Pro bono assistance for Taskforce on Care Costs

A team from the Freehills’ Sydney Employee Relations group has been providing ongoing pro bono assistance to the Taskforce on Care Costs (TOCC).

TOCC is a strategic alliance between a number of businesses and organisations including ANZ, the ASX, Freehills, Jones Lang La Salle, McDonald’s Australia, Qantas, Telstra, Toyota, and non-government organisations. The aim of TOCC is to investigate the financial cost of care and how it impacts workforce participation, and to promote reforms within a policy framework of financial sustainability, equity and choice.

Glenn Fredericks, Lauren Sharp and Deborah McMahon assisted TOCC for over two years in conducting research into the cost of care in Australia. On 24 February 2005, TOCC released its original policy research report entitled, Creating Choice: Employment and the Cost of Care. The research confirmed the direct and causal connection between the cost of care and workforce participation decisions, and that Australia was not well positioned to manage the work/cost of care dynamic. TOCC launched this report at a function hosted by Freehills in Sydney.

In August 2006, TOCC released an interim review of its 2005 report which outlined its latest research into the cost of care. In particular, the 2006 report sets out the steps that have been taken by the federal government in order to redress the issues raised in the 2005 report and to provide a snapshot of the current cost of care/workforce participation landscape in Australia. The research shows that Australia is in the grip of a work/cost of care crisis and without strong leadership this situation will not improve.

On 18 October 2006, TOCC launched its final report entitled: Where to now? The report was jointly launched by the chair of TOCC, Juliet Bourke, together with the CEO of Westpac, David Morgan and CEO of Carers Australia, Joan Hughes simultaneously in Canberra and Sydney. The report was formally received on behalf of government by the Minister for Ageing, the Honourable Santo Santoro.

Based on micro-simulation modelling and the results of the taskforce's random sample national survey of 1,000 Australians with caring responsibilities, the final report proposes a range of financial solutions to address the work/cost of care challenge within a policy framework of (i) financial sustainability; (ii) equity; and (iii) choice.

For more information concerning TOCC, please visit TOCC’s website or contact Rena Marguerite on +61 2 9225 5355.