Fuel Security Update#3

NCOSS continues to advocate for our social and community service sector and the communities we support during the fuel security uncertainty, and now what’s broadening to a food security and cost-of-living crisis.

Recent NCOSS Advocacy 

We continue to engage with NSW Government agencies, directly with MPs, and with the Commonwealth Government in partnership with ACOSS and the national COSS network.

On Wednesday 6 May we convened a fuel security briefing for NSW MPs at Parliament House. CEOs from NSW State Peaks were also invited.

• Regional and rural MPs were the largest representation at the briefing including Philip Donato, Member for Orange, Clayton Barr, Member for Cessnock, and Roy Butler, Member for Barwon.
• Also attending was Aileen MacDonald, AMO MLC, and Natasha Maclaren-Jones, Shadow Minister for Families and Communities, Shadow Minister for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. There were representatives from various offices, including the Minister for Families and Communities.
• We shared the impacts our service providers and the local communities they support are experiencing. We highlighted the immediate financial pressure, service cutbacks, and increased psychosocial impacts on our workforce.
• We highlighted the compounding impacts on individuals and families, especially across regional and rural NSW, where long distance travel is forcing choices between attending medical appointments, buying groceries or getting kids to school.
• We raised the impact of the drought on farmer’s decisions in light of rising diesel prices and the shortage of fertiliser to de-stock their crops and the flow-on impact of this.
• We raised the long-tail impacts for communities from increasing isolation, general and mental health, food shortages, homelessness and increased domestic and family violence.
• We also discussed potential actions and policy changes the government can implement to help ease the pressure and stress including contractual flexibility and increasing the value of the IPTAAs subsidy.

On Friday 8 May we participated in a second briefing with a range of NSW Government agencies.

• We reiterated similar messages to those shared at the MP Briefing, including the importance of taking action now and targeting it to vulnerable communities. We particularly emphasised the challenges faced in regional, rural and remote NSW.
• We discussed how the NSW Government is co-ordinating its approach with the Federal Government through National Cabinet

On Monday 11 May we convened our second CEO State Peaks Fuel Security briefing to provide an update on the evolving fuel security situation and coordinate a unified sector response.

• The primary focus of the session was to provide an overview of advocacy and direct engagement with MPs, and Government representation that has been undertaken to date and to discuss next steps and emerging issues.
• Agencies are urged to engage directly with their contract managers to negotiate flexibility regarding service delivery and KPIs. There will be no blanket rulings; solutions must be brokered on a case-by-case basis.
• For agencies experiencing difficulties or rigidity during these negotiations, please escalate these to fuelsecurity@ncoss.org.au so we can support you in raising them formally during our interagency meetings

Tools For You  

We’ve updated the Fuel Security Key Messages document to help you and our sector speak in a united voice.

If you’re interested in sharing your story with the media or government officials, or you have questions/require support, please email us at fuelsecurity@ncoss.org.au.

Next Steps 

NCOSS will continue to provide the NSW Government with evidence-based recommendations on how best to support our sector. We will issue further updates as the situation develops.