Page 1910 - Week 05 - Thursday, 6 May 2010
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strategic indicator for multicultural affairs expanded to include more than the participation figures of the Multicultural Festival, as this is outdated and does not represent the success of the delivery of essential services on the ground.
With regard to the housing portfolio, I note that a large part of the stimulus package is to be delivered this year and that the ACT government has been able to manage the package in a way so that we can achieve more with the funding package that has been provided. This achievement is to be highly commended. But I am concerned that we are yet to see how the ACT government will maintain those stock numbers, both in public and in community housing, once they have been delivered.
A recent answer to a question on notice I put in shows that the ACT government plans to continue selling about 70 dwellings a year. While I expect some of them will be replaced elsewhere with the profits made, it is not clear that all will be replaced and the gains made by the stimulus package will be maintained.
The Greens must note with concern that there have been few significant new budgetary measures relating to corrections, specifically through-care and after-care. We recognise that resources for the escort of prisoners go some way to providing care for the duration of a prisoner’s stay within corrections facilities, but we believe the government should be applying more resources to managing rehabilitation both within the walls of the AMC and beyond.
We made mention at the start of this week of the concept of cultural change within the corrections department. Corrections must manage prisoners with an eye to supporting rehabilitation from the moment they enter the system to when they fully integrate back into the community, and, while the development of the AMC goes some way to providing frameworks within the prison system itself to better support measures that reduce reoffending, we need to concentrate upon the post-prison environment.
It is understandable that, without assistance, it is difficult to re-engage with society, which is a significant factor in an individual’s likelihood of reoffending. Whilst community support groups exist, the current transitional process is not coordinated, support services often overlap, and it would be greatly improved by better management as part of the discharge process. Appointment of a through-care and after-care manager for non-government services to manage the transition process and coordinate access to social and community services for prisoners would be a sensible investment decision in reducing reoffending and crime overall.
The ACT Greens support in principle the combination of WorkSafe and WorkCover into a single, integrated unit, and we trust that the more efficient use of these resources will translate into greater numbers of inspections and compliance checks. We have expressed concerns this year that the enforcement function of ORS conducts inspections too infrequently to be a credible deterrent to noncompliance. The ACT Greens expect the government to commit to improving the record of ORS in terms of compliance with regulations and safety checks.
Just in relation to my electorate of Brindabella, the ACT Greens welcome the government’s commitment to the Erindale and Tuggeranong master plans, which we
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