The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) is an Australian organisation that advocates for action to reduce

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

and

inequality Inequality may refer to: * Inequality (mathematics), a relation between two quantities when they are different. * Economic inequality, difference in economic well-being between population groups ** Income inequality, an unequal distribution of i ...

, and is the peak body for the community services sector in Australia. It was formed in 1956. ACOSS is active in areas of

social policy Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize social policy and public policy to be two separate, competing approaches for the same public interest (similar to MD a ...

, including community sector policy,

climate and energy In the 21st century, the Earth's climate and its energy policy interact and their relationship is studied and governed by a variety of national and international institutions. The relationships between energy-resource depletion, climate change, ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

, income support and

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

and

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

, and

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

and

Cassandra Goldie Cassandra Goldie is CEO of ACOSS, the Australian Council of Social Service, and an adjunct professor at the University of New South Wales. Early life and education Goldie has both a PhD from University of New South Wales and as a Masters of ...

became CEO of ACOSS in 10 July 2010. She was previously the Director of the Sex Discrimination Unit at the Australian Human Rights Commission (HREOC). The CEO of ACOSS is often interviewed by Australian media for comment and analysis on social matters and policies of the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

Governance

ACOSS has a 9-person volunteer Board of Governors, elected according to the constitutio

adopted in August 2019.

Controversies

In 1991 Federal Opposition leader

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson w ...

accused ACOSS of seeking to acquire more money than for welfare and making bureaucracies bigger than in helping those in povert

Presidents

* March 2023 - present: Hang Vo * June 2020 - December 2022: Peter McNamara * January 2016 - June 2020: Tony Reidy * January 2015 - December 2016: Micaela Cronin * December 2013 - January 2015: Francis Lynch * November 2009 – November 2013: Simon Schrapel * May–November 2009: David Thompson (interim) * 2005-May 2009:

Lin Hatfield Dodds Lin Hatfield Dodds (born Linda Hatfield), Australian social policy expert and former Churchill Fellow, is the CEO of The Benevolent Society, Australia's first and oldest charity, and was the Deputy Secretary for Social Policy in the Departme ...

* 2001-2005:

Andrew McCallum Andrew McCallum is a professor in the computer science department at University of Massachusetts Amherst. His primary specialties are in machine learning, natural language processing, information extraction, information integration, and social ...

* 1997-2000: Michael Raper * 1993-1997: Robert Fitzgerald * 1989-1993: Merle Mitchell * 1985-1989: Julian Disney

Members

Source:

State and Territory Councils of Social Service

* ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) * NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS) * South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) * Northern Territory Council of Social Service (NTCOSS) * Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) * Tasmanian Council of Social Service (TasCOSS) * Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) * Western Australia Council of Social Service (WACOSS)

National constituency organization members

* Anti-Poverty Network SA * Australian Unemployed Workers' Union * Children and Young People with Disability Australia * National Council of Single Mothers and their Children * Women With Disabilities Australia * YOUNG Campaigns *

People with Disability Australia People with Disability Australia Ltd (PWDA) is an Australian national peak disability rights and advocacy organisation. Founded in 1981 and based in Surry Hills, Sydney. PWDA is a Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO), with an elected board of ...

* Women With Disabilities Australia

National organization members

* Adult Learning Australia * Anglicare Australia * Anti-poverty Week * Asylum Seeker Resource Centre * Australian Alcohol and other Drugs Council * Australian Association of Social Workers * Australian Baha’i Community * Australian Communications Consumer Action Network * Australian Community Workers Association * Australian Council of State School Organisations * Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations * Australian Federation of Disability Organisations * Australian Health Promotion Association * Australian Insulation Foundation * Australian Men’s Health Forum * Australian Pensioners & Superannuants Federation *

Australian Red Cross Australian Red Cross, formally Australian Red Cross Society, is a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Australia. Tracing its history back to 1914 and being incorporated by royal charter in 1941, Australian Red Cross Society is ...

* Australian Youth Affairs Coalition * Baptist Care Australia * Better Renting *

Brotherhood of St Laurence The Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL) is an Australian not-for-profit anti-poverty organisation. BSL has its headquarters in Melbourne but provides services and programs across Australia. It undertakes research, delivers services and advocates f ...

* Carers Australia *

Catholic Social Services Australia Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA) is a body that seeks to advance the social service ministry of the Catholic Church and consists of member welfare organisations. It was established as a commission of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conferen ...

