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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-16 Daily Xml
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OUTBACK AREAS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TRUST

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:03): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question about the Outback Areas Community Development Trust.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I understand that in April 2007 the government initiated a review of the Outback Areas Community Development Trust and the manner in which the trust serves the many communities in this state that are outside local government boundaries. When will the government announce the outcome of this review, and why has it taken so long to determine the future governance and operations of the trust?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:05): I thank the honourable member for his interest in the trust, a very important structure which plays a vital role in our outback areas. The draft legislation is being prepared to revise the existing Outback Areas Community Development Act 1978. The drafting will recognise the Outback Areas Community Development Trust's role in providing local government-type services to outback communities and will bring the trust's strategic planning in areas such as financial planning, etc. and its reporting requirements in line with South Australian councils. That is one of the objectives of the review.

There is to be consultation on the draft bill prior to its introduction in parliament, and I have given a commitment to the trust in relation to that. A review of governance arrangements in the Outback was undertaken by the Office of State/Local Government Relations in conjunction with the trust some time ago. The review was prompted by the significant changes facing Outback communities and the pressures on them—changes such as the rapid population growth due to a tourism boom in some areas and dwindling populations, unfortunately, in others. The review identified concerns about the capacity of local volunteer community bodies to be able to adapt and manage some of these really important challenges and pressures.

The information package and a feedback questionnaire were released and community workshops held in a number of Outback areas. A report entitled 'Responding to changes in the Outback' summarised the review results and is available on our website. A great deal of work has been done. The communities are broad and each community has a range of different pressures and challenges. There are those faced with challenges in relation to mining booms and population shifting in relation to job opportunities. Different communities have different challenges. It is important we had a process that enabled us to go out and engage with those communities, which is not an easy task.

I met with the trust a couple of weeks ago and was pleased to hear an update from them. We continue to progress this important work. I cannot give a final date now in terms of the draft bill's release, but a great deal of work has been and continues to be done. We need to ensure we get this right, and that is what I intend to do.

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