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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-11-17 Daily Xml
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CENTRE FOR PARTICIPATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The Hon. L. STEVENS (Little Para) (15:57): I would like to raise two matters this afternoon from my electorate. First, I congratulate the University of South Australia on the launch of its Centre for Participation and Community Engagement. I attended that function last week; and I know that the member for Light was there, together with the federal member for Makin. I would also like to congratulate Karen Grogan, who has been appointed director of the new centre. The information handed out at that function states:

This centre has been established to coordinate the university's aim of increasing opportunities for participation in lifelong learning. The University of South Australia and its antecedent institutions have a long history of working with communities in the northern Adelaide area to strengthen, focus and coordinate activities that will involve and improve educational outcomes.

I would like to acknowledge the fact that the University of South Australia has indeed had a long history of a range of innovative projects to support better retention and better access to university and tertiary education and lifelong learning. Some examples are the scholarships that they offer and the very impressive Lapsit program for young children in play groups. Certainly, I acknowledge the wonderful effort they made, when I was Minister for Health, in placing students in allied health disciplines in local health centres to provide extra power to address waiting lists and provide services. So I congratulate them and look forward to working with them and seeing the results of their efforts.

The second matter I want to raise, however, is not such a happy and positive matter. I have spoken in this house on a number of occasions about the wonderful work done at the Elizabeth Grove Children's Centre, Elizabeth Grove Primary School, where a range of agencies, including the Women's and Children's Hospital and local groups, have provided services for over 1,200 families. The Turn Around project was primarily funded by Good Beginnings Australia, and this non-government organisation has always struggled to receive ongoing sustainable funding. For a while it was funded by our own education department but over the last two or three years had been funded by the federal government through crime prevention funding. That funding has now ceased and Good Beginnings has had to close most of its operations at Elizabeth Grove, thereby causing a major threat to the Turn Around project and cessation of many programs.

Similarly, in relation to a neighbouring school, Salisbury North Primary, I received a very disappointing email from Ms Louise Mather from Good Beginnings, and she said it was a very sad time at the Salisbury North community, which has been attending groups and programs at the Early Years Centre at Salisbury North Primary for the past eight years. They have had to close down a range of projects at that school, all in the area of early years and early intervention.

My point is that, if we are really serious about making a difference to the outcomes of young people in the northern suburbs—or anywhere else, for that matter—we have to do it better. Federal, state and local governments, the private sector and non-government sector must provide a joined-up response so that good programs—programs that are making a difference—are not simply funded by small buckets of money that are easily knocked off. We have to change the way our major agencies work so that those things continue.

Time expired.

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