a household’s
average annual energy bills by up
to $1,110.33
36
THE WAY FORWARD
37
A healthy climate
supporting
resilient
communities
Build the community • Building the sector’s resilience by Support children and
funding VCOSS to undertake
sector’s capacity in young people to recover
further research into key service
emergencies and practice adaptations that from emergencies
were made during the
The community sector plays emergency response phase The resilience of Victoria’s children
a vital role in helping Victorian of COVID (such as remote work and young people has been
communities prepare for, respond and digital service delivery) and strained for two successive years
to and recover from disasters. investing in knowledge transfer. with bushfires, a pandemic,
This will strengthen governance, lockdowns, floods and storms.
Throughout the COVID pandemic, risk management, and the
community organisations have met safety, impact and efficacy of Children and young people are
additional demand for essential community sector responses among those most at risk of
services, mobilised resources and during future emergencies. long-term psychological, social,
expertise, and ensured people health and educational effects from
• Establishing a Flexible
most at-risk were safe. emergencies and disasters, with
Contingency Fund that supports
serious implications for lifelong
But community organisations community sector organisations
wellbeing. A recent Youth Affairs
are not immune to emergencies to rapidly respond to
Council of Victoria survey found
themselves. Staff members are emergencies.
increased demand for youth
personally impacted, services can
services in more than 75% of
be disrupted, and extra money
Victoria’s local government areas.
must be spent on safety and
urgent repairs. These recommendations The Victorian Government has
should be considered deployed significant mental health
The Victorian Government can
in conjunction with: resources in schools, and this
help community organisations to
will be enhanced by the rollout
recover from current emergencies
Value the Community Sector of the School Mental Health Fund
and prepare for future ones by:
PAGE 13 from 2022.
• Funding a post-COVID industry
support package to ensure However, there’s a need for
essential community services the Government to make a
keep delivering on the other side complementary investment in the
of recovery. youth sector to meet increased
demand for community-based
wellbeing supports.
38
THE WAY FORWARD
Specifically, the 2022 Budget Community sector organisations • Establish a statewide network
should invest in a comprehensive will be important partners in this of Gender and Disaster Worker
COVID Youth Recovery Initiative place-based work to ensure the roles, with one full-time
that includes a grants program to voices of people experiencing equivalent position located in
provide additional generalist youth disadvantage are centred, and – every Victorian women’s health
worker/program capacity across more broadly – to ensure existing service. This workforce would
Victoria, based on youth networks are leveraged. deliver localised health and
population and need.34 wellbeing responses and violence
prevention initiatives, and help
restore community connectedness.
These recommendations It would also contribute expertise
to statewide responses.
These recommendations should be considered
should be considered in conjunction with: • Provide increased, sustainable
in conjunction with: funding to disability advocacy
Build the capacity of small organisations so that they have
Victorians in work and emerging organisations the capacity to participate in local
PAGE 28 PAGE 16 emergency planning, response
and recovery. Inclusive
Value the community sector community-level planning is
PAGE 13 needed to close gaps in risk
information, preparedness tools
Ensure emergency and resources for Victorians
Support place-based management leaves with disabilities.
community no one behind
resilience 32 Premier of Victoria, Victorians
People experiencing disadvantage Embracing Solar At Record Levels,
are disproportionately impacted www.premier.vic.gov.au/victorians-
Regional Adaptation Strategies embracing-solar-record-levels,
by emergencies, yet have fewer
will be implemented in the coming 17 January 2021.
resources to prepare, respond
years to prepare Victorians for 33 Deloitte Access Economics for the
and recover.
climate change, and communities Australian Council of Social Service,
are crying out to play their part. Victoria needs to apply an The economic impacts of the
equity lens over all strategies and National Low-Income Energy
Government could support Productivity Program, April 2021.
approaches, and take practical
local communities to address
steps to embed inclusive practices 34 Youth Work Sector Coalition
local impacts by establishing a estimate: $22.6 million in 2022/23.
in emergency management at
Regional Adaptation Fund that
a statewide and local level.
invests in place-based resilience
action plans through an open The community sector can support
grants process. Modelled on the state to build this capability.
the work of the Latrobe Health The Victorian Government should:
Advocate, this Fund could support
• Renew funding for the eight
communities to advance systems
Regional Ethnic Communities
change – at a local level – in areas Councils to prioritise issues,
such as: better policies, better coordinate resources and lead
supports, better services, better COVID recovery initiatives, and
relationships, integration of participate in regional incident
community voice and better teams for other emergencies.
mental models.
39
40
THE WAY FORWARD
A safe place
to call home
Create the Provide early

