Page 78 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 7 December 2004
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The goal of tackling disadvantage, of making sure that no-one in our community is left behind, is also the essence of the Canberra social plan. The plan itself is much more than just a list of important initiatives. It is a concerted attack on the causes of disadvantage. We have already funded many of its initiatives, and this work will continue in our second term.
In February next year, my government and the Community Inclusion Board, chaired by Hugh Mackay, will start an innovative new program to help people who have been trapped by spiralling debt. Last week it was reported that ACT householders are the most indebted in the country, with the average householder owing almost $95,000. In Canberra in 2002, almost two out of every three adults had some sort of debt. One in five had a mortgage, one in two had consumer debt and one in four had both.
This level of debt puts people under a great deal of stress, particularly those with lower incomes, and those people suffering from financial stress find it harder to take part fully in community life. In February, the Community Inclusion Board and my government will begin a new program called the household debt pilot project. We will ask community organisations to nominate a small group of low income people who are caught in the cycle of debt. We will assess their needs, find appropriate courses and provide individual case management.
The project will better equip people to manage and reduce their debt. They will better understand the crippling nature of high levels of debt, gain qualifications for employment and be able to participate more fully in the Canberra community. This project has the potential to make a real and positive difference in the lives of Canberrans trapped by serious debt, and I am very much looking forward to seeing it get under way.
I am also looking forward to the commencement of the first projects to be funded under the community inclusion fund. We allocated $1 million to the fund this financial year and the response from the community has been tremendous. We received more than 120 applications, with the total amount of funding requested just in the first year exceeding $8 million.
The contrast between our commitment to the people of Canberra became clear at lunchtime today when I announced the names of the first two recipients of these grants. We will be awarding $330,000 over three years to a program called Birrigai boys, which will provide indigenous students at primary school level with opportunities to learn and develop self-identity. It is a flexible and alternative approach to education that will support vulnerable and underperforming indigenous students—those students who are most at risk of becoming excluded from the community.
The other successful program targets young Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders who have left the school system early, or those who are at risk of dropping out of school. With a grant of $105,000 over three years, the Gugan Gulwan education support program will employ a qualified teacher to deliver an education program that is innovative and culturally appropriate.
Mr Speaker, the Canberra social plan is a huge body of work that will guide the government’s work over its second term. Most of the initiatives are well known, but
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