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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Thursday, 1 April 2004) . . Page.. 1648 ..

It needs to be recognised however that there is a range of income types that are not assessed for rent rebate purposes or are assessed concessionally. This policy has the effect of reducing significantly below 25% the rate at which many tenants contribute to the rent for their dwellings. Examples of non-assessable income types include Disability Pensions, payments and allowances paid under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act, and Family Tax Benefit Part B. Family Tax Benefit Part A is assessed at the concessional rate of 10%.

Consistent with its obligations under the 2003-08 Commonwealth State Housing Agreement, the Government will be reviewing public housing rent policies to ensure that they provide ongoing affordability and equity and that they promote the long term financial viability of public housing in the ACT and do not discourage tenants from participating in the workforce.

ParentLink
(Question No 1348)

Mrs Burke asked the Minister for Education, Youth and Family Services, upon notice, on 4 March 2004:

(1) How much money is currently being spent on (a) supporting and (b) promoting, ParentLink to the Canberra community;

(2) How many calls has ParentLink received and dealt with in (a) 2001-02, (b) 2002-03 and (c) 2003-04;

(3) What was the nature of the calls received by the service;

(4) What current strategies are in operation to advertise and promote the ParentLink;

(5) In what ways was the service able to assist the people who called and what services were callers most referred to;

(6) Where do parents go to receive help on public holidays when the service is not in operation.

Ms Gallagher: The answer to Mrs Burke’s question is:

(1) (a) The Department of Education, Youth and Family Services currently funds Parent Support Service $109,303.16 (GST exclusive) to run the telephone support component of the ParentLink program.

(b) $100,000 of recurrent funding is spent on promoting the entire program, including the telephone support service, and operating the remaining components of the ParentLink program. These include: website, radio and television advertisements, production and distribution of parent tip sheets, outreach events, patron appearances and outreach events and activities.

(2) (a) Total calls 2118 – (Parent Support Service 25th Annual Report 2001-2002, p.16)

(b) Total calls 2986 – (Parent Support Service 26th Annual Report 2003, p.18)

(c) Total calls 1771 – from 1 July to 31 December 2003

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