conditions for intervention support
The Victorian Housing
long-term social to help keep people Peaks Alliance has
housing growth in their home assessed we need at least
60,000 new homes by 2031.
Victoria’s Big Housing Build For some Victorian renters who The Victorian Government
will deliver 9,300 new public and have been homeless, short-term can take steps now to
community housing properties early intervention support can create conditions for
over four years (and 2,900 new mean the difference between sustained, long-term
affordable housing properties). remaining housed or returning growth.
This will boost the state’s social to homelessness.
housing supply by 10%.35
The Victorian Government
It represents Australia’s should resource the specialist
biggest-ever investment in public homelessness sector to support
and community housing, and has renters at the earliest sign of a
been widely lauded. But with more tenancy at risk. This should take
than 100,000 people waiting for the form of:
housing,36 it’s critical for Victoria • A new, dedicated, and holistic
to establish a long-term pipeline Homelessness Prevention
of social housing development. Program in all homelessness
The Victorian Housing Peaks access points across Victoria.
Alliance has assessed we need The program should comprise
at least 60,000 new homes by brokerage, advocacy and planning
2031.37 The Victorian Government supports to address financial and
can take steps now to create social issues that make people
conditions for sustained, long-term vulnerable to eviction. Existing
growth. Its new Ten-Year Strategy programs such as the Private
for Social and Affordable Housing Rental Access Program, Tenancy
should comprise specific Assistance and Advocacy Program
measurable actions that position and Tenancy Plus can provide the
Victoria to ‘build on the Big building blocks to developing a
Housing Build’. fully accessible Homelessness
This Budget should include funding Prevention Program.
to support the first of a series of
rolling implementation plans.
41
A safe place
to call home
Deliver Housing First To embed this ‘Housing First’

approach, the 2022 Victorian
for more Victorians
Budget should: ‘Housing First’ is a
• Make From Homelessness to best-practice model of
‘Housing First’ is a best-practice a Home packages permanently homelessness support
model of homelessness support available. that starts with the
that starts with the provision of • Provide funding to adapt the provision of stable
stable housing to people model and make ‘Housing First’ housing to people
experiencing long-term an option for groups who have experiencing long-term
homelessness. Supports to previously had limited access,
sustain housing and recover from
homelessness. Supports
such as young people, people
experiences of homelessness to sustain housing and
with disabilities and people living
often follow, but housing is not in regional Victoria.
recover from experiences
contingent on the person engaging of homelessness often
with support. Given the disruptive effects of
follow, but housing is not
COVID-19 on housing markets
This model is becoming an contingent on the person
(particularly in regional Victoria)
important part of Victoria’s and the cumulative impacts on
engaging with support.
homelessness response. Most wellbeing, there will be a need for
recently, the From Homelessness some continued investment in the
to a Home program allowed about current From Homelessness to
2,000 people who had been rough a Home cohort. This will ensure
sleeping or experiencing chronic those assisted by this program
homelessness to transition from can maintain their housing and get
emergency hotel accommodation the support they need when the
into a permanent home. There’s current funding comes to an end.
also been additional funding to
get families out of emergency
accommodation into suitable
housing.
42
THE WAY FORWARD
Keep the promise Given the scope of more than

130 reforms, the Victorian 35 https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/
of fair renting victorias-big-housing-build
Government should:
36 Victorian Housing Register data.
• Continue funding community
Recent reforms to the Residential sector peaks like VCOSS, 37 https://vcoss.org.au/
Tenancies Act 1997 are a policylibrary/2020/05/make-social-
Tenants Victoria and Financial
housing-work-vic/
significant step towards improving Counselling Victoria to ensure
conditions for the 700,000 community sector workers have
Victorians who rent their homes. up-to-date knowledge and skills
But renting laws alone will not required to support renters to
create a fairer, safer market navigate the reforms.
for renters. • Ensure adequate resourcing
for the system that supports
To ensure renters’ legislated
the rental market – including
rights are realised, the Victorian
Consumer Affairs Victoria, the
Government should continue to
Victorian Civil and Administrative
invest in the provision of targeted
Tribunal and the tenancy legal
information, education and
assistance sector – to ensure
training on the new laws, so
smooth operation of the new laws.
that renters and rental providers
are aware of their new rights Many renters still face rental
and responsibilities. hardship and debt due to ongoing
restrictions, and rental prices
Victoria’s most vulnerable renters
continue to increase, especially in
will turn to trusted community
regional Victoria. The Government
services when an issue arises and
should consider interventions that
they need more information and
are still needed to make housing
support. This investment should
affordable, including household-
therefore include capability building
level financial assistance, and
across the community sector.
policy reform to improve housing
affordability over the long term.

