Government Services and Tax policy

General
Date: September 2005

Introduction

The HSU is part of a union movement which has a long history of campaigning for the maintenance and improvement of the social wage, which includes public services.

The HSU represents members who work in industries which are central to delivering essential health and community services to the Australian community.

A key priority for the HSU in the coming period is the restoration, protection and promotion of health and community services for all Australians.

The HSU believes that essential health and community services should be funded through a progressive taxation system based on the principle of all Australians paying their fair share of taxes. The HSU rejects the principle of user pays for health and community services which discriminates against those in the community who have the least capacity to pay.

1. Taxation Policy

The HSU is committed to a taxation system which is progressive and ensures that all Australians pay their fair share.

The HSU believes that increased taxation revenue should be used to improve the quality and range of publicly provided health and community services delivered to the Australian community.

The HSU supports a transparent system of public tax collection . The trend towards user pay based de facto taxation, such as Medicare co-payments, HECS, is unfair and regressive.

The HSU believes that more should be done to ease the taxation burden on wage earners. The HSU believes that consideration should be given to further broadening of the taxation base and that any increased revenue from taxation should be used to fund social wage initiatives such as improved public health services, aged care, public housing, environmental standards and public education.

The HSU reasserts its commitment to Medicare as a universal health insurance system for all Australians. The HSU believes that Medicare should be extended to other health services such as Dental and Allied Health Professional services and to this end the HSU supports a moderate increase in the Medicare levy.

2. Government Services

The HSU is concerned that the social infrastructure of the nation requires further investment.

The HSU notes that recent policy changes has shifted the emphasis of the provision of Government services from a needs basis to a user pays approach. The HSU rejects this approach and calls on Governments to reverse this trend.

The HSU supports the public provision of essential public services, including health and aged care. The HSU opposes privatisation and outsourcing of Government services.

2.1 Health

Overwhelmingly, the community values public provision of health services and the maintenance of Medicare. The HSU supports extra funding being spent on improving healthcare as a first priority for federal and state governments.

The HSU supports a modest increase to the Medicare levy to further strengthen Medicare and to provide for an expansion of eligible services such as Dentistry and Allied Health professional services.

The HSU calls on the Federal and State Governments to work together to improve the public health system. The HSU rejects the current situation in which health care is treated as a political football by opposing parties.

2.2 Aged Care

The HSU expresses its serious concern at the state of aged care in Australia. Care standards are falling and employees working in the sector are under increased pressure to deliver services in increasingly stressful work environments.

The HSU considers aged care to be a high priority and calls on the Federal Government to increase funding significantly to address falling standards. In particular funding should be matched to appropriate staffing levels to ensure high standards of care.

Funding mechanisms should ensure that sufficient, appropriately skilled staff are employed to guarantee quality care.

The HSU also believes that funding should be indexed to allow for workers in the industry to engage in Enterprise Bargaining to ensure that wages in the industry keep pace with those in the Acute care sector, thus alleviating the current difficulties faced by Aged care providers in attracting and retaining skilled staff.

2.3 Community Services

The HSU recognises the important role played by community services organisations in providing essential services to the Australian community. The HSU notes that these organisations are under increasing pressure due to increased demand and inadequate funding.

The HSU calls on federal and State governments to fund community service organisations to meet the increasing demands on their services. The HSU is particularly concerned that workers in community service organisations are often the lowest paid workers and funding is required to address this inequity.

2.4 Education

The HSU calls for additional funding to be provided for additional tertiary education places for Nursing, Allied Health Professional, Health Science and other health related professions. Further, the HSU calls for a restoration of the principle of access to higher education on the basis of merit not the ability to pay.

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© 2003 Health Services Union (HSU)
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