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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-11-10 Daily Xml
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APY LANDS, FAMILY WELLBEING CENTRES

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:56): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion a question on the subject of APY lands family wellbeing centres.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: I understand that the family wellbeing centres will be established with money that was originally provided for the Umuwa courthouse and administration centre, in the original plans under the Mullighan recommendations. I also understand that these will be, if you like, under the control of the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion. Minister Macklin and former minister for Aboriginal affairs and reconciliation Portolesi recently announced these wellbeing centres in a joint press release, where they indicated that the detailed plans for the construction of the centres would be completed by the end of October. Accordingly, my questions are:

1. Can the minister confirm the location of the three centres and, in each case, indicate whether a new building is to be constructed or an existing facility either upgraded or modified?

2. Can the minister indicate when each centre is expected to be operational and the likely operating hours?

3. Can the minister provide a list of the programs and range of services that will be based at each centre?

4. Can the minister provide an outline of the expected capital and operational costs for each centre?

5. Can the minister indicate whether the centres will include any dedicated spaces or services for women and children escaping family violence?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:58): I thank the Hon. Ms Franks for her very important question. The commonwealth government has proposed an alternative use of funding that was originally committed to the construction of an administration and court complex at Umuwa. The state and commonwealth governments recently proposed redirecting funding originally committed through the response to the Mullighan APY report for the establishment of family wellbeing centres at Mimili, Amata and Pukatja.

It is intended that there will be a new facility at Mimili, the Amata substance misuse centre will be adapted for this new purpose, and potentially additional infrastructure provided in Pukatja. Commonwealth funding of $4.5 million, excluding GST, will meet the capital cost. The amount expended on each centre will depend on the final infrastructure plans.

The current plan is for the building work for the centres in Amata and Pukatja to be finalised by July 2012 and the Mimili centre to be completed by December 2012. It is envisaged that the centres will be open each day of the working week, and at this stage it is planned that the range of services provided in or from the centres will include early childhood programs, health service provision, family and community programs, disability programs, youth programs and, of course, administration. The project will provide new facilities to deliver existing services that are already funded by the responsible agencies. Operational costs are currently built into the budgets for the delivery of these services.

The family wellbeing centres will provide a location for the NPY Women's Council to provide counselling and support services to women and children experiencing family violence, and a number of formal and informal programs delivered by a range of government and non-government agencies for women and children.

The department has committed additional funds to augment the services of the Coober Pedy Safe House and provide additional funding to the NPY Women's Council to increase case management services available to women and children experiencing violence on the APY lands.

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