Expiry of the Social and Community Services Pay Equity Special Account
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The CIE was commissioned by Family and Relationship Services Australia (FRSA) to consider the impact of possible reduced funding levels to the FRSA membership base from 1 July 2021 due to the expiry of the Social and Community Services (SACS) Special Account.
The 2012 Fair Work Australia Equal Remuneration Order (ERO) allowed for a progressive increase in award rates of pay for all levels within the SACS Modern Award 2010. In response to the ERO, the Commonwealth Government announced the creation of a Special Account to cover the increase in wage costs faced by service providers funded by Commonwealth Government grants. Ongoing challenges have been presented to the FRSA membership base since the creation of the Special Account:
the calculation of the SACS supplementation payments was applied at an industry average level across all government grants, irrespective of the real wage costs faced by individual organisations
supplementation payments were designed with a sunset clause, that is, payments are to cease at the end of the phase-in period of the Equal Remuneration Order, with the legislation silent on what was to happen after the Special Account ceased in 2021
Commonwealth government programs implemented after the 2012 determination allowed for the ERO supplementation to be included in baseline funding amounts and therefore, ERO funding for these programs will continue past 2021.
Our analysis of the impact of the Special Account expiry is based on a sector wide survey of the FRSA membership base.
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