Financial hardship and inclusion

In November 2023, The Salvation Army provided a submission to the Department of Social Services (DSS) consultation entitled A Stronger, More Diverse, and Independent Community Sector.

In this submission, we outline some of the challenges faced by our frontline DSS funded services across grant and tender processes. Our recommendations come down to the need for funding mechanisms and processes that maximise resources available to frontline service delivery, working first and foremost to achieve high-quality outcomes for service-users.

The Salvation Army is a trusted community organisation which delivers an array of services and supports to local communities across the country, made possible through government grants and funding. As a major recipient of DSS grants to the sector, this submission provided a platform to amplify and present the experiences of our staff, frontline services, and service-users.

This submission was informed through consultation with our Doorways, Moneycare, and Emergency and Disaster Response services, as well as The Salvation Army’s Research and Outcomes Measurement, and contracts teams.

This submission covers:

• Giving the sector the voice and recognition, it deserves through a meaningful working partnerships. We discuss the importance of clear and effective communication between CSO’s and DSS, the need to improve information sharing processes, and enhancing community contribution to program design – including amplifying the voices of lived experience.
• Providing grants that reflect the real cost of delivering quality services. We discuss the need for surge capacity funding to allow CSO’s to respond to emerging needs, enhanced clarity and increased funding for overhead and administrative costs, the impact that rising operational costs have on service delivery, and improvements related to supplementation, responsive funding distribution and streamlined reporting.
• Providing longer grant agreement terms. We advocate for 5 year rolling grant agreements, and improved variation and extension processes.
• Ensuring grant funding flows to a greater diversity of community service organisations. We discuss mechanisms to ensure a balance of new and established CSO’s across the sector, and strategies to encourage CSO’s to support one another.
• Partnering with trusted community organisations with strong local links. We discuss our experience with place-based funding approaches, and the potential impacts of shared accountability on service delivery.
• We outline our concerns with tendering processes, and the need for government to be transparent regarding funding outcomes.  
• Learn more about the Inquiry
• Read The Salvation Army's Submission