Tuesday, 21 June 2022

Northern Metropolitan Region

Dr RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (12:11): (1846) My question today is for the Minister for Housing. I recently met with representatives from North Melbourne Language and Learning, a local learning organisation and community hub based on the North Melbourne public housing estate. NMLL have been supporting residents and the broader North Melbourne community for over 30 years and are the lead community partner, with Drummond Street Services and Mission Australia, delivering the Paving the Way Forward program on the estate. The consortium has employed three local residents as community engagement officers and is supporting residents to establish a representative group who can advocate for and communicate the needs of residents in the future. I understand that this funding will be ending in September, but COVID delays and further lockdowns have delayed progress in the delivery of the project. Will the government extend the Paving the Way Forward program funding to ensure that this important work can continue?