A wide range of ACT community organisations will receive funding through the forthcoming ACT Budget, Chief Minister Andrew Barr has announced.
The 2021-22 ACT Budget will be delivered on 31 August; Mr Barr said the ACT Government has prioritised funding decisions to ensure essential community services and programs continue, and to provide certainty for community sector partners into the new financial year and beyond.
The announcement follows a call this week from the ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) for the government to ensure funding for community services, given increased demand during the pandemic.
Programs and organisations that will continue to receive funding into 2021-22 include:
Supporting vulnerable students and their families:
- Schools Legal Liaison program delivered by Legal Aid ACT
- Continuing to support 30 vulnerable students through the Muliyan Off-campus Flexible Learning Program
- Safe & Connected Youth Program
Individual advocacy for people with a disability:
More frontline domestic violence and rape crisis services (See story):
- Canberra Rape Crisis Centre
- Domestic Violence Crisis Service
- Support for new parents through Women’s Legal and Legal Aid
Continuing important mental health and justice health services:
- Mental Health Discharge Accommodation Program
- Mental Health Detention Exit Community Outreach Program
- Culturally Appropriate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Program
- CatholicCare’s Youth and Wellbeing Program
- Winnunga Model of Care at the Alexander Maconochie Centre
Providing support for Local Environmental Volunteer Based Groups (See story):
- Community catchment groups
- FrogWatch
- ACT Wildlife
Supporting community legal services (See story):
- Canberra Community Law
- Environmental Defenders Office
- Women’s Legal Centre
- CARE Inc (including the Consumer Law Centre)
“These programs and organisations contribute to what makes Canberra a great place to live, and ensure that all Canberrans have the support they need,” Mr Barr said.
The Chief Minister said that in some instances, the ACT Government would fund a shortfall created by the Commonwealth Government, which refused to extend funding for some programs in their Budget. The ACT Government will support these organisations so that they can deliver services in the short-term.
“We will advocate that the Commonwealth Government meet their funding obligations to these organisations.”
ACTCOSS responds
ACTCOSS welcomed confirmation by the ACT Government that key frontline community services would continue to receive funding from 1 July following the delay of the 2021-22 ACT Budget to 31 August.
Dr Emma Campbell, ACTCOSS CEO said: “As a result of the delayed ACT Budget, many services were unsure whether funding that ended this 30 June would continue into the new financial year.
“This announcement will provide relief to those organisations who were worried that they would have to close down services and supports for some of Canberra’s most vulnerable people.”
ACTCOSS acknowledged that some of this funding was the continuance of support initiated during the COVID-19 epidemic and to cover shortfalls created by the cessation of COVID-19 funding from the Australian Government.
“Evidence shows that increased need and disadvantage follows sometime after the peak of a major crisis,” Dr Campbell said. “We are seeing this through a rise in demand across our member organisations. We therefore welcome the news that this funding will be continued.”
However, while these announcements were welcome, Dr Campbell said that the community sector urgently needed a major funding boost across all services and organisations.
“As the sector tries to meet growing demand, it is facing a funding cliff.”
Indications were that the increase in ACT Government funding to the health and community services sector would be limited to 1.75%, she said. However, in the coming financial year, wages will increase by 2.5%; rents paid by community service organisations to the ACT Government will increase by 3%; long service leave contributions will increase from 1.2% to 1.6%; and compulsory superannuation contributions from 9.5% to 10%.
Dr Campbell called on the ACT Government to ensure that the indexation increase for community sector funding covered the spiralling costs of delivering essential services to Canberra’s most vulnerable.
The ACT Government and the community services sector, through ACTCOSS, are also partnering to progress the ACT Community Services Sector Sustainability Review.
The Review will provide a better understanding of the viability of the community sector through analysing funding levels and demand pressures on non-government services responding to the needs of the community.
The Review is due to be delivered by the end of this calendar year.
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