This paper draws attention to, and shares information on, the impacts of poor job quality on the sustainability of human services delivery. Job quality is a shorthand description of the relative attractiveness of employment in an industry. If job quality is low or high, it can directly have...

This is a brief paper drawing attention to market economics terminology which is inappropriately used in policy and practice in human services systems. We challenge the description of human services provision as a ‘price’ clearing market. Economic descriptions which misrepresent the human...

This report provided information and findings related to the indexation arrangements established in funding social services in Queensland. Our aim was to examine the extent to which current arrangements are appropriate. To do this, we:1) Described why the current arrangements for indexation in...

This brief paper is intended to share information and insight into the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Wage Price Index (WPI) in the context of human services funding indexation. The measurements and methods of calculation for the CPI and WPI are outlined in accordance with the national...

This report sets out the findings for the Western Australian Council of Social Services’ (WACOSS) Sustainable Funding Survey.48% of WACOSS’ social service organisation members responded to the survey held in October and November 2022. The key findings from survey responses include:1....

We report on our analysis findings in the remainder of this report. In this section, we have reported primarily on the 2020 year and compared those results to the 2018 reported data. Typically, the reported results are presented directly for 2020 and in brackets for the 2018 data. We comment on...

The purchasing of community services by governments is a challenging policy area. All parties—governments, the community services industry and the community—want governments to be efficient in the use of public funds as there is no advantage to anyone if governments are not so. However, in...

In Australia today Not-for-profit organisations, like most other entities, are trying to respond effectively to challenges associated with the recruitment and retention of competent, experienced and committed staff. Unlike government and commercial entities, however, the poor resourcing of...