Page 3638 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 24 November 2021
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relentlessly demonstrated how unequal our society is. The pandemic has starkly reminded us that there are some in our city who do not have reliable access to food, who forgo things that they need to support their family.
The ACT government is leading a response to help more Canberrans live with dignity through the transition of the Canberra Relief Network to a community-led model. It will provide more support for our hardworking community sector in response to food security beyond the public health emergency of COVID-19. It will mean more meals for Canberrans in need and better connections to other social supports that people might not know how to access. The government established the Canberra Relief Network in March 2020 to ensure that Canberrans would have access to regular household and food supplies during the pandemic. I am very proud to see that the Canberra Relief Network has been announced as the winner of the 2021 Resilient Australia Award for the ACT in the government award category.
Canberra Relief Network is a collective effort between community partners, including established emergency food relief providers, other social and community welfare organisations and the ACT government, to provide more support for at-risk Canberrans through the pandemic by the provision of food and hygiene hampers and connecting people to other wraparound support services. I would particularly like to thank Community Services Directorate staff, who worked long hours and demonstrated creativity in finding solutions and commitment to the community they serve; Volunteering ACT, who rapidly set up a call centre to take calls from people experiencing very difficult circumstances and carried out their work with empathy and care; and Disaster Relief Australia, whose logistics skills and the precision with which they carried out their work is a wonderful demonstration of the ways in which veterans contribute to our resilient and supportive community.
Since the re-establishment of the Canberra Relief Network during the 2021 lockdown, the need for support has been more than double what it was in 2020. The reduction of JobSeeker and ending of JobKeeper has had a significant effect on people working in insecure casualised jobs in low-paid industries that have been impacted by the pandemic. The support provided by the ACT government, in collaboration with community sector partners, has made a very real difference to people’s lives. Targeted support services and the coordination of community partners is crucial for more Canberrans to have access to food security and for the ACT to have a future where this inequality does not exist.
The ACT government is investing in a community-led model for a long-term approach to food security, supporting people to live with dignity. I am proud that the ACT government is investing $475,000 over four years to develop a collaborative approach to food security across the territory, supporting our community sector food relief organisations and better connecting people with additional social supports. This budget’s investment to develop a fit-for-purpose database will capture information which is managed by a dedicated project coordinator in the community services sector to ensure that the specific needs and demands of the community shape future decision-making.
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