Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2243 ..

MS REILLY (continuing):

member loses a job. Even that fact alone would suggest that there would be more demand for community services within the ACT. But there appears to have been no recognition of this.

If you look at the number of shocks that this Territory has had to cope with in the last 15 months through Commonwealth decisions, you can understand why community services are an important part of our Territory. If nothing else, the failure of the Commonwealth Government to recognise that Canberra is the national capital adds to the problems within this community. What we are asking a broad spectrum of community services in the ACT to deal with is the aftermath and changes that have come from the Commonwealth budgets and Commonwealth policies. We have had to manage with the loss of jobs and few or little jobs for young people; we have had to deal with the changes to child-care policy and increasing fees; we have had to deal with changes to disability allowances and changes to aged care that will start to affect people in the ACT now that the new Bill has been introduced. We are going to have more people staying at home and needing care, and the community service groups - in that broader sense, covering a number of services - will have to assist these people and give them support. We need to recognise the work that they do. It would make it easier to understand the full extent of their work if there were a demand analysis and the funding could reflect this demand, because there have been changes in the ACT. There have been changes in what is required for community services, and we need to look at how we manage that and what funding we provide for them.

This budget has failed to recognise the changing circumstances of the ACT. It would benefit all the community - and, in fact, it would be an effective measure within our community - if we could have some analysis of what is happening and community services that reflect that. It could actually lead to a much stronger community and be beneficial for all.

MS TUCKER (6.20): As members are well aware, the Social Policy Committee has an inquiry into issues that are obviously related to this portfolio area. I do have some concerns about how well the Government is across the issues of, say, unmet need in the community and the agencies which are providing the services in the area of community support for, basically, work related to Family Services work. This is for young children and youth. It is also, of course, related to the juvenile crime issue that Mr Wood raised today. All these issues are related and can be found to be clearly connected with family issues and what is actually happening in our community for people who are struggling in any way. Whether they are issues of unemployment, family strife or harassment of any kind, children will suffer in environments that are not reasonably harmonious; and children will leave home as well.

In all the committee work I have done in the Social Policy Committee we have come out with recommendations which tie in with each other. They also tie in with similar inquiries carried out in the Federal Parliament and in other parliaments in Australia and overseas. They tie in quite nicely as well with the work of international organisations which look at issues of child abuse and children and families. It is always about support, family support, early intervention and prevention; rather than dealing with the issues at the end. That is because it reduces not only the amount of human suffering but also the economic costs in the long run in dealing with these problems.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .