Lack of Budget Boldness Disappoints Community Sector
The 2025-26 state budget fails to make a compelling social statement, according to the state’s peak community services body, the South Australian Council of Social Service.
There are some measures in this budget that support families with school-aged children, assist with some key regional initiatives and open up housing opportunities in metropolitan Adelaide – but overall the budget falls short both of what is required, and of the vision outlined in the Premier’s social statement.
SACOSS’s budget submission was primarily focused on better funding and planning for the state’s community services sector, while also looking for new investment in public and community housing, and cost of living relief with real help for low income households to access energy efficient technologies.
There was little support for the community services sector in the budget and no help for households struggling with energy bills.
Most housing policy measures were directed at those on low to middle incomes, rather than those struggling the most.
SACOSS notes that this budget contains no revenue measures that would address increasing debt and interest payments.
Quotes attributable to Ross Womersley, SACOSS CEO
Just over three weeks ago, the Premier stood in parliament to talk about his government’s social statement, its ambition for an inclusive economy where the wellbeing of all South Australians is front and centre.
In that context, this budget could have been much bolder with a core designed to move beyond law and order, and improve connections and supports to enable communities to thrive.
This is precisely the time we believe people struggling with poverty, inequality and injustice really need our government to exercise courage and invest deeply in measures that genuinely lead to better outcomes.
This would mean investing in those activities that help our most vulnerable citizens from needing to reach out to police or emergency departments.
If people with mental health issues had good community support in place, we wouldn’t need nearly as many co-responders.
If we were better at supporting parents challenged by poverty, addiction and mental health, we would see fewer children entering into state care and a decrease in the costs associated with their support.
If people who had limited incomes and found themselves homeless could be assisted into housing that was affordable and ensured they had wraparound supports, we wouldn’t have so many people faced with sleeping rough.
The social and community services sector is increasingly overstretched and underfunded, as government indexation fails to keep pace with the sector’s cost increases.
So many of these services provide vital support to South Australia’s most vulnerable citizens on a daily basis on behalf of our government. It’s time government ensured it was paying what it takes.