Australia can deliver tax reform and an equitable safety net

Strengthening the revenue base is a vital step in ensuring Australia has the capacity to fund the services and improved living standards the community wants and expects, UnitingCare National Director Lin Hatfield Dodds said today.

“We are a fair and decent society. We can align economic growth, fiscal discipline and equitable public policy. We can operate above day-to-day politics and think strategically, for the common good,” Ms Hatfield Dodds said.

“UnitingCare Australia endorses the Business Council of Australia’s call for starting a process of comprehensive tax reform with the goal of improving the efficiency and stability of the tax system so it raises sufficient revenue and is focused on sustainable growth.

“As BCA Chief Executive Jennifer Westacott has said, improved budget discipline is critical to our capacity to weather economic shocks and invest in the infrastructure, education, health and social safety net we all want for the future.”

UnitingCare Australia is one of the nation’s largest providers of social services, via a network employing 35,000 staff, supported by 24,000 volunteers, to one in eight Australians each year in every state and territory at 1,300 sites across remote, regional, rural, and urban areas.

“People are increasingly coming to us with complex needs. The population is ageing. The demands facing the nation are challenging but we are a prosperous country. Australia can position itself to deliver the kind of economic growth and improved living standards the community wants and expects,” Ms Hatfield Dodds said.

“We also need to look at what governments and business can do to create jobs and job pathways for young people, for middle-aged people and older people who are locked out of work. Investing even more in support for people to find a job and keep that job is critically important,” Ms Hatfield Dodds said.

“The community sector, business and government can work together, as they have in the past, to increase productivity and participation, and to ensure that the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people are not left behind.”