Minister
for Energy and Utilities and for the new Redfern Waterloo Authority, Frank
Sartor and Minister for Community Services, Carmel
Tebbutt today launched the review of the Redfern Waterloo Human Services.
“Implementing the recommendations
of the Human Services Review will address some
of the major challenges for the Redfern Waterloo area.
“The
review found a total of 102 organisations providing 192 services in the Redfern
Waterloo area, with an estimated $35 to $40 million allocated to these
services. Thirty of these services are focused solely on the Redfern Waterloo
area with funding amounting to between $8 and $10 million.
“The
review makes it clear there are adequate resources in the area, however it
shows that funding is ad-hoc, some
services do not work together, and there is a need for greater accountability
and a better focus on outcomes.”
The
Human Services Review was conducted over six months from January to August 2004
in response to widespread concerns about the adequacy of services available to
the community.
The
recommendations from the review will
now be used to help design a plan to ensure the right services are delivered to
the right people – and that services work together to meet
the needs of the community.
The
review calls for a plan to be developed to improve integration across both
government and non-government services. This plan will be presented to
Cabinet by May 2005.
The
plan will have agreed community outcomes
and will address:
- Ways
of working with the Aboriginal community - Capacity
building for government and
non-government organisations; and - Community
leadership development
“The
delivery of targeted and effective human services in the Redfern Waterloo area
is imperative in making sure the needs of residents are met,
and that problems in the area can be combated, Mr Sartor said.
“This
will include making some choices
about the way resources are invested in the area to ensure services are
reaching the people that need them.
“Delivery
of appropriate and targeted services to the people that need them is not
negotiable. Current services have nothing to worry about if they are achieving
this”, Mr Sartor said.
‘This
plan will build on what the government
has done to date – it is about working in partnership with the community and.
importantly, making sure both government
and non-government agencies are
working together towards common outcomes,”
Ms Tebbutt said.
“This
plan will contain specific strategies in key areas such as mental health, drug and alcohol and dual diagnosis,
employment, Aboriginal health, young
people, domestic violence and family
support.
“Community
and government service providers
will work together in a joint planning process, with the involvement of representatives from federal and local
government.
The
plan will be developed by an Implementation
Working Group comprised of government
and non-government representatives,
including representation by Aboriginal organisations.
“The
Government will also make sure the
community and all government and non-government organisations understand the report and its
recommendations by facilitating
workshops,” Ms Tebbutt said.
Background
Note – The Redfern/Waterloo Human Services Review
Redfern
and Waterloo
have been recognised as areas where many residents are experiencing
disadvantage. Particular areas highlighted by the review include high levels of
:
– people living in public housing
– unemployed and long term unemployment
– people on disability and sickness
benefits
– psychiatric hospital admissions
– children and young people who are
leaving school early or not attending regularly
– people with complex needs
Funding
There
are significant resources being invested in the Redfern Waterloo Area. It is
estimated to be $8-10 million specifically targeted to the residents of Redfern
and Waterloo.
When
taking into account services provided across Redfern and Waterloo through locally based and out of
area the review estimates that there is $35-40 million invested in Human
Services.
This
funding represents support for 102 organisations providing 192 services to the
residents of Redfern Waterloo. 65% of these are non government organisations.
What
does the review say about the services?
Service
delivery 1s based on stand alone services and had been based on historical
decisions that do not reflect the current needs, Relationships between many
services were found to be poor. Service
negatives were found to be:
–
uncoordinated and fragmented
–
not addressing complex social needs
–
focussed on outputs not outcomes
–
poorly matching their clients expressed needs
–
lacking locally based planning, decision making and community engagement
–
lacking cultural sensitivity
Positive
aspects of the services were:
–
there is a broad range of Services easily accessible with same choice
–
many staff are valued and are seen as approachable, supportive, committees and
very skilled in some services
–
there is considerable local knowledge
–
there is a shared concern across all services of the issues facing the Redfern
and Waterloo
community
Recommendations
The
Review puts forward three options:
Option
1 To consider a competitive funding regime for all services
Option
2 – To consider a selective tendering process for some
specific services which might establish a different range of services, attract
a different range of providers and might reduce the number of providers
receiving NSW Government funding.
Option
3 – To embark on a developmental
strategy which builds on the existing strengths; encourages more integrated
service models and approaches, voluntary mergers,
amalgamations and collocations; and includes the community in finding
solutions.
Option
3 was the preferred option put forward by the consultants.
Government response to recommendations:
The
Government has supported the
consultant’s recommendation of
Option 3.
Option
3 commits the Government to work
with the local community including residents, government
and non government service providers
as well as local and Commonwealth government
to reshape and develop a Human Services Plan for Redfern and Waterloo.
The
Plan:
The
Human Services Plan will be developed over the next six months with Premiers as
the lead agency and includes the establishment
of an Implementation Working Group
(IWG) involving government and non
government agencies appointed by the
Premiers department.
The
IWG will:
– develop a Human Services Plan for
implementation in 2005 – 2006 which
includes agreed community outcomes.
– implement
a community leadership and community capacity building strategy
The
first priority is the development to
put in place an action plan for families, children, young people, Aboriginal
people, victims of domestic and
family violence and those people with drug & alcohol and mental health issues.
In
the next 12 months is plans will be developed in the areas of:
– access for people from CALD backgrounds
–
future planning of services for people with disabilities
–
future planning of services for people who are ageing.
2.
The Plans will be developed by working parties. The working parties will:
–
identify options for integrated service provision within their service cluster
–
recommend action to achieve it
–
develop an action plan for their service cluster, and
–
provide advice to funding bodies on ways of strengthening service delivery in
their area.
The
working parties will include representatives from government,
non-government and residents and
will be supported by the RWPP Team.