VET News

Disability Support Workers and Charity Organisations Play Important Roles in Australia's Economic Recovery

Whilst COVID-19 has affected us all over the past few months, recent publications show how disability support workers have been impacted and how charities can play an important role in our economic recovery.

Researchers from the Disability and Health unit at the University of Melbourne and UNSW Canberra conducted an online survey of 357 disability support workers (DSWs) between late May and June 2020 about working during the COVID-19 pandemic. An overview of findings relating to physical distancing, COVID-19 infection control training, purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), COVID-19 testing, support provided, and financial and psychological stresses experienced by workers are summarised along with recommendations arising from the findings.

Those surveyed were asked about:

• Physical distancing
• COVID-19 infection control training
• Access to and purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Testing for COVID-19
• Who they worked with and where they provided support
• Financial and psychological stresses 

A report presenting an overview of findings has been published making eight recommendations based on the results of those findings.  Two additional fact sheets showing the statistical outcomes of the survey have also been provided to support these recommendations. 

A second survey will take place in August 2020. 

Access the report and fact sheets below:

• Disabilty Support Workers: The Forgotten Workforce in COVID-19
• Fact Sheet 1
• Fact Sheet 2

Right now, the Australian economy is in crisis and the Commonwealth Government has been clear that it sees employment as the key to a return to economic growth.  Policy decisions need to be made to ensure the maintenance of existing jobs, to stimulate growth, and to provide financial support to those that will need it most. 

As a major employer, charities will be a key part of the solution. 

The COVID-19 crisis has shaken the charities sector and the livelihood of many beneficiaries, clients, employees and volunteers. Charities are managing the confluence of service disruption, falling income, rising demand and higher operating costs. 

Before the crisis, charities were operating on increasingly thin margins, and don’t have a big buffer of reserves to draw on. They face many financial constraints specific to their regulatory, operational and cultural environment. We know that charity revenues don’t recover from downturns the same way that business revenues do, and they can’t easily access the resources they need to rebuild and transition to a new normal. 

The Commonwealth Government’s JobKeeper wage subsidy has been supporting many charities and their employees. In July 2020, the Government announced that the subsidy would continue beyond September, but with a number of changes. 

The types of jobs that charities offer are also going to be critical to economic recovery.  We all need Australia’s charities to make it through to the other side of this crisis in a financially viable position, and in the long run to be more financially sustainable than they came into it and Governments, philanthropists and charities need to work in partnership to ensure that this happens. 

Social Ventures Australia's third report in their Partners in Recovery Series entitled Taken for granted? Charities' role in our economic recovery focuses on the role that charities play in our economic recovery and shows that JobKeeper alone will not be enough to ensure the viability of the charity sector.  This report recommends an integrated package of six reforms under three directions.

For further information you can access the report here.

Date posted Aug 6, 2020