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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 12 Hansard (13 November) . . Page.. 4140 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

The ACT has an unfortunate history of half-hearted attempts to address social planning matters. In 1988 a framework for a social justice policy for the ACT Administration was developed but never adopted, in 1995 the draft ACT and subregion planning strategy failed to consider social planning issues, and in 1997 the National Capital Futures Conference had an overwhelming emphasis on economic planning, resulting in the issue of social planning being marginalised.

The benefits of a comprehensive and thorough social plan extend beyond the effective and fair delivery of social and welfare services. The research conducted in the preparation of the ACT social plan, for instance, will prove valuable in informing the Office of the Auditor-General in the identification of social indicators and benchmarks to be used in accounting processes. I believe that as a legislature we can do much better than past attempts would indicate. I believe that as a community we deserve much better than past attempts have delivered.

MRS LITTLEWOOD (5.11): Yet again the Government has to explain the basics to our fellow members. There is not one single document that I can hold up today called a social plan, because to adopt this approach without care would stifle the growth of Canberra and would seriously impede the increasing quality of life that Canberrans from all groups of the community are enjoying. Social planning is a complex issue. It cuts across all areas of government policy and service delivery programs. To do it well, which of course is what the Government is doing, we will have to remain flexible and responsive to the needs of the community and listen to the community. There is a difference between engineering and issuing a social plan and providing the framework and the support mechanisms that allow the community to do that, that allow the people of Canberra to drive and to develop social outcomes that reflect their aspirations.

In developing these frameworks and supports, the Government involves the community. We consult, we listen and only then do we act - and we act on what we hear. In this way the Government practises a responsive and flexible approach to social outcomes for the community. We have focused our approach to this issue through a range of living documents, documents that speak to particular groups with particular social needs. For people to see that the Government cares is more important to us than developing a meaningless concept that ranges over every issue, is remote from the community and is rigid in its content.

Let me outline the Government's record in social planning. I will just give you a snapshot. We have delivered real social outcomes for the ethnic community. We have implemented a range of consultation mechanisms to give the people their say. We have introduced strategies in health to support the aged and the sick. We have dealt with crime and the perceptions of crime in the community. We have made major improvements to the education sector. That is to name a few.

Let me get down to some detail. I deal first with consultation. Since February this year the customer involvement unit has met with some 150 community groups. The issues they have raised have been referred to the relevant agency for action and feedback. These issues are fed into the planning process at the agency level. This Government has worked closely with the community in the implementation of the service purchasing

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