Annual Report

CEO's report

At QCOSS, we have a big, hairy, audacious goal of equality, opportunity and wellbeing for all Queenslanders. We’re optimistic, because to realise this goal, we have to be. Our 2023-24 annual report shows that optimism in action during a tough year.  

In anticipation of the Queensland State Election, we ran two statewide Town Hall tours to make sure we deeply understood our members’ priorities and communities. 

We heard how Queenslanders are being forced to skip medical appointments, struggling to afford groceries and sweltering through hot summers to save money on power bills. In a state like Queensland, which in 2023 recorded the highest budget surplus of any Australian state or territory ever, this shouldn’t be happening. 

Our first annual QCOSS Community Sector Survey, which received over 1,300 responses, found that our sector was facing unprecedented demand while struggling to retain staff because of underfunding and short-term contracts. 

The community sector told us loudly and clearly that they wanted a fairer share of Queensland’s wealth to go towards ending the housing crisis, cost of living relief, support for families and children, investment in youth services, progressing women’s equality, and sustainable community services.

We campaigned hard for these priorities through our Make Queensland Fair (MQF) campaign and Town of Nowhere campaign. And we started to shift the strength of the state’s balance sheet into the hands of Queenslanders.

The work QCOSS, our campaign partners, members and the sector at large have done this year helped to ensure the Queensland Government delivered the state budget Queenslanders need. Energy and food relief promised to keep the lights on and food on the table and in lunchboxes. Cheap public transport and a freezing of government fees and charges were also welcome. The Queensland Government delivered a 10-year housing plan with ambitious social housing targets, more funding for frontline services and better protections for renters. And Best Practice Industry Conditions for the social service sector will deliver five-year contracts and adequate indexation. 

The other major development was that in April, we were contracted by the Queensland Government to establish an independent Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) Peak Body for Queensland. As the DFV Peak we will champion frontline DFV prevention, response and recovery services across the state, including shelters, perpetrator intervention services and women’s health and wellbeing services. 

While all this has been going on, our daily research, policy, advocacy, community engagement work has not stopped. We’ve delivered workshops to hundreds of community service sector workers and organisations around the state in-person and online. We’ve made dozens of submissions that have positively impacted laws and policies in Queensland. We’ve helped organisations stay open by assisting with recertification processes.

Most importantly, we’ve taken the time to celebrate you, our sector, through our sold-out Queensland Community Impact Awards and sold-out Queensland Budget Breakfast. 

None of this would have happened without the people of QCOSS. The amazing, funny, clever people who keep Queensland's peak body for community services moving and make it all happen. My thanks to them and to our sector for constantly working to make Queensland a better place for all of us.