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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-10-19 Daily Xml
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FAMILY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (20:12): I move:

That this council condemns the state Labor government for cutting funding to the Family and Community Development Program by $3 million in the 2010-11 state budget and notes—

1. The program budget will be reduced by 23 per cent annually from 1 July 2013;

2. The cuts will contradict state government policies including the South Australian Strategic Plan and Department for Families and Communities Strategic Plan;

3. The Minister for Families and Communities has refused to meet with Community Centres SA representatives to discuss the decision to cut funding; and

4. The new Premier supported this cut in cabinet.

I have recently been contacted by several non-government agencies, advocacy groups and councils concerned about the Rann government's decision to cut 23 per cent from the Family and Community Development Program by 2013-14. This important program assists, in part, councils across the state to deliver services and support for youth, low income earners, people with a disability and others at risk of suffering disadvantage. The assistance is primarily focused on early intervention and prevention to enhance social and emotional development.

In addition, local government was also involved in the neighbourhood houses and community centres sector, using some funding from the Family and Community Development Program. The 2008-09 annual report for this sub-program states in relation to outputs:

The community centres sector reportedly has two million contact hours per year. They also contribute more than 15,000 volunteer hours per week, equating to over $16 million per annum.

The cuts in this funding are placing this good work and the work of many others in jeopardy and will have significant ramifications on service delivery and support for communities in need at the coal face.

I recently asked questions in this place about the impact of this decision on the work undertaken by local government using funding from the Family and Community Development Program. This work is particularly important and highly valued in the northern suburbs of this city and also by the Local Government Association of South Australia. In response to my questions, the Minister for State/Local Government Relations said:

I thank the member for his very important question. First, I support local government's endeavours and what they do in regard to this funding. Secondly, I have not put a budgetary submission to cabinet. However, I will get all the information on where we are with this fund and endeavour to have it at the next session of parliament.

I might add that I have not received that information at this point. I then asked the minister a supplementary question:

...given the minister's support for what local government do with this funding and his expectation of local government continuing to offer these valuable services with less funding, is this just another example of cost shifting by the Rann government?

The minister then responded by saying:

We are under very tight financial constraints in this state at the moment. It has been a pretty tough budget and there have been quite significant cuts to the state budget. A lot of them I do not like but have to live with for the good financial management of the state. There are times when we support projects—and all ministers support projects—but we have to tighten the belt and we are subject to certain cuts. As I stated before, I will get all the information regarding that particular funding and get the Hon. Mr Dawkins the answer he deserves.

Those who have raised concerns about cuts to this program deserve much better than this inadequate response. The peak body of service providers under this program, Community Centres SA, also deserves much better than the refusal by the families and communities minister (Hon. Jennifer Rankine) to meet with them over this issue.

Many other organisations, volunteer groups and individuals have expressed concern about these cuts. These have included the South Australian Council of Social Service, Community and Neighbourhood Centres SA, Child & Family Welfare Association and the Youth Affairs Council of South Australia, and of course, earlier this year, the Hon. Kelly Vincent raised the issue in this place.

There is quite a long list of non-government organisations, peak bodies and government departments which interact with community centres and neighbourhood houses and which may be a source of advice, support, funding, program services and advocacy.

I will read them out: Adult Learning Australia, Australian Neighbourhood Houses and Centres Association, Australian Taxation Office, Be Active, Community Arts Network SA, Community Benefit SA, Community Business Bureau, commonwealth Department of Family, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Community Gardening in SA project, Connecting Up Australia, Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Department of Families and Communities, Department of Health, Don Dunstan Foundation, Equal Opportunity Commission of South Australia, Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, Legal Services Commission of South Australia, Mental Health Coalition of South Australia, Migrant Resource Centre of SA, Myer Foundation, National Compact: working together, National Training Information Service, the former Office of Consumer and Business Affairs, Office for Volunteers, SafeWork SA, Service Excellence Program, Smith Family, South Australian Council of Adult Literacy, South Australian Council of Social Service (which I mentioned earlier), TAFE SA, Volunteering SA and the Workers Educational Association.

The ability of community centres and neighbourhood houses to be a conduit for the provision of these wide-ranging services will be significantly impacted by the cuts to the Family and Community Development Program. In commending this motion to the council, I call on the incoming Premier, the Hon. Jay Weatherill, to reverse this ill-considered hit to NGOs and councils which are committed to their local communities. I commend the motion.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. G.A. Kandelaars.

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