Page 2765 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 13 August 2019
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These new programs join a range of housing services that are available in the ACT. Beryl, Toora and Doris are key housing programs for women escaping family and domestic violence, and they are critical to the success of our whole-of-community approach to family and domestic violence. EveryMan, St Vincent de Paul and CatholicCare all run specialist services for men as well.
Specialist youth homelessness services such as Barnardos Our Place are important to ensure that young people who experience a crisis find themselves with a home and are well supported to thrive and not to fall into the cycle of homelessness. Organisations like Toora and Winnunga provide support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the community, who are consistently over-represented in homelessness statistics nationally.
The government will continue to provide more support for these front-line services that help Canberrans into safe and affordable housing.
MS LE COUTEUR: Minister, given that neither of the two projects you talked about—the one with MARSS and the one with the YWCA—included actual physical beds, how are those going to be provided?
MS BERRY: I have responded and the directorate has responded to these questions from Ms Le Couteur on a number of occasions during estimates. We will work with the YWCA and with MARSS as well about how these supports can occur for these women. A lot of these women might not actually be in homelessness at the moment but need support so that they do not actually fall into homelessness.
We will work with the YWCA about this program as it rolls out. Unfortunately, older women fall into this situation all too often because of low superannuation and because of the lack of recognition of the time they spend away from work. It means that they will need extra support as they get older.
Hospitals—emergency waiting times
MRS KIKKERT: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, why do the ACT’s emergency department waiting times continue to be the worst or amongst the worst in the country and continue to deteriorate under this ACT Labor-Greens government?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Kikkert for the question. This has been a topic of conversation in this place many times and I have already said on a number of occasions just in one sitting week that increases in presentation and increases in acuity have resulted in an increased demand on the emergency department and that has resulted in there not being a significant improvement in waiting times despite some increases in investment such as the expansion of the Calvary ED which we are investing in—$22 million on expansions across Canberra Health Services and Centenary—but also the timely care strategy which is really focused on reducing demand, diverting patients to the most appropriate service, maximising capacity within Canberra Hospital and improving patient flow processes.
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