43
Victorians can
thrive and live
free from violence
Deliver a child and To help support more children and But the sector needs funding that
families, the 2022 Budget should: is predictable and sustainable to
family services system
• Provide additional funding do its job properly.
that places the child at to expand high-quality The Government should:
the centre and better evidence-based programs,
• Transition funding to the
supports families such as SafeCare, Functional
sexual assault services
Family Therapy and Caring Dads.
sector away from short-term
Victoria’s child and family agreements and funding boosts
services system has continued to providing increased, reliable
Boost investment and ongoing funding.
to experience increased demand
across family services, family in sexual assault • Fund more early intervention
violence, sexual assault and child services programs, such as the
protection; high rates of workforce over-subscribed Harmful
stress and fatigue; and ongoing Sexual Behaviour Program
concerns around program funding Almost two million Australians which provides support to young
and sustainability.38 have been sexually assaulted in their people between ages of 5 and
life.39 Changing attitudes to sexual 18 who have exhibited harmful
These challenges have been assault, increased media coverage sexual behaviour to a sibling
exacerbated by COVID, which of offending and other factors have or another person.
has required organisations to driven up demand for services
reorient how they deliver services. that prevent and respond to
The 2022 Victorian Budget sexual assault.
should continue to focus on In Victoria, over 16,000 ‘therapeutic
early intervention, and family sexual assault services’ are
preservation and reunification, with delivered each year.40 But help
a priority focus on working with isn’t immediate. Victorians wait
Aboriginal Community Controlled up to six months to access this
Organisations (ACCOs) to better support.41
support Aboriginal children and
their families. It must also continue The sexual assault services sector
to reorient the system to raising has welcomed top-up funding in
children and better supporting recent years – for example, in
the client’s voice to guide November 2021, the Victorian
service development. Government announced a $5.2m
funding boost to help respond to
increasing reporting and demand.
44
THE WAY FORWARD
45
Victorians
can thrive and
live free from
violence
Invest in Victorian While Victoria’s population has If we are to eliminate violence

doubled since 1988, funding for against women, gender diverse
women’s resilience
women’s health services has Victorians and their children,
and recovery eroded, with women on average we should:
now only receiving $2.07 per • Increase the spend on primary
The COVID pandemic has woman in 2021 compared to prevention from 3% to at least
disproportionately affected $4.35 in 1988. 10% of the total family violence
Victorian women, with higher budget.45
incidences of mental ill-health,42 • Ensure that all family violence
greater job losses43 and increased Increase spending on activities are backed by
caring responsibilities,44 and primary prevention long-term funding contracts.
many women having to juggle activities • Invest in more longitudinal
paid work commitments and studies about what works
home-schooling. in primary prevention to build
Prevention is the most effective the evidence base and drive
COVID has also illustrated
way to eliminate violence against long-term investment.
the need for targeted health
women and their children.
messaging, translated into different
Primary prevention means
languages and delivered within
stopping violence before it occurs.
communities.
It means changing the behaviours
The 2022 Victorian Budget should: and norms – in all areas of society –
• Increase investment in the that excuse, justify or even
11 women’s health services promote violence against women
across Victoria, to promote and their children.
health and wellbeing and
Funding for prevention activities
prevent gender-based illness
is often short-term, with activities
and disease.
running in local communities for
Women’s health services focus on a year or two and then ceasing.
gender-based health interventions, This makes it difficult to retain
ranging from primary prevention skilled prevention practitioners, and
initiatives to ensuring that health drive change within communities.
education and information is
tailored to women’s unique
health needs.
46
THE WAY FORWARD
Ensure victim secure and the complexity of the Strengthen

