Staff in community sector organisations worked unpaid overtime in order to make up for government funding shortfalls across increasingly stretched services as the pandemic drove up demand, a national industry survey has found.
The findings have prompted the Australian Council for Social Service to call on the next federal government to establish a fund to ensure secure work and funding in the sector, as well as improving indexation so organisations can keep up with rising costs.
"A refreshed and re-energised relationship between the sector and government is needed to properly acknowledge and value the central role the sector plays in people's lives and in creating better public policy," the survey said.
The survey, conducted in September 2021, found 20 per cent of respondents said the funding they received covered the full cost of delivering their service. Just 17 per cent of respondents said funding recognised increasing wage costs.
Just under a third of respondents said the financial position of their organisation would worsen in 2022, and 15 per cent of worked hours across the sector were unpaid.
"Workers are often paid to work part-time, despite working full-time hours. Higher hours of unpaid work increased the likelihood of workers reporting that they are not paid fairly for the work they do. Underinvestment in the sector is not new, but the pandemic has revealed heightened risks of workforce attrition and burnout," the survey, which covered 1828 community sector workers, said.
The council's chief executive, Dr Cassandra Goldie, said there was a reasonable fear among sector leaders the situation would get worse without changes to government policy settings.
"Underfunding issues are being made much worse by the fact that too many community sector organisations are being forced to rely on insecure short-term government contracts. Some of these contracts may last for only a year which makes it extremely difficult to plan ahead or offer any certainty to staff or clients," Dr Goldie said
"Community sector workers provide complex services to people in need. The work is incredibly rewarding but also stressful and relentless, especially during the pandemic. Without more stable funding, organisations cannot offer the job security and career advancement that these workers deserve.
"Little wonder then that nearly one in three of the people who participated in our survey plan to leave their role in the next year and almost one in ten are considering leaving their industry altogether."
The council has also called on the next federal government to stop a personal income tax cut that will mean all Australians earning between $45,000 and $200,000 pay 30 per cent in tax from 2024. The council said the cut was "unfair and unaffordable" but both the Coalition and Labor have committed to the policy.
A review should be made of the tax system to strengthen the country's revenue base and improve fairness, the council said, while the government should also guarantee essential services and safety nets for people in need.
The survey found two in five workers in the sector were worried about the future of their job.
