CHRISTIE DOWNS COMMUNITY HOUSE

Ms THOMPSON (Reynell) (15:50): I am somewhat taken aback to speak after that tirade and innuendo. I know nothing about the situation in Burnside, but I know that that tirade of innuendo was disappointing.

I want to speak about happy things, and that is the Christie Downs Community House and the fact that it has developed a new website and taken on a new logo to reflect the contribution it makes to the community and the role it plays in the life of Christie Downs.

Last Friday, I was very privileged to chair the annual general meeting, and I extend my congratulations to Karen Christensen, the ongoing chair, and all other members of the board on their election; and to Allison Angus, the community development officer, for the excellent work that she does in maintaining a strong and vibrant community centre, working with well over 50 volunteers to make the community centre somewhere that is important to that neighbourhood.

I also draw people's attention to the important discussion paper issued by the minister for employment and training entitled 'Skills for All', in which a new role for community and neighbourhood centres is canvassed. I fully support the notion of extending the role that community centres can play in our community in breaking down social isolation and improving health outcomes; but, particularly, in engaging people in recognising the skills that they have and assisting people to rectify some of their most basic skills problems in an area that is very supportive and encouraging.

Like all the community centres in my area, Christie Downs offers literacy and numeracy programs, both for English-first-language people and English-as-a-second-language speakers. These cost $2 per class and, while supervised by someone with expertise in the area, are conducted by volunteers who have training to support people's learning. In particular, they support people's confidence, their sense of wellbeing and their sense of having the capacity to learn and improve skills that they have often been embarrassed about not really having.

Another important program is the learner driver program, which assists particularly young people who have reading difficulties and who are not really confident or easy learners to take on the important social skill of passing their learner's test. The isolation people in our community experience when they are not able to drive is really quite sad. It applies to older people who lose their licences or feel uncomfortable with their ability to drive, but it also applies to younger people who need extra support to be confident and capable drivers. The community centres, while only taking it as far as people successfully completing the learner's permit, offer young people in particular a good grounding in road knowledge, road courtesy and the skills that it takes to be a good driver in our community.

Computing is another area again offered by most community centres that introduces people to the important world of the internet and being able to communicate with their grandchildren often through email and sometimes Facebook, etc., and for them to be able to research more and more information. People who do not have access to the web these days are often severely information deficient and community centres play a really important role both in allowing people access to the training, as well as the computers. Surprisingly, in a community that does not have many people from a non-English speaking background, an Italian conversation group also operates at the Christie Downs Community House.