Premier’s Economic and Social Recovery Advisory Council (PESRAC) Final Report: TasCOSS Insights

Premier’s Economic and Social Recovery Advisory Council (PESRAC) Final Report: TasCOSS Insights The Premier’s Economic and Social Recovery Advisory Council (PESRAC) Final Report makes a wide range of recommendations that could help ensure thousands of Tasmanians have the support and opportunities they need to live a good life after COVID-19. Key to delivering on this promise will be its timely implementation and a commitment to provide the resourcing needed for the proposed reccomentations.

We particularly welcome a focus on: •

Local jobs networks which can help support more Tasmanians into jobs. We believe the community services industry has a key role to play here as the largest and fastest growing industry in the state.

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Investment in mental health service, particularly for young Tasmanians.

Improving Tasmania’s digital infrastructure and the call for KPIs to improve Tasmania’s digital inclusion outcomes. We believe the next State Government should aim to not just to close the digital divide within Tasmania, but to be at or above the national average when it comes to digital inclusion scores in the Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII) by 2025. We provided recommendations on how this could be achieved in our submission to the Our Digital Future Strategy.

Place-based recovery and community leadership. We believe each community should be empowered to identify their own recovery priority objectives.

Development of a food security strategy to ensure everyone has access to the nutritious food they need.

We do however believe the report was a missed opportunity to recommend greater investment in affordable housing, which would not only provide more Tasmanians the homes they desperately need but also generate much-needed jobs and an economic stimulus.

TasCOSS believes that an effective housing strategy should include: • • • • •

A legislated target of 10% of the state’s total housing stock as affordable social rental housing by 2036.

A target for the construction of 1,000 homes per year to meet projected unmet need for housing of 14,000 homes by 2036.

Changes to the Residential Tenancy Act requiring social housing providers to ensure that no tenant is evicted into homelessness.

Elimination of the maintenance backlog for Housing Tasmania and Better Housing Futures community housing providers by June 2022.

Appropriate minimum energy efficiency standards for all Tasmanian houses. TasCOSS’s 2021/2022 Budget Priorities Statement on Household Energy Efficiency Initiatives also calls for significant investment in energy efficient housing.

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Table of Contents Summary of Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Jobs and Income Recommendations ............................................................................................................................... 3 Major Investments................................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Infrastructure Planning....................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Skills, Schools and Youth ................................................................................................................................................................... 6 TasTAFE .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Australian Government Skills Funding........................................................................................................................................... 8 Training Priorities.................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Skills Responsibilities for Industry ............................................................................................................................................... 10

Jobs Tasmania Principles ............................................................................................................................................................... 11 Jobs Tasmania Design Features .................................................................................................................................................. 12 Jobs Tasmania Funding .................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Jobs Tasmania State Responsibilities ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Job Service Collaboration ............................................................................................................................................................... 14 Health and Housing Recommendations ........................................................................................................................15 Communication and Confidence .................................................................................................................................................. 15 Mental Health ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Food Security ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Housing................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18 Community: Connectivity and Engagement Recommendations ..............................................................................19 Digital Infrastructure ........................................................................................................................................................................ 19 Digital Inclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................. 20 Place-based Recovery ..................................................................................................................................................................... 21 Community Leadership.................................................................................................................................................................... 21 Community Events ............................................................................................................................................................................ 22 Environment and Sustainability Recommendations ...................................................................................................22 Environment and Sustainability .................................................................................................................................................... 22 Public Sector Capability Recommendations .................................................................................................................24 Community Service Funding .......................................................................................................................................................... 24 Government Businesses ................................................................................................................................................................. 24 Local Government Reform .............................................................................................................................................................. 25 Strategic Risk Management ........................................................................................................................................................... 26 P a g e 2 of 26

Summary of Recommendations The following summary of PESRAC’s recommendations includes an indication of TasCOSS’s reaction to each recommendation, out of three potential responses:

Support Unsure (need more information) Don’t support

Under each recommendation we have provided a brief justification for our response.

Jobs and Income Recommendations Major Investments 1. Protecting sustainability, community values and Tasmanians’ wellbeing must continue to be at the forefront of regulatory activity.

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TasCOSS welcomes the clarification that recommendations under this section were to be implemented in alignment with the “clean, green” reputation of Tasmania and not be seen as a drive to “cut red and green tape” to support development at all costs.

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The purpose of investments in communities should be to support community values and wellbeing and should be assessed against this goal.

