Page 2648 - Week 09 - Thursday, 16 September 2021
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As Mr Davis’s motion notes, lockdowns present significant challenges for the community sector in terms of both workforce capacity and service delivery. As part of our response to the pandemic, the Community Services Directorate and the Health Directorate have been, as Ms Davidson said, undertaking ongoing engagement with the government’s community sector partners. This has included regular briefings with sector partners on the evolving situation; and this is not a one-way flow of information. I have greatly valued the feedback from community sector partners about what they are seeing on the ground.
As Ms Davidson indicated, directorates have written to all our funded non-government providers, offering a flexible approach to organisations adversely effected by COVID-19. I note that Ms Lee and Mrs Jones wrote to the Chief Minister about this the other day. I encourage any community sector organisations that were expressing concern about this matter to get in touch with their relationship manager and, if that was not helpful, to escalate that, because we are very committed to ensuring that there is flexibility and that organisations do not lose funding as a result of not being able to do their work in the way that they would normally do it.
Additionally, the ACT government has announced measures to support commercial renters by waiving rent payments for the month of September for any business and community sector tenants of government-owned properties that have been affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. Tenants who have experienced a 30 per cent reduction in turnover in August will be eligible for a full waiver of their September rent payments.
During the ACT’s first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, the ACT government allocated $7 million to assist non-government organisations to support people in our community experiencing vulnerabilities and disadvantage during the public health emergency. We are building on this with more-targeted support for the sector as the ACT continues to navigate its most challenging conditions since the pandemic began.
This includes $200,000 to community organisations to provide emergency relief and other crisis services, including additional support for women and children impacted by domestic and family violence; and for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and veteran communities. An additional $515,000 has been announced to support food relief in culturally and linguistically diverse communities and for international students and temporary visa holders. This will include support for a range of community organisations, including Community Services #1 and Companion House, in the delivery of urgent material aid to respond to the increased need seen for this type of support among families who are isolating due to a COVID-19 case in a household. It also funds liaison staff from trusted community providers to support multicultural communities affected by COVID-19.
Today the government announced a $26 million package of measures ahead of the 2021-22 budget, which others have touched on and which I will not go into detail on because I am running out of time.
I do note the broader issues that Mr Davis’s motion presents and acknowledge that there are broader challenges being faced by the community sector that are outlined in
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