CATHOLIC Social Services Australia (CSSA) has met with Federal Government ministers and decision makers in Canberra in an urgent bid to limit the impacts of the global financial crisis on Australians.
CSSA head Frank Quinlan said the “historic meeting”, attended by major Church social service providers, had called on the Government to provide $900 million over the next three years to deal with the crisis.
“We also passed on research by Access Economics which included estimates that as much as 50 per cent of social welfare agency money is eaten up by administrative costs,” Mr Quinlan told The Catholic Leader last week.
“Our point was that Government spending on social services does not need to increase if greater efficiencies are achieved.”
CSSA joined with Anglicare Australia, the Salvation Army and UnitingCare Australia to meet with Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin on November 26.
Also present were Minister for Employment Participation Brendan O’Connor and, representing the Prime Minister, Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion Senator Ursula Stephens.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be presented with a report from the meeting recommending actions to tackle the crisis.
Mr Quinlan said 80,000 people had been turned away from welfare providers in the year before the global financial crisis and this indicated enormous problems were looming for Australian society.
“Many of these people were from a middle class background and seeking help for the first time,” he said.
Administrative inefficiencies at both a state and federal level were also of major concern to welfare service providers.
“As much as 50 per cent of money received by the agencies can go in administrative costs,” Mr Quinlan said.
“If the State and Federal governments work on creating greater streamlining, they could find significant savings,” he said.
