The social service sector is at the heart of every community across Queensland. We are part of the largest employer group in Queensland, with more than 131,000 dedicated staff working across more than 8,500 charities. Our essential work is supported by more than 328,000 volunteers.
In 2022, Queensland communities moved through the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a series of devastating natural disasters throughout the state, and navigated the deepening housing and cost-of-living crises.
We consistently heard that where services and members of the community joined together to provide support, the outcomes were powerful and effective. In the face of considerable challenges throughout 2022, both the state and federal government made substantial commitments on housing, gender equality, human rights, and the social service sector.
The 2022 State of the Sector report paints a complex picture. The deepening cost of living and housing crises has had an undeniable impact. The compounding impacts of numerous major events have resulted in increased demand for assistance, as well as increased complexity of circumstances for those in need of support.
Difficult times, however, also brought communities closer together.
This report relies on data from the 2022 Australian Community Sector Survey (ACSS), and QCOSS in-depth interviews with social service organisations working across Queensland, and sector stakeholders who attended QCOSS Town Hall workshop events during 2022.
Government investment in 2022
There were a number of great outcomes for the social service sector and Queensland’s communities in 2022. These measures have highlighted how government can provide effective and much needed reform and social support for communities and the social service sector.
Neighbourhood and community centres received a one-off funding boost early in the year to assist with increased demand as a result of COVID-19. The Queensland Government also announced an increase to baseline funding for 127 Neighbourhood and community centres from a minimum of $124,000 to $230,000 per year.
Community service providers across Queensland also secured a significant funding boost when the Queensland Government announced an indexation rate of 5.07 per cent, to be applied to service delivery agreements with non-government organisations. This was in light of the rising costs of service delivery, and a considerable increase upon the initially proposed rate of 2.88 per cent.
Queenslanders affected by recent flooding events welcomed disaster recovery efforts, relief grants, and home buy-back offers.
In response to the housing crisis, and following ongoing advocacy from QCOSS along with other stakeholders, an increase of $1 billion to the Housing Investment Fund was announced.
Households across the State also received a one-off $175 rebate applied to their electricity bills, along with other crucial cost of living financial supports.
Issues and themes in focus
In 2022, communities and the sector faced significant COVID-19 infection rates and flooding, along with the housing and cost of living crises. Service users also experienced challenges in access to health and allied health services, unsafe home environments, access to transport, the digital divide, and youth wellbeing. For many, these issues are overlapping and compounding.
Sector workers were experiencing burnout as they held their communities, and themselves, together. Increased levels of service demand, increased complexity of need, along with challenges in workforce and volunteer recruitment and retention, added strain on the capacity of community service organisations across Queensland.
Every single thing is happening at the same time to this tiny community... We've got too many people coming [into the region]. The housing crisis hit a peak. Rents are through the roof. The cost of living is next to insane. People are frightened, and all of those things are then impacting mental health… So we have these people who have always been really functional, hitting these deep states of depression and anxiety.
Case study extract: Erica Mast, Mossman Support Services
In 2022, QCOSS conducted several in-depth interviews with community organisations working across Queensland. These interviews were developed into a series of case studies, and are featured throughout the full report to profile particular ideas and challenges.
Sector demand
The sector continued to face significant and complex demand for services throughout 2022. We heard about fatigue, burnout, and a deep concern for the distress and need within communities.
Of Queensland ACSS respondents:
- 77 per cent reported an increase in complexity of need
- 76 per cent reported an increase in levels of demand in the community
- 74 per cent reported an increase in levels of poverty and disadvantage
- 53 per cent reported an increase in the numbers of clients their service cannot support.
The ability to meet service demand has inherent flow-on effects to all other aspects of an organisation’s health and effectiveness. Of the ACSS respondents, 42 per cent reported that they needed to refer people to other services due to lack of capacity.
Only 5 per cent felt their service could always meet demand, while a concerning number of respondents (52 per cent) felt their service could never, rarely or only sometimes meet demand.
In response to immense challenges, many in the sector emphasised the importance of collaboration, harnessing best practice and innovation, strategic advocacy and research, and sector capacity building.
Many organisations commented on the continued significance of their face-to-face service delivery options. They emphasised the value of their no-wrong-door approaches, and supported referral pathways - ensuring clients can receive integrated wrap-around supports.
Shifting demographics
A number of QCOSS Town Hall participants and ACSS survey respondents reported a noticeable shift in the demographics of those seeking their services. Service providers frequently reported that people who would not have typically needed assistance in the past were now seeking help.
We have an increased number of people who are over the age of 50, married - with retirement funds, that are facing homelessness. People who have gone into rent arrears because their rent has increased. People who have had businesses their whole lives, that don't know how to navigate the Centrelink system because they never used it. Our demographic has changed to include a lot of people who should be well into their silver years and happily retiring.
Frontline community sector worker
Workforce
When asked about common staffing challenges, Queensland ACSS respondents particularly noted staff exhaustion or burnout, absenteeism due to COVID-19, disruption to operations due to natural disasters and challenges in recruiting and retaining staff.
