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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-05-16 Daily Xml
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Hackham West Community Centre

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (15:20): I rise in support of the Hackham West Community Centre, a vibrant, inclusive community hub run by deeply passionate and kind staff and volunteers. It is a centre that is truly at the heart of Hackham West, and I am constantly inspired by the dedication and the passion of the volunteers who keep that heart beating and create a place where everyone is welcome. The centre provides important vital opportunities for connection, including through adult learning, play groups, support groups, community lunches and breakfasts, NAIDOC Week gatherings and health and fitness programs. It is a centre to which the whole of the Hackham West community belongs.

The centre recently applied for funding to expand its current four mornings a week breakfast club and one afternoon session a week program for kids to a full five-day a week mornings and afternoons, wraparound out-of-school hours care program, a program that will contribute to some excellent outcomes for kids, their families and caregivers. Centre volunteers, staff, the Hackham West community at large and I are deeply disappointed that the full funding requested was not granted.

I urge the federal Minister for Education and Training, the Hon. Senator Simon Birmingham, to reconsider this decision, to get behind a centre supporting so many in our southern community, and to embrace a program that aims to ensure our youngest community members are engaged, safe, learning and nurtured. I also urge those opposite to call on Senator Birmingham to back our youngest community members in the South and their families.

Hackham West is a place characterised by people who reach out to lend a hand to one another, people who are kind, creative and strong and who want to work together in the best interests of every single member of their community. Like many other areas, it is an area in which some people face disadvantage and struggle through a few challenges. It is an area which, if we are genuinely about creating equality of opportunity in South Australia, would be enhanced through positive assistance in the form of support for a service focused on the wellbeing of our kids.

Hackham West R-7 School, which sits adjacent to the centre, is a remarkable school. It is a school that works closely with the centre to ensure that any children who are developmentally vulnerable are provided with the best possible support at school and in our community. This school and this centre understand that schools, community organisations, community members, children and all stakeholders in a community working together in support of our kids gives them the best chance of thriving in all areas of their lives.

The current limited but very successful out-of-school hours care program at Hackham West Community Centre engages with around 15 children. The Hackham West Community Centre's transition to a full morning and afternoon out-of-school hours care program will engage with up to 40 children, will sit as part of a whole of community effort to give our local children the best possible support and access to opportunities, and will build capacity within the community.

An out-of-school hours care program will allow families in the community to make the Hackham West R-7 School their first choice. As it stands, the lack of an out-of-school hours care program is a significant hurdle to this, and many families are compelled to seek out alternative schools that offer wraparound support. The federal education department has told the Hackham West Community Centre that it will only fund their current arrangement of four mornings a week and the one afternoon session, a nonsensical arrangement for families who need more regular care beyond school closing time. By granting the funding for a full out-of-school hours care program the improvement in outcomes for our youngest community members could be completely transformative.

The Hackham West Community Centre's application for a full out-of-school hours care program was carefully developed as a whole of community approach. It brought together the Hackham West Community Centre, the Hackham West Children's Centre and the Hackham West R-7 School along with other community stakeholders with the explicit aim to develop a five-day a week out-of-school hours care program to measurably improve outcomes for the whole community.

In addition to improving both the numbers of new students and retention of students at the Hackham West R-7 School, the aim of establishing an out-of-school hours care program also included wrapping existing services and programs at the community centre around the families who would utilise an out-of-school hours care program. We know that services that wraparound children and provide them and their families with connection, engagement with other services and support work best.

We need to commit to young people and their families in Hackham West. The Department for Education and Child Development's decision not to fully support the application of the Hackham West Community Centre for a full out-of-school hours program undermines a genuine community response to better the lives of and pathways for all children and their families within the Hackham West community. Again, I urge those opposite and the federal Minister for Education to support the people of Hackham West by reconsidering this funding decision.

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