Page 2748 - Week 08 - Thursday, 24 August 2006
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another glossy document that will be trashed? Are we going to simply toss that out like we did with education 2010 and went to 2020? It seems we are wasting so much money putting up good strategies and then not carrying them through.
Shelter ACT were also quoted as reacting with “disquiet over the decision by the ACT government to reduce the level of overmatched expenditure allocated against the housing and SAAP funding agreements with the commonwealth”. It is interesting to note that it was almost this childlike response: “We do not have to pay that money; so we are not going to.” The thing is that the sector, from what I can gather, has lived up to that mark and is expectant of that money being available in the sector. The minister would argue that there are people who are well and truly overfunded. It would all depend on when information is gathered—and I will talk about that in a moment—on the level of funding being provided.
It is hoped that this government will review its decision and reconsider a reinstatement of the overmatching of funds for SAAP services. It is certainly hoped that the government will reconsider this during next year’s budgetary process. Naturally, the housing and community services sector would appreciate any reinstatement of funding so desperately needed to accommodate perceived need.
Month after month, I turn up to meetings and have reports back from the sector that we simply have not got the places. I give the government the benefit of the doubt. Whilst it is a bit difficult for me to do that, with people still telling me that they are experiencing problems or they cannot find accommodation for people, I have to obviously be wise and give the government the opportunity to work through that. Again, there is a lot of tentativeness out there in the sector. Perhaps the government will take some interest in this and look into this for me and for the sector.
I also ask that the government consider investigating just how data is collected and collated under the national data collection service, as I have said, to establish the level of SAAP funding. I ask that we ensure our service providers are providing the correct level of data. Again, I am not au fait with what is involved in the collection of data, but it appears that there may be some problems that ultimately place providers of such services in the ACT in a dubious position. The example I use is this: is the data being collected on a Friday or on a Monday? In some of the emergency accommodation sectors, that would have a huge impact on how the funding is appropriated or apportioned.
Again, anything that the minister can do to look into that area would be appreciated. I know it is a problem in the sector. Comparable to other states and territories, it does not seem as though we are matching funding. I would appreciate somebody giving me a briefing on that. Perhaps we can work through that together. I am happy to help if I can. Finally, cognisant of the time, I finish by noting that, quite frankly, the sector is reeling. This sector, already stretched to capacity, is now having to pay the price, sadly, for the Stanhope government’s abysmal financial mismanagement.
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (11.31): A number of the community organisation budget submissions in the lead-up to this budget recognised that it would be a difficult budget, but warned the ACT government not to make any cuts in housing or homelessness funding, yet the government’s cuts to SAAP funds have been dramatic and harsh and have caused much angst amongst housing providers in the community sector. Many
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