Anti-Poverty Week 2008: Social inclusion in turbulent times
“The federal government’s commitment to promoting genuine social inclusion is all the more important as the country faces a tough economic future. It is not a luxury just for when the nation is experiencing the low unemployment and strong economy of recent times.”
That is the message from Anglicare Australia agencies, including ANGLICARE Sydney, as the organisation today released its seventh annual State of the Family Report, ‘Creative Tension’. 
‘Creative Tension’ refers to the natural tension between economic and social policy, especially in a difficult financial climate.
The report, released to coincide with the start of Anti-Poverty Week, examines the prospects for genuine social exclusion in Australia in the context of today’s precarious economy.
Focussing on workforce participation, housing affordability and early childhood development as three areas central to the promotion of social inclusion, the report also considers ways in which the current official aspirations to social inclusion may be given greater substance.
ANGLICARE Sydney CEO, Peter Kell, says that a genuine commitment to social inclusion requires a broader perspective on workforce participation, which is not limited strictly to market-based activity, and assists those on the margins who would never otherwise find employment.
“The development of intermediate labour markets and social enterprises as well as the expansion of the voluntary sector would enable many to find meaningful employment not directly linked to market-based activity”.
Mr Kell says the encouragement by successive governments to see housing as a repository of wealth and an investment option has resulted in a speculative housing bubble that has pushed many out of the housing market altogether.
“Now is the time to rethink the values on which government and society rest and reassert the primacy of housing as shelter and a central means of ensuring social inclusion”.
The commitment of the federal government to universal early childhood development programs is to be commended, says Mr. Kell, but mustn’t come at a cost to the most disadvantaged.
“The desire for universal early childhood development programs for pre-schoolers mustn’t take away from the essential need to provide specialised and targeted early childhood programs for disadvantaged and at-risk children, coupled with health monitoring and training parents how to interact with and teach their children”.
‘Creative Tensions’: The State of the Family 2008 can be downloaded at www.anglicare.asn.au
