Our Submissions

This submission draws on consultations and survey feedback from CI Group member organisations across Southern NSW to highlight the significant challenges affecting the implementation of the Support at Home Program. It outlines concerns around lengthy wait times, inadequate clinical oversight, co-payments, financial hardship assistance, pricing settings, hospital discharge and the transition from Home Care Packages. It also examines barriers facing older Australians in regional, rural and remote communities, as well as First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

This submission draws on direct feedback from CI Group member organisations and frontline services. It highlights the need for a long-term, sustainably funded and coordinated national response to domestic, family and sexual violence, with stronger investment in prevention, early intervention, crisis response and long-term recovery. The submission makes recommendations across five priority areas: strengthening support for victim-survivors, preventing violence and intervening early, recognising children and young people as victim-survivors in their own right, improving responses to people who use violence, and strengthening system integration and workforce capability.

This submission highlights the growing housing crisis across Southern NSW, drawing on local data and consultation with community service providers. It identifies unaffordable home ownership and rental, insufficient social and crisis housing, lengthy wait times and a lack of early intervention as key drivers of housing inequity, with significant impacts on older Australians, women escaping domestic and family violence, people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, young people and families.

While the intent to streamline families and children programs is understandable, and the pressures on government systems are real, this should not come at the cost of impact, trust, or community connection, it should instead be seized as an opportunity to strengthen what already works, centre lived experience, and invest in flexible, locally driven services that genuinely support families to thrive. This must be the baseline of our expectations for reform now and into the future.

Every child in New South Wales deserves high-quality, inclusive early education that recognises the foundational importance of the early years. CI Group welcomed the opportunity to provide comment on the Parliamentary inquiry into the ECEC sector. While the National Quality Framework provides the gold standard for children’s safety and development, we call for urgent action to address the critical issues the sector is currently facing.cription goes here

This proposed Framework may not only undermine the work these organisations have been doing for years but could also create a false sense of security among carers and parents regarding the child safety practices of other organisations which may not have the same level of knowledge or infrastructure to effectively protect children. For the Framework to be truly effective, it must ensure that reporting is more than just a formality. It needs to focus on genuine, demonstrable actions that organisations can prove, rather than merely creating the perception of child safety through paperwork. 

While the need for affordable housing is urgent, and an increasing number of individuals and families are unable to access adequate shelter, this should not mean we lower our sights – we should instead be grabbing this opportunity to reset and repriortise quality housing as foundational to a healthy, happy life and healthy, vibrant, cohesive communities. This should be the baseline of our expectations into the future.

The Illawarra Shoalhaven region is forecast to have an additional 100,000 people by 2041 taking the regional population to over half a million residents. The need for efficient safe and reliable travel within the region and connectivity between the Illawarra Shoalhaven and neighbouring regions, including the rapidly expanding Western Sydney region, will therefore continue to grow. 

Community Industry Group will demonstrate how a number of our members conduct, and already have considerable expertise and success in a range of circular economy activities presently. This expertise and capability will play a crucial role in fostering a circular economy into the future. There is also capability in a number of members to join in this important work into the future.

The Illawarra Disability Alliance (IDA) is supportive of changes to the NDIS Act that better support the human rights of people with disability including the introduction of new protections and penalties for bad practices. IDA members are in favour of a well-regulated and governed NDIS which is adequately resourced and funded reflective of the complexity of the participants supported and the extent of regulatory requirements of providers.

The ClubGRANTS Scheme has the potential to funnel much-needed funding into the not-for-profit community services sector to support projects and programs in local areas. However, the way the the Scheme has been administered in the past has led to opacity in terms of participation, funding distribution, and impact.

This Submission outlines a series of initiatives aimed at improving community safety and youth engagement, particularly in rural and regional areas. These include investing in community development programs to foster connectedness, expanding youth engagement programs with a focus on skill-building and social opportunities, and funding effective youth crime prevention efforts. The strategies emphasise collaboration across government, community organisations, and young people, while addressing underlying issues like family dysfunction, substance abuse, and lack of education or employment.

The nonprofit ECEC sector plays an important place in our society. It is critical in supporting the needs of our society today, fostering civic and social engagement and creating a better future for our nation. The critical role of the ECEC sector was clearly evident during the COVID 19 pandemic and the sector’s value is clearer than ever.

CI Group recognises the important role the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) plays but believe ACNC should play a greater reporting role in supporting organisations for DGR. The Government should also centre ACNC as the centralised repository for financial reporting for DGR organisations, to cut the administrative burden from charities and not for profits at reporting time.

In Southern NSW, the troubling effects of harmful pornography on the mental, emotional, and physical health of young people have become a focal point for discussion and concern. As members share their experiences and observations, a clearer picture emerges of the pervasive and damaging influence of explicit content in the lives of children / young people and vulnerable parties.