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The National Body for Social Services in the Uniting Church in Australia supporting service delivery and

advocacy for children, young people, families, people with disabilities and older people

Australia can have

an economy to serve and sustain all

Government, the community sector and business all have important roles to play in

ensuring all Australians have the means and opportunity for a decent life, supported by a

healthy economy, UnitingCare Australia National Director Lin Hatfield Dodds says.

We are a prosperous nation. And yet we continue to have pockets of entrenched

disadvantage, some of which are growing. Australia can do better than thisby addressing

revenue as well as Government spending, Ms Hatfield Dodds said, responding to the

release today of the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

Current policy debate is thin, impoverishing us all. Decision makers and many

commentators are often locked into rhetoric about debt and deficit when we could be

having smart, evidence-based debates about effective public policy and improving the

quality of life of all Australians.

Government revenue growth has been reduced because of structural changes to the

revenue base, reduced tax rates and the residual impacts of the global financial crisis. Now

slower economic growth is projected to see rising unemployment and economic stress.

Successive governments have struggled to align social and economic goals. Achieving a

better balance will require collecting more tax, and could be achieved by winding back

inefficient and unfair tax concessions.

Paying for what we value would involve lifting tax as a share of GDP to 24-25% on average

over the business cycle. Tax is the price we pay for a decent society.

GOVERNMENT, COMMUNITY SECTOR AND BUSINESS

There is growing recognition of the complementary roles of government, the community

sector and business, Ms Hatfield Dodds said.

UnitingCare Australia, an agency of the Uniting Church, is one of the largest providers of

social services in Australia, via a network that employs 35,000 staff, supported by 24,000

volunteers, to one in eight Australians each year in every state and territory in 1,300 sites

across remote, regional, rural, and urban Australia.

Media Release

17 December 2013www.unitingcare.org.au

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Contact: Marion Rae, Director of Communications & Govt Relations, 02 6249 6717/0455 851 139

Community organisations can deliver people-centred services and care in ways that

government agencies cannot. Governments need to support innovation and provide

resources. Businesses should provide employment and create wealth, and enhance the

social and environmental health of the communities on which they depend.

People are Australias greatest asset, Ms Hatfield Dodds said.

But just when we should be increasing our investment in empowering disadvantaged

groups to participate in work and social life, the popular preoccupation with debt and deficit

risks tilting policy away from providing much needed support for the long-term

unemployed, and other disadvantaged and vulnerable people.

A DECENT LIFE FOR ALL

Prevention is cheaper and more effective than attempting to patch up the negative results

of failing to act early, Ms Hatfield Dodds said.

For example, the evidence is overwhelming that supporting good nutrition and appropriate

care in the first five years of life can transform outcomes over the entire life course.

Addressing locational disadvantage promotes workforce participation, builds community,

and reduces costly antisocial behaviours.

A range of valuable services can only be delivered effectively with government support,

particularly where providing a decent life for all requires universal access to services such aseducation and essential health care. Australia currently underinvests in these, undermining

overall living standards and excluding those who are already vulnerable and disadvantaged.

Australia can boost productivityand economic growth, as well as delivering a more

inclusive society where everyone gets a fair go. Australia can be a place where everyone

belongs, participates and contributes,Ms Hatfield Dodds said.

All sectors must work together to achieve a decent life for all.

ENDS