Salvation Army says Federal 'wellbeing budget' a first step
Salvation Army says Federal 'wellbeing budget' a first step
27 October 2022
The Salvation Army says Australia cannot have ‘wellbeing’ while people still sleep in cars and go without meals.
The Federal Government’s ‘wellbeing budget’ is welcome, but more needs to be done while Australians remain in poverty, according to The Salvation Army.
The Federal Budget was released on Tuesday 25 October, the second budget for 2022-23, but the first for the Albanese Labor Government.
It provides insights into the economic forecast, sets out this Government’s intended spending and, for the first time, starts the conversation about how we should measure wellbeing, as well as economic factors.
The Salvation Army’s response was to welcome this newfound focus on measuring wellbeing in addition to economic factors.
“The concept of wellbeing is a powerful one, but it is very distant from the lived experience of people who seek our help,” said Captain Stuart Glover, Secretary for Mission.
Secretary for Mission Captain Stuart Glover says The Salvation Army is facing an uphill battle to meet the needs of every Australian doing it tough.
Research from The Salvation Army shows that four out of five people (80 per cent) accessing emergency relief had difficulty meeting basic living expenses such as housing, utilities, food and healthcare. Almost half of respondents went without meals, more than half could not afford medical or dental treatments when needed, and over a third could not afford medicines prescribed to them by doctors.
The Government’s budget includes a number of measures that The Salvation Army has advocated for, including:
- Investing an additional $1.7 billion to drive change towards ending violence against women and children.
- Focusing on making housing more affordable by supporting affordable and social housing. One major initiative includes an aspirational goal of one million new homes over five years (starting in 2024).
- A range of measures to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, such as a referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament, funding to commence work on establishing a Makarrata Commission, and $314.8 million to help close the gap.
- Action on gender equity by increasing the subsidy for early-childhood education, increasing paid parental leave to 26 weeks, and increasing transparency around pay equity.
- A commitment to full employment and specific measures around better access to skills and training.
- Major reforms around aged care and veteran support.
- Climate commitments supported by funding for renewable energy, electric vehicles and disaster response and resilience building.
The Salvation Army welcomes these measures and commitments while recognising the basics of poverty and inequity remain.
“Australia cannot have wellbeing while people still sleep in cars and go without meals,” explains Jennifer Kirkaldy, General Manager for Policy and Advocacy. “We have a real opportunity to influence what wellbeing looks like for the people we serve.”
This budget is less of a final statement on reform and more of an opening question, prompting a discussion about the different ways that wellbeing is measured.
“We need to keep making the case about social housing and homelessness, but this gives us a pathway we can pursue,” says Jennifer. “The fight for welfare reform also continues, but a ‘wellbeing budget’ allows us to do this within The Salvation Army framework of meeting people where they are at and treating everyone with love and dignity.”
The next Federal Budget is in May 2023 and will be a more significant economic statement with more opportunities for action. Measuring wellbeing is a welcome and necessary step to improve the lives of those in our communities, but investment in social services and welfare reform is needed to achieve real change.
“Between now and the May budget,” Stuart said, “we estimate The Salvation Army will distribute around 70,000 emergency relief packages to people in need. Around 3500 victim-survivors of family violence and their children will come to us for help, and we will provide over half a million crisis beds for people experiencing homelessness. We will do all of this, and it still won’t be enough.”
Measuring wellbeing is the first step, but building reform remains the path ahead.
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