At the time of writing this column, Australians are about to go to a Federal Election. The St Vincent de Paul Society is politically neutral (The Rule, Part I, #7.8) but by no means disengaged from the law and policy-making that guides the running of Australia.

When we advocate, we are never ‘party political,’ and I preface my column with this caveat as I reflect on the past three years and look towards the coming parliamentary term from the perspective of the growing number of Australians who are living in our new world of increased personal stress and lack of hope for better days for themselves and their children.

When Prime Minister Albanese formed his government in May 2022, he made three commitments. During his term as the country’s leader: no one would be left behind ‘because we should always look after the disadvantaged and the vulnerable’; an aspirational approach will underpin policy development; and social policy will better connect to economic policy. The ink on the sticky label below my computer screen has faded since I captured these promises three years ago.

As soon as the Albanese ministry was sworn in, it seems every minister embarked on a comprehensive review of Commonwealth programs. There was a slow start and a lack of clarity around the outcomes these reviews were designed to deliver. Unfortunately, our public service had been emasculated—the result of previous governments’ preference to downsize Australia’s historical reliance on civil society careers which brought policy expertise, and outsource the work to big consultancies, often multinationals, that usually brought a one-size-fits-all approach.

Without having ready access to our nation’s valuable public servants’ knowledge and skills, the pace of these reviews was challenging. Lack of corporate policy knowledge resulted in a need to rediscover how the government could better explore new ways of listening and responding to the expression of local communities’ needs.

Since 2022, the communities and the Not-for-Profit sector have reeled from the impacts of the Black Summer Bushfires, later the COVID pandemic, and then a succession of natural disasters.

But, looking back over the past 15 years, our colleagues across the charitable sector have well identified that government funding has been inadequate to deliver services contracted by the Commonwealth.

In 2022, we were promised multiple reviews that would bring better outcomes for people in need in local communities and that grants would better reflect actual costs. The cost-of-living crisis that swept through in late 2023 brought new and permanent pressures on how the sector can continue to deliver supports using fewer funds.

A commitment to co-design with communities and the Not-for-Profit sector was very slow to gain traction, but it did, albeit under a bushel.

At the same time, the ‘tin rattlers’ do appreciate that no domestic government is immune from the huge impost on their budget’s bottom line when trying to bring a human side to addressing the rising costs faced by Australia’s forgotten families.

Despite the political rhetoric of recent years, the Commonwealth can exercise very little control over the internationally connected elements that reach into our economy. We know we need to be smarter and more efficient.

In this environment, major charities like the Society and local community-based charities are having to rely more on supporters and those who believe in ‘a fairer Australia’ to help a rising tide of ordinary Australians, who, through no fault of their own, are desperately in need.

Australia’s charitable sector has been patiently waiting for the Albanese Government to commit to a 10-year blueprint that will make charities stronger and resilient again. We want all elected members of Parliament to make a commitment to advance the proposals outlined in the Not-for-Profit Sector Development Blueprint. This involves a statutory authority to oversee the implementation plan for the next 10 years.

The feedback we get from our Members about what Joe and Joleen Citizens need most is a plan that will firstly tackle the negative impact of the cost-of-living crisis and secondly move to deliver realistic support initiatives that are founded on a preferential option.

Such a plan is more than words uttered during election campaigning. It is comprehensive and relies on in-house policy and operational expertise capacity of overseeing and delivering a fairer, more compassionate society.

Let us pray that our incoming government, whatever that may look like, continues to draw on the roadmap the NFP sector researched to build a stronger sector that in turn strengthens the glue that holds all of us together in this wonderful and free Australia.