2. State, local governments and infrastructure providers need to appropriately resource assessment and permitting processes to deliver timely outcomes. Assessment turnaround times should be published for major categories of approvals.

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TasCOSS agrees with the principle that assessment procedures in Tasmania should be “robust but prompt” and that a robust process would include a thorough examination of the social, economic and environmental impacts of development on local communities. Sufficient resourcing and transparency of assessment processes is key to this.

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3. The State Government should provide more project facilitation and case management for local and inward major investment.

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TasCOSS recognises that complex proposals require more intensive support to ensure a robust and prompt assessment.

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TasCOSS agrees that greater transparency on the part of investors should accompany increased effort by the State Government.

4. The State Government should publish information to make it easy for investors to understand and access the facilitation supports that can be provided, and under what conditions.

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Transparency is a key principle of good government.

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The information published should also make it easy for the public to understand what support is available to investors and under what conditions.

5. The State Government should be publicly transparent about the nature of case management being provided to investors once facilitation has begun.

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As above, transparency is a key principle of good government.

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It is important there is timely transparency and accountability, on a case-by-case basis, to ensure the integrity of the planning system.

6. Agency heads should drive, and be held accountable for, a public sector wide culture that proactively engages with major investment proponents.

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This recommendation requires more information on what this looks like, including structures and processes to manage conflicts of interest and ensure the integrity of the planning system.

7. The Australian and State Governments should reinvigorate the Joint Commonwealth and Tasmanian Economic Council.

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TasCOSS recognises the past work of the Joint Commonwealth and Tasmanian Economic Council, but notes that the Council has only met seven times since its inception in 2013 and has been largely inactive since 2017.

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If the Council cannot be reinvigorated in a way which ensures sustained focus, alternative avenues should be pursued to facilitate collaborative, community-focussed major investments in Tasmania.

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8. Regional land use strategies should be comprehensively updated.

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More detail is needed to arrive at a position on this recommendation.

Infrastructure Planning 9. The State Government should redevelop the 10 year Infrastructure Pipeline as a tool for identifying, and addressing, capacity and delivery constraints.

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Leveraging the existing publication for this purpose would be welcome, provided it did not become unwieldly or overly prescriptive.

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The redevelopment should understand workforce planning issues and market capacity as suggested, but should also give consideration to the capacity of communities to accommodate and deliver projects locally.

10. The pipeline should be extended to include information on digital infrastructure investment plans, including from telecommunications providers, to address digital inclusion strategies.

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Tasmania continues to perform poorly in measures of digital inclusion such as digital access, so greater focus on the infrastructure required to ensure everyone can get online affordably is welcome.

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This is an important inclusion to provide oversight of some of the key digital inclusion actions under recommendations 33 and 34.

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Skills, Schools and Youth 11. The Year 9 to 12 Project vocational learning elements should be finalised and implemented in strong ongoing consultation with industry. These elements include: • • • •

career education; work-based learning, vocational education and training; apprenticeships and traineeships for school-aged learners; and industry engagement.

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There is a need for clear and diverse pathways for young people to transition successfully out of school.

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Industry engagement should include the business sector, but not be focussed exclusively on the business sector. The community services industry is the largest and fastest growing industry in Tasmania and could play a key role in providing additional pathways for young Tasmanians into employment.1

12. Additional funding should be provided to the Department of Education to support implementation.

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Any action arising from a recommendation in this report should be accompanied by sufficient additional resourcing.

1 See TasCOSS’s 2021/2022 Budget Priorities Statement: Local People into Local Jobs: a partnership approach to securing the community services industry workforce.

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TasTAFE 13. The State Government should re-establish TasTAFE as a government business under the control and accountability of its Board of Directors, with authority and power to employ its workforce under the Fair Work Act 2009.

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It is clear that something needs to change with TasTAFE to meet the needs of students and industry.

TasCOSS does not have enough information to speak to what this change should be.

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Re-establishing TasTAFE as suggested is a big change which will require both wide and deep consultation to get things right.

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TasTAFE does not only serve employers and businesses, it also serves the students who come through its doors. This should not be lost in the move towards a new model.

