Tuesday, 16 August 2022

Neighbourhood houses

Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (20:07): (2056) My adjournment matter is to the Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers. Over the past few weeks I have been contacted by 10 local neighbourhood houses in my electorate regarding serious funding concerns affecting almost half of Victoria’s neighbourhood houses. These are just some of the 400-plus neighbourhood houses across Victoria that may see a dramatic cut to local support services and community development and significant job losses across the sector if core funding from the government is not permanently renewed.

As you will be aware, in 2018, after a massive advocacy campaign undertaken by the sector, the government made a $21.8 million investment across four years in recognition of the inadequate funding for many neighbourhood houses and to fund additional neighbourhood houses to support local communities. At the time of this announcement it was not made clear by the state government that this new funding, unlike existing neighbourhood house funding, would be non-recurring, and it is now set to end in June 2024. The risk of not extending this funding is the closure of up to 27 neighbourhood houses, including four Aboriginal-run houses and 12 neighbourhood houses in rural Victoria. This would see a reduction of over 77 000 hours of annual employment—almost entirely impacting women—and the loss of 154 000 hours of neighbourhood house activity, negatively impacting 189 communities.

A recent report prepared for the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing found that under normal conditions neighbourhood houses generate a return of between $5.43 and $8.72 for each dollar that is invested in these neighbourhood houses. Neighbourhood houses provide multiple services to local communities right across metropolitan, regional and rural Victoria despite an already shoestring budget. Around the state approximately 200 000 Victorians access neighbourhood houses every week. They are the biggest providers of early childhood services and adult and community education in the state. They provide significant support for Victorians suffering from social isolation and mental health issues and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. I ask the minister to note that Neighbourhood Houses Victoria is not getting the priority it deserves, and I ask the minister to publicly commit to ongoing funding to secure their future.