ACOSS National Conference 2015 Program
ADVANCING THE COMMON GOOD
Day 1 | 25 June 2015
8:00am
Registration open - Coffee and tea on arrival
9:15 – 9:35
Welcome to ACOSS National Conference 2015
 Welcome to Country
Ann Weldon

Welcome message from ACOSS
Micaela Cronin – President, ACOSS Board

Welcome message from the National Congress of Australia’s First People
Les Malezer, Co-chair National Congress of Australia’s First People
9:35 – 10:55
Linda Tirado Keynote Address and Facilitated Q&A
ACOSS is delighted to welcome Linda Tirado as the conference keynote speaker. Linda
comes to us from the US, where she was attending college and working 2 jobs when she
published online an essay about the poverty trap in America. The essay went viral, and was
then developed into a book called Hand to mouth: The truth about being poor in a
wealthy world. Linda’s Address will be followed by facilitated Q&A and discussion placing
Linda’s themes in a local context.
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Linda Tirado - Author, Media Activist, Journalist
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Chris Dodds - Chair, Telstra Low Measures Assessment Committee
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Geraldine Doogue AO - Journalist Radio and Television Host (Facilitator)
MORNING TEA
11:15
12:30
–
Inequality in Australia
Many people know that global inequality is rising, but who is better off and who is worse off
after 20 years of economic growth in Australia? ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie will present
the findings of the benchmark ACOSS research report– ‘Inequality in Australia’. This research
reveals how income and wealth are distributed across the community. The session will also
explore why inequality matters, and what the Australian population thinks about the fairness
of our tax and transfer systems: who wins, who pays, and how we can create a fairer society?
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Dr Cassandra Goldie – CEO, Australian Council of Social Service
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Fiona Collis - Director, IPSOS Mind and Mood Report, IPSOS Australia
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Marcelle Mogg - CEO, Catholic Social Services Australia
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John Spierings – Executive Officer, Reichstein Foundation (Facilitator)
LUNCH
‘ACTCOSS/SACOSS Independence in the Not-for-Profit Sector Report Launch’
1:15 – 2:15
The Great (Taxation) Debate
Panellists and audience members will debate the statement…
“In order to meet future needs for social security and services, we should raise income taxes
rather than consumption taxes”
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Dr Helen Hodgson - Assoc Professor, Department of Taxation Curtin Law School
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Greg Smith - Chairman of the Commonwealth Grants Commission & Senior Fellow at the
Melbourne Law School
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Michael West - Fairfax Journalist, Former Business Editor, SMH (Adjudicator)
AFTERNOON TEA
2:45 – 4:15
‘Families policy in focus: women, men, caring and paid work’
Families policy is currently in focus with reforms to child care and families payments on the
agenda. This panel will discuss the current challenges to balancing work and caring roles. Can
we find a way through the maze which delivers greater social and gender equity in the
workplace and at home and achieves better outcomes for children?
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Professor Michael Bittman, Professor, School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social
Sciences, UNE
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Professor Deb Brennan –Social Policy and Research Centre
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Julia Davison – CEO, Goodstart Early Learning
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Christine Foreshew, Centre Manager of Yenu Allowah Aboriginal Child & Family Centre
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Professor Barbara Pocock, Researcher & Academic, Founder of Centre for Work and Life
University of South Australia
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Jane Caro – Social Commentator, Writer and Lecturer (Facilitator)
CLOSE
CONFERENCE DINNER – ACOSS and HESTA present the Community Sector Awards
Day 2 | 26 June 2015
8:00
Registration open - Coffee and tea on arrival
9:00 – 9:25
The Hon. Scott Morrison MP, Minister for Social Services,
officially representing the Hon Tony Abbott MP, Prime Minister of Australia.
ACOSS National Conference Program 2015
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9:25 – 10:30
10:35-11:00
Future Directions in Welfare Reform
Welfare policy is at a cross-roads in Australia following a major review of working age
payments in 2014 and a high level of Government interest in the New Zealand welfare
reform experience. In this session, policy experts from Australia and New Zealand will
discuss the Government’s policy agenda, including the opportunities and risks in the current
political environment, objectives and priorities for reform and highlight the lessons we can
learn from the New Zealand experience.
- Catherine Yeomans – CEO, Mission Australia
- Dr Simon Chapple (NZ) – Research Fellow, Dunedin Health and Development Research
Unit
- Patricia Karvelas –Journalist, Presenter, and Commentator ABC Radio National
(Facilitator)
Senator Richard Di Natale, Leader of the Australian Greens
MORNING TEA
11:20 – 11:45
The Hon. Bill Shorten MP – Leader of the Australian Labour Party
11:45 – 12:10
Cassandra Goldie – Keynote Address
Civil Society in Australia
The community sector is as diverse as civil society itself. While this is a great strength, it
can also become a barrier to identifying common goals and building a shared agenda for
action to create the change we want to see in the world. Changes to the way that
governments fund the NFP sector have also weakened our efforts to work with each
other to achieve our common service delivery, policy development and advocacy goals,
with organisations now competing with each other for limited funding and for ‘air space’
for their particular mission.
12:10-1:20
Civil Society in Australia
This session will further explore ideas introduced in the opening keynote including how we
can strengthen and maintain independent civil society to achieve our shared aims as a
community. Participants will be challenged to identify how Australian civil society can work
together to meet shared objectives: to end inequity and injustice; to achieve social,
economic and environmental sustainability; to promote truly participatory democracy; and
to create the conditions for people to live truly decent lives.
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Hugh De Kretser - Executive Director, Human Rights Law Centre
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Amanda Tattersall - Coalition Director and Instigator, Amanda Tattersall
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Les Malezer - Co Chair National Congress of Australia’s First People
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Dr Tessa Boyd Caine – Deputy CEO, Australian Council of Social Service
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Maha Abdo AOM – CEO Muslim United Woman’s Association Inc
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Tim O’Conner – Communications Director, Refugee Council of Australia
ACOSS National Conference Program 2015
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Anton Enus – Co Host, SBS World News (Facilitator)
LUNCH
NCOSS Launch ‘The State of the Community Sector in NSW – 2015’
2:20- 4:00
Jobs of the Future
In response to the recent closure of manufacturing plants, rapid technological change,
declining employment in key industries, a trend towards global outsourcing and recently
slowing economic growth, many people are asking: what will the jobs of the future be?
This session will hear from a range of dynamic speakers who will explore what the world of
work will look like in the future. It will explore the implications of population ageing, digital
disruption and the advances in skills and training needed to ensure disadvantaged job
seekers can compete in a rapidly changing labour market?
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John Buchanan – USYD Business School, Professor and Director in Workplace Research
Centre
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Ged Kearney – President, Australian Council of Trade Union
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Erwin Jackson – Deputy CEO, The Climate Institute
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Phil Edmands – Managing Director, Rio Tinto
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Kate Acheson – Managing Director, Youth Action
Paul Barclay –Journalist, Presenter, Producer., ABC Radio National Big Ideas
CLOSE
ACOSS National Conference Program 2015
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