14. Governance features for a re-established TasTAFE should include: • •

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A direct line of accountability from shareholder Ministers to the Board, and the Board to the CEO. A Board with: o independence to develop and guide strategy, to meet Government-set objectives and client demand; o power to hire, performance manage and, if necessary, dismiss the CEO, who in turn has flexible performance management and employment discretion of staff; and o maximum operational and capital expenditure flexibility, including over corporate services and infrastructure, to efficiently meet objectives and to meet emerging industry skill requirements.

Public transparency of Government priorities or guidelines that TasTAFE is expected to follow as part of Ministerial statements or community service obligations.

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Greater flexibility and responsiveness to meet student need and skills priorities would be welcome, however care should be taken to avoid generating a TasTAFE workforce with high levels of job insecurity.

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TasCOSS would welcome a strong community service obligation for the re-established TasTAFE which ensures it remains focused on meeting the needs of all students, particularly those who are experiencing disadvantage or exclusion.

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15. To place TasTAFE onto a fit-for-future footing, the State Government should: • • •

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allow market-based salary packages to attract the best trainers and leaders in key sectors; fund transition arrangements, including a voluntary redundancy program and support for career transitions; commission an independent review of the fitness-for-purpose of TasTAFE infrastructure and ensure sufficient capital is provided as part of re-establishing it as a more autonomous entity; and require TasTAFE to sharpen its focus on core industry and employment training.

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A change of this size needs to be accompanied by significant transition support for employees, students and others affected.

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Adequate funding for TasTAFE itself is also essential to realise the goals set out in the report. TasCOSS welcomes the report’s suggestion that transition costs be provided in full and considered “a high value-for-money investment” to meet the training needs of students and industries.

Australian Government Skills Funding 16. The Premier should seek a commitment from the Australian Government to: • •

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ensure that new national funding arrangements for skills have the flexibility to support local industry training and workforce needs; and provide funding assistance to support TasTAFE to become a more contemporary training provider, recognising the structural costs required to shift to a more agile and efficient model, one which could be a pioneer for improving TAFE effectiveness nationally.

Education and training are a collective responsibility with differentiated needs. TasCOSS agrees that the State Government should seek to ensure national funding arrangements and funds are able to be used in ways most appropriate to Tasmanian contexts.

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Training Priorities 17. The State Government should shift the relative priority in skills funding to: •

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the forms of training that provide the most direct route into a job for unemployed and under-employed Tasmanians, rather than solely to nationally accredited VET qualifications; and industry-endorsed skill sets, micro-credentials and short courses for unemployed or under-employed Tasmanians linked to industries or occupations with workforce shortages.

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TasCOSS would welcome a re-prioritisation of training funding to support unemployed and underemployed workers, however what is considered “the most direct route into a job” would require significant unpacking.

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Prioritising some portion of skills funding to courses linked to workforce shortages would be a sensible move to ensure TasTAFE is able to more easily respond to workforce needs in Tasmania and provide students with skills which could lead to secure employment.

18. The State Government should maintain contestable skills funding to attract high-quality training providers for specialised and non-core TasTAFE courses.

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More detail is needed to arrive at a position on this recommendation.

19. The State Government should prioritise access to Trade Training Centres for vocational training for both school-age and adult learners.

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TasCOSS supports access to Trade Training Centres for all learners, however more detail is required on what action on this recommendation involves.

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Skills Responsibilities for Industry 20. Industry bodies (associations and employer representatives) should enter into industry compacts with the State Government that include step-up commitments to: • • • • • • •

support and advocate for a re-established TasTAFE through the reform journey; provide clear and specific advice to TasTAFE and Skills Tasmania on current and future industry-wide training requirements, including training product development; implement a range of training and education pathways, including school-age work experience, apprenticeships, and university cadetships and internships; collaborate with TasTAFE and other training providers to support more people from industry working as trainers; collaborate with TasTAFE and other training providers to share infrastructure to enable students to train on modern technology; collaborate with education providers to support the provision of career information in schools; and better promote the availability, attractiveness, and benefits of jobs in their industries.

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TasCOSS welcomes this recommendation and sees significant value in the prospect of partnership compacts which facilitate tailored systems and supports to meet the needs of industries, TasTAFE and of students who are looking to make, establish or advance their careers.

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TasCOSS recently proposed a partnership approach to securing the community services industry workforce in our 2021/2022 Budget Priority Statement which aligns well with this recommendation. 2

2 See TasCOSS’s 2021/2022 Budget Priorities Statement: Local People into Local Jobs: a partnership approach to securing the community services industry workforce.

