David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Minister, the government has spoken at length about cost-of-living issues facing Australians, but our frontline community organisations, from food pantries to community women's legal centres, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services, family and domestic violence services and housing advocacy bodies, are bearing the brunt of this cost-of-living crisis. They are seeing skyrocketing demand for their services. These are services that not only provide life-saving and life-changing support for people but also save the government money through early intervention and diversion from the criminal justice system or helping women get out of violent relationships. The same organisations are saying that they are extremely stressed about their funding. It's about to fall off a cliff. Will the government commit to renewing funding for essential frontline community services in the next federal budget?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Pocock for the question and for his interest in this area. This is an area of priority for the government. When I came in as finance minister, we did an assessment of the indexation arrangements that existed for community organisations. They'd been inadequately indexed for a substantial period of time. In the last budget, the most significant investment was made in the community sector to deal with the ability to meet wage increases and other costs. Minister Rishworth has also provided additional investment into the wellbeing and capability grants program, which goes directly to some of those emergency providers of food relief.

We will continue to work with the community sector. I have a good relationship with ACOSS and other peaks, which I meet with pretty regularly, as do other ministers, about prioritising further investments. I am aware of the community legal services issues. Again, they have been operating on very low funding for the work that they do for some time. The Attorney has held a review into that. That work is before government. We absolutely see our role with the community sector as a partnership and work closely with them.

In terms of the funding, some of those grants are time limited. Some of them go through a procurement process. So, on your question about committing to funding, I'm not in a position to do that today. But our focus has been on extra support for the community organisations through direct engagement with them, and that's the way we will continue to engage with them.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator David Pocock, a first supplementary?

David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, the government's been prepared to make plenty of funding commitments already before the budget on a whole range of other things, whether it's $4.6 billion for Rolls-Royce or $40 million to advertise and sell the stage 3 tax cuts. Why won't you commit to ongoing funding for community legal services and food banks? What have they got to do? They are helping so many Australians, yet you can't actually make a commitment to fund them.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think I answered that. If there's a procurement process underway, ministers do not get involved in that. Where community organisations have long and ongoing funding arrangements, we have not been focused on not renewing those or any other process. I'm not really sure about what you mean about not committing to funding. We've been working in partnership with them and will continue to do so. We've made extra investments—billions of dollars in the indexation arrangements that went to community organisations. I have had pretty positive feedback around that. It's allowing them to pay adequate wages to their workers now that they are getting properly indexed. Those indexation arrangements will continue. Probably the single biggest investment made in the community sector in more than a decade has been that commitment we made in the last budget.

On the other point, governments have to do a range of things. We have to look after our national security. We have to look after the community sector. We have to look after the health system. That's what budgets are all about. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pocock, second supplementary?

David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, going to your point about indexation, in terms of funding that the women's legal centres receive under the NLAP agreement, there is indexation of 1.6 per cent this financial year. The cost of employing a mid-level solicitor has jumped by 27 per cent. How are they meant to provide Australians in need with services? The government crows about indexation of 1.6 per cent while the services' costs are going through the roof.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Under the NLAP, they are not covered by the indexation arrangements that we addressed in the last budget. That is because it's under this other partnership agreement. I am aware of that agreement, and I've been talking with the Attorney. It's work that is before the government. Unfortunately those opposite believed that indexation arrangements of one per cent or 1.2 per cent—if you worked in the APS, you got a wage increase of about 1.2 per cent on average over the last decade—was an adequate way to index.

It was lower than inflation, Senator Ruston. It was much lower than inflation—1.2 per cent per annum is much lower than inflation. So there was inadequate indexation. There was a reluctance to fund community services properly. We are methodically working through all of those issues and addressing them at every budget, and we have been working in partnership with the community sector on that.