Ross Womersley, Executive Director, and Dr Greg Ogle, Senior Policy & Research Analyst
South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS)
During Anti-Poverty Week 2011, the SACOSS Cost of Living Summit brought together nearly 100 leading thinkers and practitioners from business, university, government and the community sector to address the issues covered by SACOSS's quarterly Cost of Living Updates: housing, utilities, food, income (minimum wage and income support), health, and transport costs.
The Summit outlined some key concerns about cost of living pressures at a national and state level, as well as the implications of rising prices of necessities for social inclusion and for the vulnerable and disadvantaged in South Australia.
Participants took part in facilitated parallel workshops on each cost of living topic, putting forward key initiatives at federal, state and community level that they believed would make a substantial contribution to relieving cost of living pressures.
This report records all initiatives proposed by attendees to the Summit, noting the key themes that emerged from discussion and identifies the ideas that gained consensus from all stakeholders present in the workshops.