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Jobs Tasmania Principles 21. A state-wide set of Jobs Tasmania Local Networks should be established on the following principles: • • • • • •

local leadership and flexibility for tailored solutions to be developed in a place based way; sufficient funding certainty (minimum three-year cycles) to allow local capacity building, while retaining strong accountability; priority given to understanding and meeting the needs of employers; job seekers are comprehensively assessed, including their strengths, aspirations and barriers to work; draws on education and training providers in developing solutions for job seekers; and collaborates with existing services and, only where gaps exist, undertakes or commissions new activity.

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TasCOSS welcomes this recommendation and recognises that consistent, place-based, holistic initiatives which link communities and industry to support accessible training and employment opportunities are the best way to support local people into local jobs.

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These Jobs Tasmania Local Networks could be formalised as part of an inclusive recovery strategy which recognises and supports the specific strengths and needs of each community to drive growth and share it more equitably across the state.

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Jobs Tasmania Design Features 22. Jobs Tasmania Local Networks should: •

• • • •

be governed by local boards with oversight of the performance of employees and ultimate accountability for service delivery, as well as supporting coordination with government, education, industry and the community sector; have well-defined funding objectives and performance reporting requirements; have autonomy to design and deliver solutions for unique place-based conditions; be given support for local leadership development from the State Government if required; and be based on boundaries that align with geographic workforce catchments and industry clusters, be small enough for boards and staff to develop strong industry relationships, and ensure moderate caseloads.

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Noting that locally-led networks should have the ability to co-construct their governance features, TasCOSS supports the suggested design features, particularly the focus on a collaborative ‘no wrong door’ approach to serving clients suggested in the report.

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It is important that requisite support from the State Government should be available as a design feature, not on an ad hoc basis.

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Jobs Tasmania Funding 23. Jobs Tasmania Local Networks should be appropriately funded to: • • • • • • • • •

engage with employers; commission public and community services to remove barriers to work and improve employability for individuals; assist in coordinating job services within a local region; undertake job matching, coaching and referral services; address the needs of the recently out-of-work and under-employed, as priority target groups, and young (under 25) job seekers as capacity provides; collaborate with Business Enterprise Centres and industry chambers to support small business capabilities; support employer engagement with local schools; engage with Trade Training Centres, TasTAFE and other education and training providers to optimise services and use of local facilities; and engage with community and collective impact networks to provide networks for job seekers through a link into local industry.

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TasCOSS supports this recommendation and the suggestion in the report that investment in jobs services should be seen as a social and economic investment which will boost individual and community resilience and offset higher future costs in other areas such as health.

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The ability of the Local Networks to commission services to remove barriers to work is particularly important, as we know for example that something as simple as providing transport can make a huge difference in people’s ability to engage with work.

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Jobs Tasmania State Responsibilities 24. The State Government should: • • • • • • • •

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implement the governance and funding framework for the Local Networks through a single point of contact; provide support to build local leadership capability proportionate to need; provide common overhead services, such as geospatial data mapping and client relationship management systems; hold Local Network boards accountable for outcomes; facilitate network peer learning, continuous improvement and regional leadership development; use learnings from the Local Networks to address state-wide systemic needs of employers and job seekers; compile and publicly distribute workforce data in usable forms; and support inter-government engagement on improving job services with the Australian Government.

TasCOSS is supportive of this indicative list of the State Government’s responsibilities, noting that additional responsibilities may arise from establishment discussions in collaboration with Local Networks themselves.

Job Service Collaboration 25. The Premier should seek a commitment from the Australian Government to require its employment service providers to collaborate with Jobs Tasmania Local Networks to ensure effective cross-referrals.

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Collaboration delivers better results. If these jobs networks are to be established, they should work in collaboration with established providers.

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Health and Housing Recommendations Communication and Confidence 26. The State Government should provide regular updates to the community on the initiatives to prepare the State health system’s response to future COVID-19 outbreaks.

27. The State Government should explain to the community its future COVID-19 management strategy, including how any future outbreaks will be handled.

28. The State Government should explain the risk management basis of COVID-19 restrictions as those decisions are being made - including any reimposed or new restrictions.

29. Throughout the recovery period, the State Government should provide broad guidance for people travelling interstate about the circumstances under which Tasmanians will be required to quarantine upon return.

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Regular, clear and consistent messaging would ensure that all Tasmanians are informed and give them confidence to know that the State Government has a strategy in place to support their health and the health of the state as a whole. It would also provide greater certainty for industry which enables them to plan for the future.

