Page 3052 - Week 08 - Thursday, 15 August 2019
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I note the success of the work being undertaken by Our Booris, Our Way to address the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the care and protection and out of home care systems. It can only be described as a blight on our society that this over-representation is continuing and, clearly, engaging with, listening to and working with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community is integral to any effective response to this problem.
I support the investment in vulnerable children and young people, and I was very pleased to find that last week, when asked a question about out of home care providers, the minister stated that it was extremely unlikely that any new for-profit provider will join the active consortium. That would seem to be something best delivered by people who are not making a dollar out of it.
I am also very pleased that there is additional funding to expand the rollout of the age-friendly program but disappointed that the expansion is not faster. As Canberrans age, more people will need the improved infrastructure to maintain or enhance their ability to get around, and of course even people who are not aged will and do appreciate age-friendly suburbs. They are friendly for all ages, not just older ages. I was pleased to hear Minister Ramsay’s speech about the expansion of the seniors card and also very pleased to see that Seniors Week will be expanded.
I look forward to learning more about how the ACT is going to act on the national plan to respond to the abuse of older Canberrans. I have heard many stories about abuse of older Canberrans, particularly financial abuse. Some of these are alarming, and they highlight to me the need for adequate service responses and for our community to embrace the notions of connectedness, respect and belonging to all, particularly for our elderly, who so often become socially isolated. This is a big segue into another portfolio, Transport Canberra. If people cannot easily leave their home they really find it difficult to be part of our community, and this is really important in terms of people’s long-term wellbeing.
I note that, even with the release of the capital of equality strategy, the LGBTIQ strategy, in fact the only expenditure identified in the budget is for a 12-month scoping study on health issues, much of which has already been identified by the community. In the estimates process the ACT government said it was committed to the principles outlined in the Darlington statement and that the government will be considering the blueprint developed by AIDS Action, A Gender Agenda and Collective Action for a coordinated response to the health needs of the LGBTIQ community which will include a consideration of a peer-led gender clinic.
Moving on to women, I was very pleased to see a women’s budget statement this year. They have not been there for the last few years. But I was really disappointed to find that it was simply a grab bag of initiatives that might in some way affect women. We talked about that in estimates, and that really does seem to be what it was. It was just things that mentioned women in their statement when they went to budget cabinet.
But the purpose of a women’s budget statement analysis is to identify the impact of the budget on women, and that is more than just which new initiatives they say impact
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