Page 1584 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
A socially inclusive society must also manage the fine balance between public safety and giving people in the justice system, including those in the youth justice system, a chance to rehabilitate and re-enter the community. Justice reinvestment is about developing a smarter, more cost-effective approach to improving criminal justice outcomes. It includes implementing initiatives that divert people from criminal activity and reduce the likelihood of Canberrans getting stuck in cycles of criminal offending.
Most of us would agree that having a stable home is important to having a decent life. This principle has driven this government’s unprecedented investment, along with policy changes to increase housing affordability and strengthen the social housing sector. Since 2004 the government have consistently invested in social housing so that we can respond effectively to the changing needs of our community. Under the guidance of the public housing renewal task force we are replacing our ageing public housing stock—essentially, the replacement of 1,288 outdated public housing units with units that reflect both the needs and aspirations of Canberrans in our community today.
Through changes in housing policy and practice, we have overhauled the way we work with people who rent in our social housing system. There is a greater focus on collaborative practice across the housing and homelessness sector to ensure that a person is seen holistically rather than only as someone who needs housing. In this way people are assisted to maintain their tenancies and to access the most appropriate services and supports that can equip them to better manage their circumstances. We are also seeing innovation in how support is provided—for example, the work of First Point and the establishment of Common Ground to assist people experiencing homelessness in the ACT.
This change in the way we provide social housing reflects the way we are revisiting and explicitly reshaping the government’s social inclusion agenda, because we know more can be done. I hope there is never an ACT government that believes it could not do better for the people in this city. Because we are a government aware of where more can be done, we are driving change to meet the complexity and diversity of our community and the challenges that some face to full participation.
We see social inclusion as more than having an opportunity; it is about supporting Canberrans to reach equal outcomes. It is clear in the service we offer that two people may have a similar opportunity but their paths may well differ. Each person, inclusive of their circumstances, must have access to what is needed to achieve an equal outcome, and as a government we need to remove as many of the obstacles from their path as we can. This is the renewed focus we bring to the social inclusion agenda. We are coming together across government to apply the lessons of the NDIS and those emerging from the better services trials to complex and persistent problems.
This includes a focus on meeting the needs of our diverse communities in our services and in our broader community. We are increasingly understanding that, when Canberrans access services, they can bring experiences with them that shape the way they interact with that service. That means that every service we offer and our community as a whole need to find new ways to meet the people where they are.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video