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Such communication can also free capacity in health and other services which would otherwise be spent on responding to individuals seeking clarification or additional information from garbled or nonexistent messaging.

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Mental Health 30. The State Government should: • • •

• • •

rapidly finalise, and commit appropriate funds to implement Rethink 2020 as a matter of priority; accelerate the implementation of, and fully fund the reforms to, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service as a matter of priority; expand the MHCT Peer Workforce Development Strategy to include youth and fund a mental health Youth Peer Worker model to provide additional, early intervention, awareness raising and support to young people experiencing situational distress; commit funding for a telephone-based mental health triage service for the duration of the recovery; support the MHCT proposal to expand the ‘check-in’ website to provide more mental health education and awareness material; and commit funding for community-level resources to provide face-to-face contact and engagement with community organisations and service providers, with the aim of: o raising awareness about mental health literacy; o developing networks between organisations and service providers; and o building capacity within the community for sub-acute support services.

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TasCOSS welcomes these actions to strengthen support for the mental health of Tasmanians. They are positive steps towards the coordinated, integrated, person-centred, whole-of-life oriented mental health service system we need in this state.

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TasCOSS supports the focus on strengthening mental health support for younger Tasmanians, but flags that support for older Tasmanians and those in rural communities should not be overlooked.

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It is welcome to see recognition that the service system needs to be accessible across a wide range of platforms, including online and by telephone. TasCOSS echoes the suggestion in the report that these alone are not sufficient, and that “increased face-to-face, community-based support to triage and navigate the mental health support networks in Tasmania would provide a more comprehensive approach.”

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Food Security 31. The State Government should ensure that the Food Security Strategy currently being prepared: • • • •

expands on recent trials of school lunch provision to include greater school and community provision; adopts a place-based approach to community food security models and not a ‘onesize-fits-all’ approach; includes strong links to local agricultural and hospitality businesses including training opportunities for program participants; and is scaleable in design so that any potential increase in demand for emergency food relief can be managed in a rapid and effective manner.

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TasCOSS supports the inclusion of these concerns in the formulation of the Food Security Strategy.

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Access to nutritious, affordable food is already becoming more difficult for many Tasmanians as the Federal Government’s COVID-19 supports are withdrawn and a greater number of people are forced to subsist on less.

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Housing 32. The State Government should develop a comprehensive Tasmanian Housing Strategy and drive practical actions to deliver more sustainable housing market outcomes across Tasmania for all Tasmanians. The strategy should encompass: • • • • • • • • •

population growth and settlement planning; ageing and shifts in household composition; land availability; the interface between public and private markets; taxes; approvals and permitting; sustainable housing - energy and water efficiency; construction workforce availability; and alignment of essential social and economic infrastructure.

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TasCOSS supports the development of a comprehensive housing strategy for the state which views housing as a system deserving of a strategic approach.

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TasCOSS believes that an effective housing strategy should include: o o o o o

A legislated target of 10% of the state’s total housing stock as affordable social rental housing by 2036.

A target for the construction of 1,000 homes per year to meet projected unmet need for housing of 14,000 homes by 2036.

Changes to the Residential Tenancy Act requiring social housing providers to ensure that no tenant is evicted into homelessness.

Elimination of the maintenance backlog for Housing Tasmania and Better Housing Futures community housing providers by June 2022.

Appropriate minimum energy efficiency standards for all Tasmanian houses. TasCOSS’s 2021/2022 Budget Priorities Statement on Household Energy Efficiency Initiatives also calls for significant investment in energy efficient housing. 3

See TasCOSS 2021/2022 Budget Priorities Statement: Household Energy Efficiency Initiatives: creating jobs, stimulating our economy and lowering power bills.

3

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Community: Connectivity and Engagement Recommendations Digital Infrastructure 33. The State Government should take an active role, working with the Australian Government, telecommunication carriers and other providers, to improve Tasmania’s digital infrastructure, as a priority, including by: • • • •

undertaking a review of digital infrastructure coverage gaps and priorities for future investment (which would inform the quantum of funding required); commissioning research to determine the economic and social gains from greater deployment of digital infrastructure; actively pursuing greater collaboration and co-investment arrangements with the Australian Government, telecommunications industry carriers and other providers; and allocating funding for digital infrastructure projects to strengthen connectivity, particularly in our regions.

