Community sector seeks greater support from next state government to help Tasmanians in need

The state’s community services sector says it needs greater support from government if it is to continue delivering frontline support to the Tasmanians who need them most.

Carers Tasmania CEO Samantha Fox speaks to the media in Hobart on Friday, June 27, 2025.

The state’s community services industry says it needs greater support from governments if it is to continue delivering frontline support to the Tasmanians who need them most.

A coalition of more than a dozen Tasmanian community service organisations has called on all political parties to address budget uncertainty and to enter into a genuine partnership to better support service delivery.

They say that reforms such as longer-term agreements and better indexation of funding are needed to ensure they can continue to deliver services such as emergency food relief, domestic, family and sexual violence support, children and family services, mental health assistance and services that support people experiencing homelessness.

The industry coalition has launched a campaign in the lead up to the 2025 Tasmanian election calling on candidates and parties to “prioritise all Tasmanians” and say how they would work to build a sustainable community services industry to meet the current and future needs of all Tasmanians.

TasCOSS CEO Adrienne Picone said greater commitment and understand was needed from all political parties.

“We’re hearing every day from Tasmanians about the pain they’re experiencing from the cost of living crisis and this has really increased the demand of community services.

“But community services organisations are experiencing a cost of doing business crisis.

“With that increased demand means they need to provide more and stronger services to Tasmanians, but they are significantly and historically under resourced and undervalued.”

TasCOSS CEO Adrienne Picone speaks to the media in Hobart on Friday, June 27, 2025.

The community sector is the largest and fastest growing industry in Tasmania — its 28,000 highly-skilled workers and 46,000 volunteers support Tasmanians and add $1.9bln annually to the state’s economy. But the sector’s contribution continues to poorly acknowledged.

“We saw in this most recent budget that there was very little investment for community services,” Ms Picone said.

“We saw a lot of investment in infrastructure, but very little investment in Tasmanians and their wellbeing.

“This is an opportunity for all of our candidates and our political parties to really focus and be serious about investing in Tasmanians wellbeing and improving outcomes for Tasmanians.

Samantha Fox from Carers Tasmania said there were 87,000 carers in Tasmania who were not being properly recognised or supported for their contribution.

“They’re the backbone of our community: they’re supporting people to live at home, and taking pressure off the Tasmanian health sector, the Tasmanian disability and aged care services.

“Every day, Tasmanian carers are doing it tough. They need our support. They need our recognition. They need our they need to be valued in the system.”

The coalition includes the Tasmanian Council of Social Service; Mental Health Council Tasmania; Council on the Ageing Tasmania, Shelter Tasmania, Youth Network of Tasmania, Neighbourhood Houses Tasmania; Volunteering Tasmania; Carers Tasmania, Multicultural Council of Tasmania, Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Council Tasmania; Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare; The Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Alliance; Health Consumers Tasmania; Palliative Care Tasmania and the Tasmanian Association of State School Organisations.

Originally published as Community sector seeks greater support from next state government to help Tasmanians in need