Only a fraction of welfare organisations are able to meet soaring demand for help in the lead-in to Christmas.
‘Helping people in need during a cost-of-living crisis, a report from the University of NSW Social Policy Research Centre has found only three per cent of 1470 homelessness, mental health and family violence organisations are always keeping up with demand for services.
Almost a fifth of providers were coping until COVID-19 supplement payments for low-income earners were withdrawn by the federal government in March last year when the figure dropped to six percent.
The research, conducted for the Australian Council of Social Service and the State and Territory Councils of Social Service, clearly shows community service providers are in the grip of an unprecedented period of intense demand, ACOSS deputy CEO Edwina MacDonald says….