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TasCOSS agrees that it is time the State Government took an active role in driving improvements in the state’s digital infrastructure and that this should be done collaboratively and strategically to deliver improvements where they are most needed.

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TasCOSS believes that governments should acknowledge that access to the internet is an essential service, much like power and water. Digital infrastructure needs to be viewed and funded as such.

Access to digital technologies and the internet have become essential for full participation in the social and economic life, in Tasmania and globally.

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Digital inclusion consists of three parts: access, affordability and ability. Investing in digital infrastructure is a key lever governments can pull to influence access and affordability for those living in our state.

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Digital Inclusion 34. The State Government should: •

• •

as a priority, improve digital inclusion across Tasmanian communities by: o setting clear whole-of-government Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for closing the digital divide within the next 2-5 years in each of the three key dimensions of digital inclusion: access, affordability, and digital ability; and o to achieve those KPIs, align actions and provide material funding to drive outcomes under Our Digital Future. engage with local communities to address digital inclusion at a local level; and leverage its extensive digital footprint through expanding access to its existing facilities which provide digital capability to our communities. These include: • schools; • libraries; • online access centres; and • Service Tasmania outlets.

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TasCOSS encourages the State Government to develop and report publicly on key outcome measures in order to assess the success or otherwise of their efforts to improve digital inclusion in the state.

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The State Government should aim not just to close the digital divide within Tasmania, but to be at or above the national average when it comes to digital inclusion scores in the Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII) by 2025. We provided recommendations on how this could be achieved in our submission to the Our Digital Future Strategy.

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Place-based Recovery 35. The State Government and its agencies should actively seek out and fund community-led, place-based recovery activities. Priority should be given to activities with the following objectives: • • •

increased community connection including collaboration across existing community organisations; primary prevention of, and early intervention in, areas such as family or community violence and drug and alcohol misuse; and models which promote new and innovative strategies to engage volunteers.

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TasCOSS strongly supports the State Government providing expanded funding for flexible, inclusive, community-led development programs which allow communities to formulate responses to their own needs.

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The three priority areas identified clearly arise from broad consultation, however if the government is to truly engage in community-led and place-based recovery each community should be empowered to identify their own recovery priority objectives.

Community Leadership 36. The State Government should establish an ongoing scholarship funding pool to financially support leadership training for individuals that have demonstrated involvement in their local community.

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TasCOSS supports this recommendation. Providing access for capacity-building for individuals to become leaders in their local community is a key part of ensuring all Tasmanians feel valued, included and heard.

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Care should be taken to ensure barriers to accessing this scholarship aren’t erected which exclude certain cohorts, such as language or literacy barriers.

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Community Events 37. The State Government should support community-based events by sharing COVID-19 risks.

The proposed approach should include a capped amount of financial coverage where COVID-19 suppression measures materially impact the running of the event.

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TasCOSS is broadly supportive of the government providing support for not-for-profit community events which allow communities to come together post-COVID-19.

Environment and Sustainability Recommendations Environment and Sustainability 38. The State Government should develop a sustainability vision and strategy for Tasmania, with ambitious goals, and concrete targets and actions.

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TasCOSS would strongly welcome a holistic sustainability vision and strategy for the state which sets clear and ambitious goals and is backed up by concrete and measurable targets and actions.

39. The strategy should immediately prioritise specific frameworks for: • decarbonising the economy; • water resource allocation, security and quality; • adoption of circular economy principles; and • ensuring a consistent and coordinated government approach to sustainability.

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TasCOSS recognises the importance of these priority areas of sustainability and the importance of coordinated action by government to achieve change. o

Tasmania is already facing impacts from climate change which will only grow with inaction and will drive growing social inequality into the future. o Access to clean air and water are critically important for the health and resilience of Tasmanians, and this was highlighted for many through the COVID-19 crisis. o A circular economy is critical to shifting society away from society based on a disposable culture which prioritises increased consumption of finite resources and onto a genuinely sustainable footing. o This would also align with other state and federal government priorities such as the National Waste Policy and Action Plan and enhancing food security in Tasmania.

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40. The strategy should have a strong focus on environmental considerations, and include wider aspects of sustainability including social factors, and ensuring decisions account for the interests of future generations.