work is high but rates of pay are
survivors can access disability-inclusive
low (and not equal across the
the specialised whole system). family violence
support they need to The Victorian Government should:
practice
recover from family • Increase investment in
violence – and lift the specialist family violence More than ever, it’s vital that
whole of the system case management to meet family violence and sexual
current demand. assault services have the skills,
• Sustain this higher level of knowledge, tools and confidence
Victoria is delivering a to be responsive to people with
funding over the outyears,
world-leading transformation disabilities. National research
so the sector can meet projected
of the family violence system. shows women with disability are
future demand. (While surge
The investments that have flowed more than twice as likely to have
funding has been welcomed,
post-Royal Commission have been experienced physical violence in
short-term increases don’t build
unprecedented, but a significant the past 12 months, and twice as
the necessary capacity in the
portion of this investment has been likely to experience sexual violence
specialist system.)
focused at the entry point (for over their lifetime than women
• Address the structural causes
example, intake into the system without disability.46
of workforce shortages.
via the Orange Doors network).
Many of these challenges are The Disability Family Violence
Specialist family violence services, Practice Leader initiative, funded
shared by other parts of the
which provide the ongoing, by the Victorian Government in
integrated family violence system
comprehensive risk assessment 2021, is set to make a positive
(for example, services working
and case management, don’t have difference. But funding has
with men who use violence) and
sufficient or sustainable funding to only been provided to three
are a cross-cutting concern
provide these services once victim organisations to host practice
for the broader community
survivors (predominantly women leader roles to build local capacity.
services sector.
and children) are in the system, The 2022 Budget should expand
and resources are stretched even funding to achieve statewide
thinner for work that supports their coverage.
long-term recovery.
Specialist family violence services should be considered
also struggle to meet demand in conjunction with:
because of workforce shortages.
It is difficult to recruit and retain Value the community sector
skilled staff because funding is not PAGE 13
47
Victorians
can thrive and
live free from
violence
Ensure family Stop elder abuse

38 Roadmap for Reform: pathways
violence reforms to support for children and families
address the distinct All Victorians should enjoy a life Priority Setting Plan 2021–2024, p.7.
needs of young people of dignity and safety as they age. 39 Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare, Sexual assault in Australia,
Yet about 14% of older Australians
August 2020, https://www.aihw.gov.
are victims of elder abuse.
au/getmedia/0375553f-0395-46cc-
The Royal Commission into Family
COVID has exacerbated the 9574-d54c74fa601a/aihw-fdv-5.pdf.
Violence has strengthened the aspx?inline=true
response to adolescents who use problem. Lockdowns have kept
older people inside and out of 40 CASA Forum Annual Report
violence in the home (many of 2018–2019.
whom are also victim survivors). sight, making it difficult to identify
and address elder abuse. The 41 Data supplied to VCOSS by Sexual
However, there is no existing economic downturn has also Assault Services Victoria.
program or model for young people increased the risk of perpetrators 42 GENVic, “This conversation is not
who are victim survivors and don’t raiding an older person’s savings over” Women’s Mental Health During
use violence in the home. the COVID Pandemic, https://www.
or other assets for personal gain.
genvic.org.au/wp-content/
This gap in support has a negative Elder abuse services play a vital uploads/2021/08/Womens-
effect on young people’s safety role in providing information and Experience-of-COVID19-Report-
and their physical and mental FINAL.pdf
advice, advocating for victims and
health. Other wellbeing impacts connecting people with support 43 Leonora Risse and Angela Jackson,
include reduced participation in A gender lens on the workforce
services. But access to this help
impacts of the COVID pandemic in
education, employment and depends on where you live. To Australia, Australian Journal of
training. Alarmingly, family ensure that everyone who needs Labour Economics, Volume 24
violence is a key driver of youth help gets it, Victoria should: Number 2, 2021.
homelessness. The Cost of Youth
• Fund a statewide expansion 44 https://www.humanrights.vic.gov.au/
Homelessness in Australia study legal-and-policy/covid-19-and-
of the Integrated Model of Care
found that 56% of young people human-rights/centring-human-
and Elder Abuse Prevention
experiencing homelessness had rights-in-the-covid-19-recovery/
Networks originally established
to leave home due to domestic gendered-impacts-and-the-covid-
after the Family Violence Royal 19 -recovery/
violence on at least one occasion.47
Commission.
45 Respect Victoria, Respect Victoria
This Budget should: Strategic Plan 2019-2022, https://
• Remedy the gap in support www.respectvictoria.vic.gov.au/sites/
for young people who are default/files/documents/201904/
Full%20version_Strategic%20Plan.
victim survivors by funding a
pdf
research-informed pilot program.
46 Centre of Research Excellence in
• Sustain investment in programs Disability and Health, 2020 https://
targeted to young people using credh.org.au/nature-and-extent-of-
harm, ensuring there is adequate violence/
funding to meet demand in light 47 https://www.csi.edu.au/research/
of the impacts of COVID-19. project/cost-youth-homelessness-
australia-final-report/
48
THE WAY FORWARD
All Victorians should enjoy a life of

