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On 24 February 2023, the WACOSS Board unanimously agreed to support the ‘Yes’ campaign for constitutional recognition for First Nations Australians through a Voice to Parliament.
As community service organisations we are privileged to work alongside First Nations peoples in the community sector, and much of our work is guided by their cultural knowledge and community connection.
Now, we have an opportunity to play a role in supporting the voice to parliament and ensuring that First Nations peoples’ right to have a say about the services they receive is enshrined in the constitution.
Over the coming weeks and months we will be sharing helpful resources and information about why the Voice to Parliament is an important step in our journey to Voice. Treaty. Truth.
The campaign to Raise the Rate for Good is key to reducing poverty and inequality in Australia. The goal of the Raise the Rate for Good campaign is to fix our social security safety net for good so that it keeps people out of poverty, with an income of at least $70 a day.
The key recommendations for the campaign are:
Social Reinvestment WA aims to end the systemic over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in WA’s justice system. Their vision is for a transformation of WA’s justice systems to build safer communities through prioritising the cultural, social and economic wellbeing of families, using smart justice approaches such as justice reinvestment.
The Make Renting Fair campaign highlights the importance of reform of the Residential Tenancies Act to make renting a more safe, secure and stable housing choice for the 700,000 Western Australians who rent. We have all heard the horrific stories of people being left without a home, constant rent increases and people being evicted with little recourse. The campaign is asking for reforms to improve safety, security and fairness within the statutory framework for renting in WA including;
We are a supporter of the campaign and member of the alliance with Circle Green, Shelter WA and Anglicare WA.
The Uluru Statement of the Heart was issued to the Australian people in May 2017, developed after two years od dialogues around the country.
It calls for;
Everyone knows that children do best when they are supported, nurtured and loved.
But across Australia, children as young as 10 can be arrested by police, charged with an offence, hauled before a court and locked away in a prison.
It’s time for the federal, state and territory governments to do what’s right and change the laws to raise the age, so children 10-13 years are not sent to prison.
Children belong in classrooms and playgrounds, not in handcuffs, courtrooms or prison cells.
The Valuing Children Initiative is driven by a passion for children’s wellbeing. They work to ensure that all children in Australia experience the caring, safe, and supported childhood they deserve.
The fact that we continue to see poor outcomes for children in so many different areas is not because it’s impossible to do better or because we don’t know how to do better. In the simplest of terms, the reason we continue to see such outcomes is because children are just not a high enough priority.
The Valuing Children Initiative is working hard to change this
Their work is centred around four pillars:
We all have human rights. Protecting human rights is a way of ensuring everyone is treated fairly, equally, and with dignity and respect. In Western Australia, we don’t have formal protection for our human rights. Now is the time to come together to create a Human Rights Act for all of us.
A Human Rights Act aims for everyone to be treated fairly when they are dealing with the government and public authorities. A Human Rights Act would provide us with many protections, including ensuring that we can all access the health services we need regardless of our bank balance, and that every kid can get a good education, no matter their postcode. It will also provide us all with a powerful tool to challenge injustice and will mean that if someone has their rights violated by a public authority they can take action and seek justice.
Anti-Poverty Week supports the Australian community to have an increased understanding of poverty and to take action collectively to end it.
Their key message is: Poverty exists. Poverty hurts us all. We can all do something about it. It is one of hope, not despair.
In 2022, Anti-Poverty Week will be held from the 16th to 22nd of October.
Australia is at a crossroads
The right and rational path is a stronger system of social housing that provides security and stability to individuals, while at the same time bolstering our common national prosperity. The alternative is an increasingly brutal financial contest for something that should be a basic right of citizenship – decent shelter.
If we don’t act now, nothing will change. We need your help and support to continue to build momentum and public support for the government to fund social housing.
It’s time to address the housing shortage
A new package is progressing which takes a nuanced and pragmatic approach that is adaptive and responsive to current building and construction pressures. The package is market achievable and deliverable with a focus on what can be delivered now whilst planning for pipelines of construction of work.
This will be released in 2022.
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