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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 05 Hansard (Friday, 14 May 2004) . . Page.. 1972 ..

There is no new funding for support for problem gamblers, for research into problem gambling or for the enforcement of the mandatory code of conduct. In fact, the budget of the Gambling and Racing Commission is being cut. At the same time, the government is anticipating increased gambling revenue, when we know that one-fifth of that comes from the few hundred problem gamblers in the ACT. These people are having their addiction exploited.

We are also seeing unmet demand for emergency accommodation, which is substantially attributable to the lack of public housing dwellings for people in crisis housing to move to. We hear so often about the cycle where people get into emergency accommodation, are supported, deal with their initial issues, but then find nowhere else to move on to or do not get the appropriate support systems they need as they make the transition. So eventually they end up back in emergency and crisis accommodation, if they are lucky enough to find a space.

I acknowledge the substantial boost for public housing that is included in the third appropriation bill and I commend the government for finally putting the excess capital in the home loan portfolio to good use. However, I question why the targets for the number of public housing dwellings still show no sign of improvement, despite this capital injection, and certainly no sign of returning to pre-1995 levels. The only explanation is that as much public housing stock is being decommissioned as is being acquired. This is not a sustainable situation when our population, as forecast by the budget, is slowly growing and we have a rapidly escalating housing need.

Mr Deputy Speaker, there was no youth night shelter funding in this budget, not even for a feasibility study. This has happened despite the government’s undertaking that they would look into this issue and work out or make a decision on the best model for such a shelter. The government’s own homelessness strategy identifies youth homelessness as a growing and ongoing concern, yet there is nothing in the budget to address that identified need. We also do not see any extra funding for the prevention of eviction program, which is fundamental to getting people in struggling households back on track. As little as $100,000 could have made an enormous difference in this area.

Mr Deputy Speaker, there is some extra money for people with disabilities, which is commendable. I warmly welcome the additional funding for the assessment of children with suspected autism spectrum disorder. This commitment was long overdue and it will be a huge relief to many of Canberra’s parents when we actually see those assessments come in on line.

However, I would like to see the government exploring the need for occupational therapy and speech therapy student scholarships to address our long-term specialist shortage. The extra money to better integrate children with disabilities into mainstream schools is also very positive.

I was also delighted to see the money for forward design work for a Belconnen arts centre. It is commendable that the government has gone directly on from the needs analysis to the design stage and I hope that means we will get to see construction funding in the next budget and see this arts centre built. It is something that the Belconnen community has been crying out for for a long time. The feasibility study raised some

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