Helping people in need during a cost-of-living crisis
The Australian Community Sector Survey reveals the long-term impacts of prolonged under-investment in communities.
At a time when people were navigating cost of living pressures, increased financial distress and disadvantage, ongoing disasters, and continued disruption from COVID-19, they found a service system doing its absolute best but straining to keep up.
This report is an output of the Australian Community Sector Study 2022, commissioned by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and the Councils of Social Service in partnership with Bendigo Bank, Australia’s better big bank.
Key Findings
Overall, the report’s findings show rising levels of community need and shortages of capacity to meet demand for community services during 2022 – the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic and a time of intensifying financial, housing, and other pressures affecting communities.
People and providers commonly faced acute cost of living and housing pressures in 2022,
- 63 per cent of survey participants reported that cost of living pressures affected the people/communities their service supports. This was the most frequently reported challenge affecting services in all jurisdictions.
- 57 per cent of participants said access to affordable housing, or homelessness, affected their service users and communities, but this was much higher among providers focused on domestic and family violence (94 per cent) and financial, legal and emergency supports (90 per cent).
Report
Read the ACOSS Helping people in need during a cost-of-living crisis: Findings from the Australian Community Sector Survey report here.