* Centre for Social Impact * CHOICE * Christians Against Poverty * cohealth * Community Colleges Australia * Community Housing Industry Association * Community Legal Centres Australia * Community Mental Health Australia * Community Transport Organisation * Consumer Action Law Centre * Consumers Health Forum of Australia * COTA Australia * DCSS Australia * Disability Advocacy Network Australia * Down Syndrome Australia * Economic Justice Australia * Edmund Rice Centre * Family Relationship Services Australia * Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia * Financial Counselling Australia * Foodbank Australia * Foundation for Young Australians * Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand * Good Things Foundation Australia *

Goodstart Early Learning Goodstart Early Learning is Australia's largest early learning provider. Formed in 2010 by a syndicate of charities, Goodstart is a not-for-profit organisation that currently has 649 child care centres around Australia. Goodstart's head office ...

* Health Justice Australia * Homelessness Australia * Homes for Homes * HOST International * Indian (Sub-Cont) Crisis & Support Agency * InfoXchange * Jobs Australia * Justice Connect * LGBTIQ+ Health Australia * Life Without Barriers * Lojic Institute * MacKillop Family Services * Mind Australia *

Mission Australia Mission Australia is a national Christian charity that provides a range of community services throughout Australia. It has its roots in the Brisbane sector of The British and Foreign Bible Society’s sub-committee, The Colporteur Society (1869), ...

* MS Australia * National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service * National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation * National Association of People with HIV Australia * National Association of Tenant Organisations * National Ethnic Disability Alliance * National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum * National Shelter * Office for Social Justice, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference *

Oxfam Australia Oxfam Australia is an Australian, independent, charity, not-for-profit, secular, community-based aid and development organization, and is an affiliate of the Oxfam International Confederation. Oxfam Australia's work is divided into four broad c ...

* Playgroup Australia * Public Health Association of Australia * Rape & Domestic Violence Services Australia *

Reconciliation Australia Reconciliation Australia is a non-government, not-for-profit foundation established in January 2001 to promote a continuing national focus for reconciliation between Indigenous (i.e. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) and non-Indig ...

Relationships Australia Relationships Australia (RA) is an Australian not-for profit organisation providing professional services to support relationships across Australia that began in 1948 under the name of Marriage Guidance Council. Initially providing counselling ...

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

* Secretariat of National Aboriginal & Islander Child Care * Settlement Council of Australia * Settlement Services International * Social Ventures Australia * Society of St Vincent de Paul National Council * Syndromes Without a Name (SWAN) Australia * The Benevolent Society * The Salvation Army Australia * The Smith Family * UnitingCare Australia * Volunteering Australia * WESNET * YMCA Australia * YWCA Australia

Associate Members

* Accordwest * ADRA Australia Limited * Anglicare Community Services * Anglicare Victoria * Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies Ltd. (ACWA) * Australian Education Union (AEU) * Australian Refugee and Migrant Care Services Ltd * Australian Services Union (ASU) * AWARE Community * Berry Street * BeyondHousing * Blue Sky Community Services * Caboolture Community Care Inc * Cairns Alliance of Social Services * Canberra Community Law * Catholic Social Services Victoria * CentaCare New England North West * Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare * Centre for Women’s Economic Safety * Churches Housing Incorporated * Community Housing Industry Association NSW * Community Industry Group * Community Information and Support Victoria * Community Resources Limited * Container of Dreams * CORE Community Services * Cowra Information & Neighbourhood Centre * Energetic Communities * Family Support Newcastle * Family Violence Legal Service Aboriginal Corporation * Financial Counsellors’ Association of WA * Financial Rights Legal Centre * Glebe Youth Service * Homelessness NSW * Illawarra Legal Centre * Institute of Child Protection Studies * Jannawi Family Centre * Lifetime Renewable Energy Pty Ltd * Lutheran Community Care * Melbourne’s Leading Nanny Agency * Mountains Community Resource Network (MCRN) * Muru Mittigar Limited * Nepean Community and Neighbourhood Services (NCNS) * One Future * Orphans and Widows West Africa Inc. * PeakCare Queensland Inc * Peninsula Community Legal Centre Inc. * Penrith City Council * Queensland Youth Housing Coalition * Rainbow Families Inc * Samaritans Foundation * Sector Connect * Single Mothers Lobby Alliance * Social Futures (Northern Rivers Social Development Council) * South East Community Links * South Port Community Housing Group Inc * Southern Youth and Family Services * St John’s Youth Services * Sydney Community Forum * Tangentyere Council Inc. * Tenants Queensland * Think+DO Tank Foundation * United Workers Union * Uniting Communities * Uniting Country SA * Welfare Rights Centre * Westgate Community Initiatives Group * WESTIR Ltd

References

External links

* {{Authority control Non-profit organisations based in New South Wales 1956 establishments in Australia Poverty in Australia