dignity and safety as they age. Yet about 14%
of older Australians are victims of elder abuse.
COVID has exacerbated the problem.
Lockdowns have kept older people inside
and out of sight, making it difficult to
identify and address elder abuse.
49
50
THE WAY FORWARD
Fair and
equal justice
Boost legal • Provide ongoing funding for This 2022 Victorian Budget should:
integrated legal and non-legal
assistance • Establish a justice reinvestment
supports, such as health-justice framework for Victoria.
partnerships, to address service • Fund local communities
Getting early legal help stops gaps and silos, and to ensure to identify places where a
problems from escalating. people can get help for multiple justice reinvestment program
Delivered at the right time, it can issues at the same time. would work.
assist people to deal with fines,
• Allocate additional money in the
avoid eviction, understand and
outyears to:
comply with court orders, and Save money with – Implement and evaluate
avoid being criminalised. justice reinvestment these approaches in at least
However, resource constraints one metropolitan and one
mean Victoria isn’t making the regional community, and
Victoria’s Crime Prevention
most of this opportunity. –
Prepare for these programs
Strategy has a strong focus on
Even before COVID-19, the Government and communities to be rolled out statewide.
cash-strapped and overrun working together to tackle the
community legal centers were underlying causes of crime.
turning away about 7.5% of
This partnerships approach
people requesting help.48
can be further strengthened by
This challenge has been worsened Victoria embracing a justice
by the pandemic, with a fresh reinvestment approach.
surge in demand for assistance
Justice reinvestment involves
just as the court system is
re-directing resources that would
experiencing significant backlogs
normally be spent on prisons
and delays.
towards local, community-based
In line with the Victorian initiatives that prevent people from
Government’s Early Intervention engaging in offending behaviours.
Investment Framework, the 2022 It’s a proven approach.
Budget should:
Consulting firm KMPG analysed
• Provide funding to model future
one Aboriginal-led model of justice
demand for legal assistance in
reinvestment in Bourke, New
partnership with the community
South Wales. It found the scheme
legal sector.
delivered economic benefits five
• Commit to deliver adequate times greater than operational
new funding to the sector to costs.49 Two-thirds of these
meet this demand. savings were to the justice system
directly, with one-third relating to
the broader economic impact
across the region.50
51
Fair and
equal justice
Stop women To stop this criminalisation Let people leave

of women, Victoria should:
from becoming prison behind them
• Invest in early intervention
criminalised supports specifically for
women. About 80% of people leaving
Most Victorian women in the • Fund gender-informed legal prison don’t have access to
criminal justice system have assistance alongside integrated Corrections Victoria’s pre- and
experienced trauma, including case management and other post-release programs.52 This
childhood and adult victimisation, supports. places many prison leavers at
sexual abuse, involvement with increased risk of homelessness,
• Fund training programs in
child protection, and family overdose, violence and death –
trauma-informed, intersectional
violence.51 effectively punishing them long
and family-focused support for
after their sentence has been
Often, it’s these experiences community service workers,
served. Nearly half of all people
that drive women to engage in to make it easier for women
leaving prison are back again
offending behaviour. For example, to engage with support.
within two years.53
self-medicating with illicit drugs
to repress trauma or physically To reduce crime and end the
fighting back against an attacker ‘revolving door’ of incarceration,
and being misidentified as the the Victorian Government should:
predominant aggressor. should be considered • Fund a comprehensive
in conjunction with: reintegration and recovery
This cycle of trauma places
program for all people leaving
women at risk of criminalisation
A safe place to call home prison in Victoria.
and creates barriers to getting help.
PAGE 41
This program should incorporate
housing support, as well as
A wellbeing state
therapeutic and practical supports
PAGE 6
that are tailored to individual
needs. The level of assistance
offered should also be responsive
to a person’s individual
circumstances, as they change
over time.
52
THE WAY FORWARD
Make courts Victorian courts should also be

