Ms ROSOL – I’d like to talk about the community sector organisations indexation; the increase that was an election commitment made in 2024. It was in the forward Estimates for the 2024‑25 Budget until 2027‑28. In this interim Budget, we’ve already talked about how the variance in decreasing funding is related to the ending of previous election commitments. Given that the increased indexation was an election commitment, what does that mean for indexation going forward? Will it end at the end of 2027‑28? What’s going to happen to indexation in the community sector beyond 2027‑28?
Ms OGILVIE – I’ll just see if I can get that information for you. I’ve just been advised that during the 2025 state election, the Tasmanian government committed to reviewing the level of indexation for community service organisations to provide ongoing certainty before the conclusion of the 2024‑25 indexation commitment in 2027‑28. I’m also advised that it is part of the conversation about the longer‑term contracts that’s underway and about to commence.
Ms ROSOL – So there’s no certainty?
Ms OGILVIE – Well, if you have it in a contract, it’s fairly certain. Did I misunderstand the question?
Ms ROSOL – Well, you’re saying it’s part of the conversation about long‑term contracts, but long‑term contracts to longer‑term contracts are only being phased in gradually and it will take time for them to reach people so, I guess there’s some room for uncertainty there going forward with organisations.
Ms KELLY – Through you, minister. There’s certainty until 2027‑28 in that we have funding in the budget –
Ms ROSOL – That’s what I’m asking, beyond that.
Ms KELLY – Part of our work through that longer‑term funding agreement process will be to look at the indexation and to put forward a model for government to consider around that.
The other thing I might just mention there is part of the longer‑term funding agreement process will also be to look at organisations that are funded recurrently and organisations that are funded for fixed‑term arrangements and how indexation applies to that, too.
Ms ROSOL – Thank you. I have a question about reporting requirements because I’ve heard reports from community service organisations about onerous new reporting requirements that have been placed on them and that are taking them away from the face‑to‑face work that they want to be doing. Can you provide some information about the reporting requirements that were recently introduced and whether there was any consultation undertaken with community service organisations in deciding what the reporting requirements would be?
Ms KELLY – Through you, minister. Reporting’s really important with the work that we do with community organisations because it ensures that there’s accountability around the funding and that we understand that the money the government’s providing is reaching the right targets, and so on.
We are going through a process at the moment where the allocation of funding to community organisations, for some organisations, has been annual. We’re looking at changing that to a quarterly process and that’s really around that sort of accountability around funds and and those sorts of things. I absolutely take on board what you’re saying there and part of the work we need to do with community organisations is to understand the burden of reporting and the impact that that has on them and ensure that the reporting that we do have to put in place to enable those funds to be administered, meets the requirements in terms of ensuring that accountability, but is not onerous.
Some of the things that we’ve been talking about is that we meet regularly with community organisations, and actually using that meeting as a way to say ‘okay, yep, we’ve met with this organisation and through that we’ve identified these things that we’re going to collectively work on’ or ‘there’s no issues that we need to progress’. So, doing it more in terms of an interactive consultative way rather than sending in a 10 page report every quarter. I absolutely understand and acknowledge what you’re saying.
Ms ROSOL – Thank you for that. It sounds like there is some space for consultation. I guess my follow-up question is then, if they are being required to report quarterly rather than annually, will that be taken into consideration when funding decisions are made, because that’s going to take them away from doing the work, it’s going to require more work hours and become not just a time burden but also a financial burden on them.
Ms KELLY – Thank you, through you, minister. I think that part of that is us ensuring that the burden we place around reporting does not have that impact and that cost. Also I think it ties in with the work that we’re doing more broadly around that outcomes framework that I was mentioning before, and that we’re funding for outcomes as opposed to output. But yes, I absolutely take on board what you’re saying. Ensuring as well – a lot of our grant deeds at the moment include KPIs, so how many people have visited or how many people have accessed this particular service. What we’ll be working with the community services sector on – and this is something that we’ve had discussions with TasCOSS and we’re looking forward to discussing with the peaks as well – is what are we actually trying to achieve with that money?
If we look at financial counselling, for example, at the moment we might say how many people have sought advice through Anglicare for financial counselling services, but maybe we should be looking at that more broadly to look at decreasing the number of people who are under financial stress and providing better budgeting services and so on.
