Coordinated by ACOSS, this comprehensive research project found that Australians and businesses are giving and volunteering more than ever before, contributing more than $11 billion in 2004. An additional $2 billion was provided by 10.5 million Australians who lent their support by participating in raffles, lotteries and other fund-raising events. The number of hours donated...

Proposed changes to the Disability Support Pension would increase hardship for 120,000 people with disabilities, according to this report, without significantly reducing the number of people on social security. The report expresses support for the government's goal of increasing workforce participation for people with disabilities, but argues that this can only be achieved through more...

Lack of funds meant 68 per cent of community services surveyed were not able to help all the people who sought assistanceaccording to this report. The survey found a 6.5 per cent increase in the number of times people were turned away from a community service in 2003-04 compared to the previous year. Surveyed organisations...

Many of the arguments used to justify the crackdown on disability pensions are false or misleading, argues this report. It shows it is not easy to get the Disability Support Pension (DSP), and that the doubling of the number of DSP recipients over the past 15 years is due to a range of factors

This paper introduces the Giving Australia project, a collaborative effort led by ACOSS, and presents a summary of key primary sources of data on philanthropy in Australia. The Giving Australia project is an initiative of the Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership, and is being coordinated by the Australian Council of Social Service in collaboration with...