safe, fully accessible and easy to 48 Data supplied to VCOSS by the
modern, safe and Federation of Community Legal
navigate when people are required
accessible to attend in person.
Centres, from modelling undertaken
for the Federation by Ernst and
The redevelopment of the Young.
Victoria’s court system faces Bendigo Law Court is a strong 49 https://www.justreinvest.org.au/
significant pressure from example of best practice in this wp-content/uploads/2018/11/
Maranguka-Justice-Reinvestment-
ever-increasing demand.54 regard. Different jurisdictional
Project-KPMG-Impact-Assessment-
But a range of temporary courts are located close together, FINAL-REPORT.pdf
measures introduced in 2020 and modern IT has been installed
50 Ibid.
have proved there are better, to allow for remote access by
51 Centre for Innovative Justice,
more accessible and more efficient numerous parties. This should
Leaving Custody Behind – Issues
ways for the courts to operate. become the new standard for Paper, July 2021, p 23.
future court developments.
For example, online hearings 52 Coroners Court of Victoria, Finding
into death without inquest (Shae
of urgent repair matters in rental
Harry Paszkiewicz), February 2021.
properties would free up VCAT
53 Sentencing Advisory Council,
resources for matters more suited
Released prisoner returning to
to in-person hearings. Where prison, 2020.
appropriate, this technology could
54 Infrastructure Victoria, Victoria’s
also be used for pre-hearing infrastructure strategy 2021–2051
meetings, case management – Vol 1, August 2021, p 88.
and other forms of integrated
service delivery.
The 2022 Budget should include
funding to:
• Incorporate proven
technological advances in the
court system as standard
practice.
53
Victorian Council of Social Service
Level 8, 128 Exhibition Street,
Melbourne, Victoria, 3000
e vcoss@vcoss.org.au
t 03 9235 1000
www.vcoss.org.au

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The Way Forward

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Authorised by VCOSS CEO Emma King.

VCOSS acknowledges the traditional owners of country,

Get started on a Victorian Continue to Bolster mental health

PAGE 6 PAGE 18 PAGE 8

Invest in programs to Create new employment Deliver fairer funding

PAGE 20 PAGE 28 PAGE 13

Provide early Wipe COVID-era utility Ensure nobody is left

PAGE 41 PAGE 25 PAGE 39

Offer free public Make Victorian homes Boost prevention

PAGE 27 PAGE 36 PAGE 46

Chapters and recommendations

Value the community sector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Stronger early childhood education, schools and skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

A healthy climate supporting resilient communities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

A safe place to call home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Victorians can thrive and live free from violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Fair and equal justice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Progress a Victorian Strengthen the • Increase core funding to the

Increase funding for • The AOD system is about

People who seek treatment for system, where an already-huge

September 2021, there were Government’s Early Intervention

Address major This Budget should:

Provide fair, Introduce longer-term Longer-term funding will allow

Provide an industry Invest in the Reinvigorate

Build the capacity Working for Victoria (information,

• Fund VCOSS to coordinate

A thriving, sophisticated and agile

Invest in the capacity • Fund the completion of

Ensure our COVID • Maintain funding to multicultural Improve the

These two measures – in concert – Fund, act on During public consultations in

Make transport Close the

Utility Relief Grant Utility costs Utility costs (trend)

Invest in place-based Create post-COVID

Sustain investment in • Establish a coaching program

Harness the job • Giving community sector

The Victorian Government can

Keep building the Support children’s To ensure all children have

Reduce school Provide more support

To prevent this, the Victorian However, the roll-out will take

Support student Boost TAFE

Install solar panels Continue making

Create the Provide early

Deliver Housing First To embed this ‘Housing First’

Keep the promise Given the scope of more than

Invest in Victorian While Victoria’s population has If we are to eliminate violence

Ensure victim secure and the complexity of the Strengthen

Ensure family Stop elder abuse

All Victorians should enjoy a life of

Stop women To stop this criminalisation Let people leave

Make courts Victorian courts should also be

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Progress a Victorian Strengthen the • Increase core funding to the

Increase funding for • The AOD system is about

• Fund VCOSS to coordinate

Invest in the capacity • Fund the completion of

Ensure our COVID • Maintain funding to multicultural Improve the

Sustain investment in • Establish a coaching program

Harness the job • Giving community sector