North East Community Assistance Project

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (15:29): Today, I shine a light on a not-for-profit organisation located within my electorate of Torrens. The North East Community Assistance Project (fondly known as NECAP) was founded in 1980 and it started off distributing Christmas hampers to families doing it tough in our north-eastern suburbs. Over the years, demand grew and they expanded by supplying emergency relief, bedding, clothing, furniture and other household items, food hampers and support services to families and individuals experiencing financial and social hardship, many of whom are residents of Torrens and the surrounding suburbs.

NECAP also provides opportunities for volunteers and TAFE student placements, as well as work experience and skill-based training for people currently looking for work. Members in this place would understand the struggles some of the families are facing in the community to secure affordable housing; for others, it is trying to navigate the system to secure low-income benefits, sickness and disability payments and Newstart allowance just to stay afloat. Sometimes, they go without for weeks.

A food relief provider survey showed that 73 per cent of food relief agencies felt the client numbers accessing their services were increasing, with 46 per cent stating that funding was a primary challenge in their organisation. NECAP funds are raised by membership fees, donations and their own op shop, which is located in the North East Road premises, and by generous donations from the community. They do not receive ongoing funding from the state or federal governments.

The entire organisation is run by volunteers who generously give their time, commitment and passion to what they do. So far this year, this has amounted to more than 13,000 hours of volunteer work. The NECAP thrift shop sells low-priced furniture, clothing, household items and bric-a-brac that have been donated by the general public and businesses. The money from the sales goes towards the continual running of NECAP and to support their main service of providing emergency relief to residents.

NECAP provides a vital service for our community to ensure families have access to food on days they are not able to afford it themselves, and it is one of the only food and emergency relief organisations in the nearby area. It has occupied a site on the Gilles Plains Primary School premises for many years. In 2018, the school amalgamated with Windsor Gardens Secondary College to form Avenues College B-12. Next year, the junior campus will relocate and join the senior campus on the McKay Avenue site.

NECAP understands that the Gilles Plains site is likely to be declared as surplus land and sold off. This means that they need to find a new home. Under the former Labor government, NECAP remained central to discussions regarding the schools' amalgamation to ensure they were able to relocate their premises to a suitable location while remaining in the area they have serviced for some 40 years. The agreement with state government has always been that they are able to operate rent free in order to reduce their running costs and provide a much-needed and greatly appreciated service to the community.

In government, there were strong commitments from Labor to ensure that this organisation was protected. In the lead-up to the election came commitments from the then opposition leader, the then shadow minister for education and the Hon. Michelle Lensink while supporting their Liberal candidate for Torrens. I understand that since the change in government NECAP board members and volunteers have written to the minister and Premier about finding a suitable location, without receiving a satisfactory response.

The only correspondence they received was in reference to the Department for Education, suggesting the location of Valley View Secondary School. However, this was not suitable, as it would not accommodate their main source of income, the thrift shop. There was limited access to direct public transport, and it is less than half the size of their current premises. Public access and parking were also issues.

It is incredibly important that NECAP remains in the catchment area, as without a suitable home base those in need will miss out on its valuable services. NECAP delivers these services through its dedicated volunteers, with generous donations from members of our community, by purchasing food hampers from Foodbank and SecondBite.

I call on the Premier, the Minister for Education and the Minister for Human Services to put genuine effort into locating a new home for NECAP in the local catchment area as soon as possible to give certainty to some of our most vulnerable residents and to the volunteers who dedicate their time each week for the benefit of our community.