Anglicare Victoria has welcomed the Federal Government's initiative to set up a Community Response Task Force to inform its ongoing actions designed to stimulate the economy and protect the most vulnerable members of the community.

Anglicare Victoria CEO, Dr Ray Cleary, says the task force proves the Rudd Government is serious about taking swift and well informed action but has warned against further short term fixes such as cash handouts.

"While the pre-Christmas handouts relieved some pressure being felt by pensioners and low income families, the time has come to invest in long term strategies to generate training and employment opportunities," said Dr Cleary.

"The government needs to consider a range of options such as subsidising apprenticeships and other skill development initiatives to help employers keep staff and ensure Australia does not face a skills shortage when the economy picks up again."

Dr Cleary has also called on the Federal Government to boost services such as financial counselling and emergency aid to cope with increased demand.

"Welfare agencies such as Anglicare Victoria have seen a steady increase in demand for financial counselling, food parcels and emergency accommodation over the past six months and we expect things to get much worse for the next 12 months or longer.

"Our financial counsellors have waiting lists up to six weeks long and, in some cases, we have been forced to put limits on the amount of food available to each family per week," said Dr Cleary.

"Our number one concern is that children should not suffer physically or emotionally due to the economic crisis.

"It is vital that Government policy, at both a State and Federal level, is designed to provide a robust safety net to protect against immediate hardship while long term investment strategies bring hope and opportunity for a relatively swift recovery."

The Community Response Task Force will meet with Rudd Government representatives again in about a month's time.

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