As we head towards the next State election on 20 March 2010 it is time to consider our individual roles in shaping the future of South Australia. In these days of financial turmoil and increasing social disadvantage it is important to remain focused on the positive aspects of our community and the great developments and progress we have made as a society.
Each and every South Australian has the right and the ability to have some influence on the democratic cycle of government. Historically, South Australia has implemented innovative approaches to all manner of social challenges: the first place in the world to allow female candidates to stand for election to Parliament, and among the first to allow women to vote.
As our politicians begin to consider their priorities and start constructing their platforms (which they will use to entice your vote) they are at their most receptive, so now is the best time to influence their thinking. With the right policies we can secure the long term future of our State and make the people the foundation stone of policy in South Australia. SACOSS is committed to long term preventative policy that builds strength and inclusion to ensure that the prosperity of our State is shared with all South Australians.
This website can help you to develop your own strategy and actions in the lead up to the election in March 2010
Read the series of papers that outline some principles for the development of policy in areas of key importance to us and our members. Follow the Read link for more on this.
Take some action. It is amazing how great you can feel once you have expressed your opinion, so write a letter to the editor , write to your local politician, talk to your friends and neighbors about your priorities for developing our society. Follow the Do link for some tips.
Find out which organisations are developing other positions and contact them for further information. Follow the Contacts link on the sidebar.
Confused by the jargon? Look at the Jargon Buster and submit the jargon you would like us to bust for you, or bust some yourself and add them via Comments!
Get the facts Check out Sausage Droppers (they’re better than a BBQ Stopper!) and download some Fact Sheets to get the dot points on issues of relevance to SACOSS.
Comment We welcome and encourage your contributions to any of the sections of our website, but please be respectful and constructive of other people’s contributions.
Comments will be moderated and SACOSS reserves the right to remove any offensive or disrespectful entries.
Congratulations to all involved at SACOSS in developing this excellent initiative and the easily accessible resources provided. We are particularly pleased to see SACOSS providing the lead to others in the use of social media to bring about social change. May sausages drop all over SA!
Doug Jacquier
CEO, Connecting Up Australia
This is a nifty bit of work by SACOSS. Congratulations. It looks like having great potential. The NGO Alochol and Other Drugs (AOD) Sector in South Australia looks forward to participating in the on line effort to create a better state and servcies, especially for all the individuals, families and communities affected by AOD and the many complexities that go with it.
Might I point out that globally, most sausages are dropped at functions becuase of the overindulgence in AOD rather that gob smacking insights about the state of SA!!! Lets hope this website reverses that trend and that more sausages succumb to the gravity of wit, sparks of knowledge and argument.
Well done SACOSS!!!!
This is fantastic work. All we have to do now is to convince the stubborn Government(s) to take notice, and actually put money into rectifying some of these problems, instead of only doing what THEY feel like i.e. less trams and more money for these areas.
Mark Streater
Peer Worker/Advocate
Hey, I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say GREAT blog!…..I”ll be checking in on a regularly now….Keep up the good work!
- Marc Shaw
A development of a better funded, more proactive mental health strategy may also assist an over all anti poverty strategy.
Well done SACOSS.
It was pleasing to see Ross Womersley’s Editorial in the December Bumper Edition of SACOSS News, supporting the need for prevention and early intervention. This is a key issue in the Alcohol and Other Drugs sector and one that needs a much greater allocation from governments at all level if we are to lower the burden on the health budget.
Governments must see this as an investment with proven returns. Strengthening such approaches keeps more people out of the acute and costly end of services.
The NGO sector plays a signifacnt role in this area but unfortunately it is also grossly underfunded and often runs much of its operation on good will. If you are en existing politician or a budding one, the SA Network of Drug and Alcohol Servcies encourages you to find genuine courage and put some muscle into imcreasing government committment to the NGO sector.