Advocacy

The Society has a long history of advocating for affordable housing, for people who are homeless or facing homelessness and on behalf of Australians who are renting.

Although a very wealthy society, Australia is now an unequal one. At the core of this unequal distribution of wealth is housing. The wealthiest section of the Australian population is those people aged over 65 years. Much of this wealth is attributed to home and property ownership.

We support the passing of the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Safety Net) Bill 2023.

The St Vincent de Paul Society made a submission 2023 to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Philanthropy.

We support proposals by the Australian Government to encourage philanthropy. However, there are many levers operating in the not-for-profit sector and getting the balance right is critical. A change in one area has a knock-on effect in others.

We do not believe that philanthropy should be treated as an opportunity to ‘replace’ Government funding, particularly with respect to the delivery of social services.