Page 324 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 20 February 1990
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large number of people working in low paid jobs where the opportunities for satisfaction in their work are very limited. I think that those people need to feel that they have an adequate opportunity to take part in the important decisions in our community.
I would put it to the Assembly that a community agreement should address all of these issues in a way that really makes a positive difference to the people of Canberra. We all know that Canberra is a great place to live in and I doubt if any of us would want to live anywhere else, but we must acknowledge that there are people who are disadvantaged and there are people who need particular services in the ACT. They are of concern. I think that the Government has outlined all of the categories that these people fall into, but has not outlined a coherent strategy for assisting these people. I put it to the Assembly that a community agreement might be of assistance. I have not been prescriptive in my idea for such an agreement and that has been deliberately so.
I believe that the Social Policy Committee could well be a useful vehicle for establishing appropriate terms of reference for such an agreement. I am aware of the generally high regard that all members of the Assembly hold for Mr Wood and for the work of that committee and I think that that would be an appropriate place for this sort of an idea to be developed.
Obviously in developing the terms of reference there would need to be very widespread community consultation, for instance, with the community service organisations and with specialist groups like ACTCOSS, the Council on the Ageing, ACROD, and so on. If we do consult generally on the development of such an agreement with these people, we will develop a useful strategy on social justice issues or social equity issues. I do not think the words matter a great deal but, as Mr Berry has said, it will be an agreement that is reached with general community ownership of the decision. It would therefore have the credibility of a strategy that the community believes in and has set up for itself. It should be widely endorsed by this Assembly.
MS MAHER (4.35): Mr Speaker, achieving social equity in the ACT community requires a commitment from government, business and the community itself - a commitment this Government has. It is a way of managing which takes into account the social outcomes of government and business decisions. Naturally, it is up to the Alliance Government to take the lead in this area by making sure that the services offered to the community are delivered in the most equitable way. It is up to business and the community to follow our lead.
As has been pointed out previously in this debate, social equity is not something that can be achieved overnight. The importance of a solid, well-thought-out strategy that would generate an equitable society cannot be over-
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