Centacare questions welfare report motives

Centacare Australia has seriously questioned the integrity of a new report from a new Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) report that attacks the way Australia’s churches deliver welfare services that use government money.

Executive Secretary of Centacare Australia Toby O’Connor says the report, Playing with Fire, adds nothing to the debate on church-state relations: "It seems the CIS is actively seeking to exclude churches from any involvement in providing services to the Australian community.

"I feel CIS wants to replace churches with for-profit providers whose main aim is the bottom line – more dividends to shareholders rather than reinvest in local communities.

"As a member of the CIS I am unhappy about its methodology in reviewing the involvement of church agencies in the delivery of social services funded by government. I am disappointed the Centre did not consult the social service agencies of the churches before drawing such sweeping, ill-informed conclusions."

Throughout the 1990s the social policy arm of the Catholic Church has been arguing against Australian governments abdicating their role of delivering social services to their citizens to the non-government sector.

The CIS has been a constant critic of these arguments, preferring to unleash unfettered free-market forces to determine how these services can be delivered without government. It is unclear whether the CIS has difficulties with state-provided services or the welfare provided by the churches. Both seem to be regarded as a ‘problem of welfarism’.

Mr O’Connor said: "CIS’s argument that churches’ involvement in government-funded activities compromises principles cannot be substantiated. The report failed to show that the churches’ long-standing involvement in delivering services including welfare, education, health or migrant services have compromised the Church’s principles or the delivery of these services.

"On the contrary, the Church continues to maintain its integrity and independent advocacy on behalf of all disadvantaged Australians.

"The report’s conclusions about the experiences of Catholic social service agencies overseas are damned by experiences in other countries. For example, Catholic Charities in the United States, the largest provider of social services in that country, would not agree that using state and federal government money has compromised its advocacy work with the legislatures."

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