SACS: Social & Community Services

ASU makes submission to Homelessness Green Paper

The ASU has made a submission in response to the Federal Government's Homelessness Green Paper which highlights the need to address the serious workforce development challenges which are evident in the community services sector and the housing sub sector.

Our submission says, among other things:

• Services are finding it difficult to attract and retain staff
• Investment is needed in workforce development, education and training of the workforce
• Safer workplaces must be a priority including ensuring adequate staff numbers
• Managing reform well is important and there should be no job losses
• Proper indexation and quarantining from the negative impacts of the ongoing efficiency dividend is essential
• Workforce issues are an industry wide issue and deserve a long term industry response including research to identify long term workforce needs and resources for the development of a national compatibility framework which articulates skill requirements and links pay, skill and education

The ASU also submitted our 2007 "Building Social Inclusion in Australia - priorities for the social and community services sector workforce" report and recommendations papers.

We await with interest the Government white paper on homelessness which we hope will address these issues.

You can download our submission below.

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