Staff exhaustion and burnout occurred in 67 per cent of respondent's main service or program during 2022, with 32 per cent of services reporting staff worked unpaid hours to meet demand. In addition, 59 per cent reported an increase in difficulties keeping services properly staffed, and 18 per cent reported using less-qualified staff or volunteers to meet demand.
Of the ACSS respondents, 42 per cent said they could not recruit necessary staff , and if they could, they often faced significant problems housing them - particularly in regional areas.
Mixed responses to questions regarding secure work arrangements, remuneration, pressure due to understaffing, career prospects, superannuation, and emotional status, are consistent with reports of staff burnout, and difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff.
During 2022, has poor availability of affordable housing in the local area made it difficult for your organisation to attract and retain staff?
I’ve got staff that have struggled with homelessness. They’ve been in long term tenancies, had to leave, couldn’t get accommodation, so they had to live with family or in temporary accommodation until they could find something. That’s continuing to impact on people who have jobs - secure jobs.
Community sector senior manager
Service delivery costs
QCOSS Town Hall participants and ACSS respondents provided wide-ranging insights on service delivery in relation to funding and service costs. When considering questions regarding government funding, ACSS respondents working in CEO and Management positions were asked to answer in relation to the stream of government funding which was most important to their organisation.
Service delivery was heavily impacted by greater difficulty obtaining funding, short staff contracts and insufficient funding. 49 per cent reported an increase in difficulty securing sufficient funds in general.
A significant number felt their most important funding from government was not sufficient in a number of areas. 40 per cent believed their funding did not enable them to meet their regulatory obligations, 77 per cent did not believe funding allowed them to reliably plan for the future, retain quality staff, or meet community demand, and up to 74 per cent did not feel that funding covered the full costs of service delivery.
Feedback received regarding indexation generally flagged a need to address the way in which the indexation rate is applied. Of the ACSS respondents, 36 per cent reported their organisation's financial position worsened during 2022, and 36 per cent expected conditions to continue to worsen in 2023.
Still thinking about your most important stream of funding from government… are these costs not funded, under-funded or adequately funded?
Governments appear to only want to fund front-line direct service delivery with no consideration of how organisations providing these services become and remain viable and undertake core business service requirements including reporting governments themselves require.
Community sector executive
Disaster recovery and resilience
While there is often a willingness to help communities when faced with disasters, many in the sector felt that significant changes are needed to ensure the ongoing sustainability of workforce demands, especially given the forecasted increase in severity and frequency of extreme weather events. The sector also continues to navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
We heard from a number of organisations who felt that a lot of disaster resilience support was coming from staff and volunteers who were going "above and beyond", and who were also navigating difficult personal circumstances themselves.
Town Hall participants and ACSS respondents reported that disaster funding is often provided on a reactive basis after an event occurs, making it difficult to use the money effectively.
Of the ACSS respondents, in relation to their main source of government funding, 88 per cent reported that they were either not funded or under-funded to prepare and respond to emergencies and disasters.
Feedback outlined that proactive and long-term funding is needed to help develop workforce skills and capacity to respond to disasters as they happen in the future. This would in turn assist with better forward planning and sector readiness.
It would be great to see more work in the prevention and preparedness space rather than having to constantly 'react' and 'recover'.
Frontline worker in a regional area
The trouble with disaster funding is it’s too intermittent, it’s too unreliable… the staffing was our number one problem. The other thing is we can’t capacity build the staff if we’re not allowed to keep them.
Sandra Elton, Manager, North Townsville Community Hub
Despite immense challenges, there is still cause for optimism
As always, the community sector was quick to implement creative, resourceful, and practical mechanisms to support the community during the challenges of 2022. We regularly heard about service providers trying new things, engaging with new platforms, and delivering innovative programs with great outcomes. There was keen interest in further developing collaborative opportunities within the sector, with government, other organisations, and the business community.
As they held themselves and their communities together, sector workers experienced fatigue and burnout. Increased levels of service demand, increased complexity of need, and challenges recruiting and retaining employees and volunteers strained the capacity of community service organisations across Queensland. A significant number of organisations reported finding it hard to cover their operating and service delivery costs in addition to their compliance and governance costs.
In light of recent extreme weather events, a key theme of the report was disaster resilience and the role of the community sector. Community sector workers particularly called for flexible and longer-term approaches to disaster resilience funding. They also called for additional mental health support for communities and sector workers following disasters, more disaster response knowledge sharing, and increased co-ordination between the sector, all levels of government, and other key response agencies and organisations.
In 2023, QCOSS will seek to use and harness the insights reflected in this report, which provides QCOSS with a Queensland specific evidence-base that identifies themes for further analysis, as well as issues which require a strategic response. We will continue to shine a light on emerging issues, trends and ideas, and use key points of feedback to help inform our own program of policy, research, member engagement, and capacity building.