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TasCOSS agrees the strategy needs to be bolder than being limited to environmental sustainability and ensure it addresses: o Economic sustainability that eliminates poverty and provides sustainable jobs, o Good health and wellbeing, o Quality education, o Access to food, housing, transport and other basic services, o Reduced inequality; and o Access to justice and promotion of human rights principles.

41. The strategy should be focussed on Tasmanian priorities but be aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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TasCOSS strongly supports the alignment of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the development of this strategy, which are consistent with our Good Life project domains. This would ensure a sustainability vision and strategy for Tasmania which sets goals, targets and actions that deliver: o Affordable and clean energy, o Clean water and sanitation, o Action on climate change, o Increased reuse and recycling; and o Sustainable resources management.

42. The State Government should strongly promote the idea that all Tasmanians are responsible for our environmental performance and have a part to play in achieving the strategy. Everyone is responsible and everyone should contribute through their actions.

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To be effective, a Tasmanian sustainability vision and strategy must have a whole-of-government coordination and implementation with clearly identified roles for government, industry, community and individuals to engage and participate.

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Public Sector Capability Recommendations Community Service Funding 43. The State Government should review funding models for community service organisations to implement the following principles: • • • • •

be long-term (to provide certainty to service providers so they can invest in staff and systems); have very clear deliverables and outcomes (co-designed with providers where relevant, and informed by people, places, and priorities); be designed to deliver flexible and adaptable service provision; and require appropriate transparency and accountability.

TasCOSS strongly supports this recommendation, the benefits of which were demonstrated in the response to COVID-19. Our industry has been calling for longer-term and more flexible funding agreements that: o Recognise the true cost of service delivery to better facilitate sustainable organisations, o Support flexible and innovative approaches to service delivery; and o Allows for community to develop, define and contribute to outcomes to be achieved.

44. Ministers and agencies should identify and communicate what services and activities will be delayed, suspended or reduced to permit resources to be devoted to priority recovery activities.

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TasCOSS supports transparency in government and decision-making and believes ministers and agencies should always communicate and explain their decisions. We also support genuine consultation and community engagement so that the communities have a voice in decisions that affect them. Rather than ministers and agencies making decisions in isolation about reprioritising resources, the community should have a say on the services and activities it prioritises and is willing to delay, suspend or reduce.

Government Businesses 45. Shareholding Ministers must use their influence to transparently drive the focus of government businesses towards pressing whole-of-state priorities during recovery and hold boards accountable for doing so.

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TasCOSS agrees that a principal reason for holding businesses in public rather than private hands is the potential to drive whole-of-state strategic outcomes. They should also have a focus on ensuring benefits and positive outcomes for the Tasmanian community and its people.

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46. The government business governance framework should be revisited to enable the government of the day to set binding whole-of-state strategic priorities.

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TasCOSS supports a review of governance frameworks to ensure they are fit for purpose and align with the best interests of the Tasmanian community.

Local Government Reform 47. The Tasmanian Parliament should sponsor a process to drive structural reform of Tasmania’s local government sector.

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Local government reform has often been used as a ‘political football’ resulting in any meaningful change either being stalled or not attempted. An approach to reform that has multiparty support across the Tasmanian Parliament is a sensible first step.

48. Parliament should own the local government reform process, including by: • • •

•

setting the terms of reference for the process; setting a timeframe of about 18 months for completion; and committing to implementing the recommendations without material modification.

TasCOSS would want to ensure there is extensive consultation and community engagement throughout this reform process, including in setting the terms of reference.

49. The process should be undertaken by an expert panel and supported by an appropriately resourced secretariat.

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TasCOSS agrees that a proper reform process must be appropriately resourced to undertake extensive consultation and community engagement. The appointment of the expert panel must include community services industry representation.

50. The process must be designed to deliver a reform outcome capable of being implemented and include detailed recommendations on implementation and transitional arrangements.

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TasCOSS agrees that any reform outcomes must be implementable and have broad community support.

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Strategic Risk Management 51. The State Government should develop a structured process for identifying highconsequence risks to which the community is exposed and develop and implement mitigating strategies for these risks.

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One of the key learnings from COVID-19 is the lack of preparedness for a global health pandemic that can shutdown countries, economies and communities. TasCOSS supports a proactive and pre-emptive approach to risk management.

52. Surge capacity arrangements need to be identified and tested as a part of disaster planning.

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An important element in strategic planning is understanding the key components of surge capacity, by identifying the partners, triggers for involvement, roles and responsibilities, and arrangements for deploying resources.

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