CEO Speech 2024
Thank you all for joining us tonight to celebrate the amazing support we’ve received over the past year. There are so many people and organisations I want to thank but I’ll get to that.
But first, I want you to imagine a scene. Picture a woman hanging by one hand from the edge of a cliff. She looks down, terrified, at the abyss below.
Now picture someone at the bottom of that cliff. They are strong and they call up to her: “It’s okay, I’ve got you!” The woman lets go, and they catch her safely, setting her down.
This person is Centrelink.
And this is what our social security system should look like.
But now, imagine this has changed. This time, Centrelink below has a rule book. They look up and say, “It says here there’s a man up there to help you.” Then Centrelink closes the book and walks away.
The woman looks up. There’s no man there. Or worse, there is a man - but he pushes her off the cliff.
Another person rushes over, arms outstretched, and catches her.
They say to Centrelink “Hey, you’ve read the rule book wrong. You should have caught her”. Or they say to Centrelink: “Your rule book is letting women fall off a cliff. You need to re-write it.”
Let’s call that second person Welfare Rights Centre.
Amazingly - and this does happen - Centrelink listens and says, “You might have a point. We’ll change the rules.”
But imagine now that it is Welfare Rights Centre hanging from the cliff. They’re surrounded by others who are also falling. Welfare Rights tries to hold on and help everyone round them. But it’s too much. Just as Welfare Rights is about to fall to the ground, many hands reach out to catch them.
Those many hands are all of our supporters. They are you here tonight. Your support makes us stronger. It allows us to keep fighting for change.
The woman hanging from that cliff could be anyone
- a student from a war torn country denied Youth Allowance
- someone with chronic pain denied the Disability Support Pension
- an Aboriginal person at risk of eviction because of a cancelled payment
- or a woman escaping violence denied support because Centrelink assumes her abuser is financially supporting her
With every case, we learn and use our experience to argue for better laws, policies, and procedures. We collaborate with our peak, Economic Justice Australia, to publicly advocate for change. And I’m really proud to announce that today I was elected Chair of EJA.
But as our Casework team and volunteers know, we’re overwhelmed by demand.
To meet it, we need more hands. This includes more skilled community workers to help catch those at risk. Ecstra Foundation has been the backbone of our Community Worker Training Program. Thanks to their support, we’ve trained thousands of community workers over the past 5 years.
With support from Alinta Energy, Mercy Foundation, ANZ Foundation, CAGES and the Give Together Giving Circle we’ve connected with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations.
With the support of Walter & Eliza Hall Trust and Thyne Reid Foundation, we have helped women experiencing financial abuse.
With FRRR’s support, we’ve reached regional communities impacted by natural disasters and built referral networks there.
With pro bono support from HWL Ebsworth Lawyers and Thompson Cooper Lawyers we are able to answer more calls from the thousands of people trying to contact us for help.
Pro bono support from Hall & Wilcox and from Gilbert + Tobin has led to the establishment of specialist Clinics which have greatly increased our capacity to help some of our most vulnerable clients. Tonight’s event is generously hosted by Gilbert + Tobin, and we thank them.
Of course, I must acknowledge our core funding support from the NSW and Federal Governments, without which we couldn’t exist. But as we know from the Save Community Legal Centres campaign, the CLC sector is hanging from a cliff too.
Right now, governments are negotiating a new five-year funding agreement. We know the funding offered won’t be enough to meet the demand for legal assistance. That’s why we’re pushing for a separate funding stream for CLCs specialising in social security law.
This funding stream will make sure the lessons from the Robodebt Royal Commission are learned. But even if we secure this additional funding, it won’t start until July next year.
Until then, we rely on our supporters to help us meet the needs of the vulnerable people who turn to us. You make Welfare Rights Centre resilient. You give us the strength to support our clients and to push for change.
I want to thank our entire team at Welfare Rights Centre. Your work, commitment to our clients, and dedication make us who we are.
A big thank you to our volunteers here tonight. As a former welfare rights volunteer myself, I am so grateful for your time and commitment.
Thank to our Board members, who generously volunteer their time. Our Board is essential for ensuring that Welfare Rights Centre stays true to its vision for a fair, just, accessible and adequate social security system.
We’re lucky to have Board representatives from two major unions, the NSW Teachers Federation and the NSW Nurses & Midwives Association. Our Trade Union Program, with its five union affiliates, has been crucial to us, especially during this past year.
Lastly, I want to remember Percy Allen, a long-time supporter who recently passed. Percy Allen was a long-time head of NSW Treasury with great reformist zeal. Early on he recognised that it made financial sense for the NSW Government to support Welfare Rights and in the early 1980s helped secure our first government grant. And he was still supporting us just this year, helping us advocate to the NSW Government. We will miss him greatly.
And now, I’d like to welcome our next speaker, Grace Stals, a lawyer at Allens, a former client of the Welfare Rights Centre and a committed advocate for survivors of gendered violence and homelessness.
Thank you, Grace, for sharing your story with our supporters tonight.
Katherine Boyle
CEO, Welfare Rights Centre
12 November 2024
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