On 7th June 2016, as part of the regular Inala General Interagency Meeting, Inala Community House hosted a Community Services Sector Forum with candidates for the Federal Seat of Oxley. Milton Dick (Labour candidate), Bibe Roadley (LNP candidate) and Steven Purcell (Greens candidate) attended.
The meeting included representatives from Carers QLD, United Voice, Swallow Street Child Care, Multilink, Brisbane Domestic Violence Service, HUB Neighbourhood Centre Inala, Saint Vincent De Paul, WMB-YHARS, Addiction Services, Inala Community House, TAFE QLD SW Department of Human Services, Department of Housing Department of Communities and Disability Services, and the Inala Electorate office of Annastacia Palaszczuk MP.
Candidates were given equal opportunity to introduce themselves and present how they would best serve our community as Federal Member. Candidates were then asked a number of questions of concern to community services agencies and some lively debate between the candidates ensued. Questions included:
- Support for wage recognition campaign for early childhood educators
- How best to address the rise in reported domestic violence and funding for community based programs of support for victims
- The bias toward large business and organisations in Federal tendering for community services and how to provide funding for community based organisations which are best placed to serve the needs of communities. It was noted that big business based in Sydney and Melbourne cannot adequately address real community needs in suburban Brisbane, let alone in remote communities in Cape York or outback Queensland.
“One service provider cannot address the needs of a whole state. Also, the unpredictable changing nature of government funding policies may negatively impact staff welfare and organisational operations. We need a more open and transparent system to focus better on serving the community rather than spending time on writing complex funding grants,” said our Managing Director Ross Paul.
Finally the three Oxley Electorate candidates were asked about their strategies to work together in minimising any negative impact in case of government change.
We would like to thank everyone for attending our Inala General Interagency Meeting. These meetings are important so that all community service organisations can gather to exchange ideas, feedback and plans to better coordinate services and to make our community a better place for all.