FAMILY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:20): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, representing the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, a question about the Family and Community Development Program.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: The Family and Community Development Program is the flagship early intervention program administered by the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion, and it provides funds for a range of family, youth and low-income support programs. Funding was cut in the 2010 budget but was restored after a campaign by the community sector led by SACOSS. I understand that the department undertook an internal review of the program and that new guidelines for funding were developed earlier this year. This process took some 18 months, following which a three-week tender process was commenced which was later extended to five weeks.

My information is that, despite the tender being for a relatively small amount of money (about $9 million), it was massively oversubscribed and there were over 500 applications. I also understand that it has taken many months to assess these applications and still no decisions have been announced which has resulted in further extensions to the existing contracts for organisations who still cannot tell their staff and clients if the programs will be continuing. This is leading to massive uncertainty in the sector. My questions to the minister are:

1. How many hours of departmental staff time has gone into the tendering process and the assessment of applications for funding in the Family and Community Development Program after the completion of the program guidelines?

2. What proportion of the total funds available for the program will be eaten up in administrative costs, including the tender process?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:22): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions, although I have to say at the outset that I cannot accept at face value some of the information that he has provided to the chamber. Of course, that will be checked by the minister in the other place. I do not accept the premise—he may be right, he may not be—and we will need to have a look at those arguments that he has put forward in his brief explanation.

However, may I just say that I was partly responsible for this program whilst I was minister for communities and social inclusion. I was partly responsible, along with the treasurer at the time, the Hon. Jack Snelling, for the government having a change of heart, basically at the urging of the Premier, of course, who has a very sensitive radar and is very supportive of childhood development. He is very sensitive to childhood development because his two young daughters show him what is required to be raised in a healthy, productive home life and what is required to help South Australians do exactly the same thing for their children.

Hence my announcement today about his policy launch last week about Nature Play. We understand that not everybody has the ability or the resources to bring up their children—there may be single-parent families, families where parents are both working—and they need help to try to encourage their children away from their screen time and get out into nature and enjoy themselves.

This Premier, Jay Weatherill, understands what it takes to have a healthy childhood and understands that it is a role of government to assist parents when they need it to help their children get away from TV time, screen time and PlayStation time and get outdoors and enjoy getting dirty and playing with friends in nature.

May I just say that it was at Jay Weatherill's behest that the government changed its position on the Family and Community Development Program funding and reinstated the funding. The Hon. Mr Weatherill, Premier of South Australia, understands how incredibly important these organisations are to families and their children.