Page 164 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 9 February 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
not good enough. We want to make it better. Under my direction, corrections are doing quite a bit of work to fix this. We are working through that process now. We will be able to update Mr Braddock as that work continues to go through.
MR BRADDOCK: Minister, I understand that the transitional release centre is being used to help the prison response to COVID. How many people are actually utilising the transitional release centre now?
MR GENTLEMAN: Apart from the COVID numbers, I do not have the specifics in front of me as to how many people have used the TRC. As I said, it has been under-utilised. We want to make sure that the transitional release program is better utilised, and that is the work that AMC are doing at the moment.
MS CLAY: Noting that it is under-utilised, what are your plans to change eligibility for the transitional release centre?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Ms Clay for the question. It is a piece of work that Ray Johnson and corrections are working through at the moment, with the assistance of other directorates as well, to see if we can bring up the utilisation of the centre. It is a continuing piece of work. We are looking particularly at whether there is an opportunity for women to use it more frequently than has occurred in the past. That will be one of the key attributes of this work.
Canberra Day—multicultural communities
DR PATERSON: My question is to the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. Minister, how is the government enhancing the involvement of Canberra’s multicultural community in this year’s Canberra Day celebrations?
MS CHEYNE: I thank Dr Paterson for the question. We are a proudly multicultural city and we are committed to fostering an inclusive community that celebrates diversity. We celebrate that over 170 languages are spoken in the ACT and that one in four households speaks a language other than English. It is who we are, and that is why, across government, we are focusing on actions that support our multicultural communities.
Acknowledging the impact of COVID-19 and the rescheduling of the 2022 National Multicultural Festival, I am pleased to share that $400,000 allocated to the festival in the 2021-22 budget is now supporting the participation of multicultural organisations in local events presented by Events ACT, such as Canberra Day 2022. Over $177,000 of National Multicultural Festival grant funding will also be distributed to support eligible applicants with funding to assist in participating in these events or to help organisations to deliver their own activities outside of these events.
The ACT government is waiving all infrastructure and participation costs to ensure maximum revenue generation opportunities for the multicultural communities who participate in Canberra Day. The Community Services Directorate and Events ACT are currently assessing those applications.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video