❓ Hon. Samantha Rowe questions funding cuts to Jacaranda Community Centre's financial counselling services. The Minister responds by outlining a plan to consolidate services for efficiency, maintaining financial counselling while saving $1.5 million annually.
AnsweredQoN 683Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
JACARANDA
COMMUNITY CENTRE
683. Hon SAMANTHA ROWE to the Minister
for Child Protection:
I refer to massive funding cuts to
metropolitan financial counselling services, specifically Jacaranda Community
Centre, and the impacts on staff and clients.
(1) Can the
minister confirm that the Jacaranda Community Centre will receive no state
government funding for the provision of financial counselling services from
October 2015?
(2) What impacts
will funding cuts be likely to have on the hundreds of vulnerable individuals
and families that rely on Jacaranda's financial counsellors for
support?
(3) How many staff will Jacaranda be
likely to lose as a result of funding cuts?
(4) How many
clients received state government–funded financial counselling by the
Jacaranda Community Centre in the last year?
COMMUNITY CENTRE
683. Hon SAMANTHA ROWE to the Minister
for Child Protection:
I refer to massive funding cuts to
metropolitan financial counselling services, specifically Jacaranda Community
Centre, and the impacts on staff and clients.
(1) Can the
minister confirm that the Jacaranda Community Centre will receive no state
government funding for the provision of financial counselling services from
October 2015?
(2) What impacts
will funding cuts be likely to have on the hundreds of vulnerable individuals
and families that rely on Jacaranda's financial counsellors for
support?
(3) How many staff will Jacaranda be
likely to lose as a result of funding cuts?
(4) How many
clients received state government–funded financial counselling by the
Jacaranda Community Centre in the last year?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) In the current budgetary
environment it has been necessary for the department to align its services to
focus on those that primarily promote the safety and wellbeing of at-risk
children and families with the aim of preventing them coming into care and to
support children coming into care.
Jacaranda Community Centre is one of 47 state-funded services providing
financial counselling in a system that is administratively top-heavy. I believe
that an efficient service model will enable the sector to deliver effective
financial counselling services to the state, while maintaining $1.5 million in
savings per annum. The Department for Child Protection and Family Support will
work with the sector in the coming weeks to develop a metropolitan-wide service
that may be delivered though a single metropolitan-wide agency, where the
majority of the expert advice is provided through telephone advice, webpage and
web chat information. In the interim, from 1 October 2015 the Financial
Counsellors' Association of Western Australia will receive funding of
$881 000, while the metropolitan-wide service is developed. Similar financial
counselling and other services can also be accessed through commonwealth-funded
programs. I am aware that Jacaranda House is one of those programs that gets
commonwealth funding.
(3) Jacaranda will no longer receive state
government funding for two full-time equivalent employees. I � will say more further on that. However, I am
advised that it receives funding from the commonwealth government.
(4) For the period 1 January to 30 June
2014, Jacaranda Community Centre reported a total of 331 clients, and for the
period 1 July to 31 December 2014, Jacaranda Community Centre reported a total
of 283 clients. If the member does the maths, she will see that it works out
that two FTE probably work 48 weeks in a year and see that number of clients.
We can imagine that a full FTE would work five days a week, so they are seeing
on average fewer than two people a day at that centre. Members should be aware
that that is what we are talking about in terms of efficiencies that are needed
here. It is possible that some clients are represented in both reporting
periods.
I will go on to say that Jacaranda
was present at the meeting I had yesterday with the members from f inancial counselling services. They have
been very supportive by saying that they also agree that the service needs to
be made more efficient. It is currently running across 47 agencies, averaging
about 1.5 people a day and about three people every two days. On top of that a
fair amount of funding goes into those services across the board that are not
related to providing financial counselling at all. Once again, I think the
Financial Counsellors' Association and the people who were at that
meeting met with me. I � agreed, but
whether they agree with me on it at this time, they are still coming to that
position on it because they are concerned about the numbers I have been
providing them that perhaps the services can be delivered more efficiently. We
can still continue to provide financial counselling to the number of people we
are providing it to and still make a saving of $1.5 million a year, and that is
what we are proposing to do. Any suggestion that there will not be any
financial counselling services is ridiculous. That is not the case; it will
continue. Under the current proposal, it will be done more efficiently and the
expert financial counselling will still be available to people in the
metropolitan area.
environment it has been necessary for the department to align its services to
focus on those that primarily promote the safety and wellbeing of at-risk
children and families with the aim of preventing them coming into care and to
support children coming into care.
Jacaranda Community Centre is one of 47 state-funded services providing
financial counselling in a system that is administratively top-heavy. I believe
that an efficient service model will enable the sector to deliver effective
financial counselling services to the state, while maintaining $1.5 million in
savings per annum. The Department for Child Protection and Family Support will
work with the sector in the coming weeks to develop a metropolitan-wide service
that may be delivered though a single metropolitan-wide agency, where the
majority of the expert advice is provided through telephone advice, webpage and
web chat information. In the interim, from 1 October 2015 the Financial
Counsellors' Association of Western Australia will receive funding of
$881 000, while the metropolitan-wide service is developed. Similar financial
counselling and other services can also be accessed through commonwealth-funded
programs. I am aware that Jacaranda House is one of those programs that gets
commonwealth funding.
(3) Jacaranda will no longer receive state
government funding for two full-time equivalent employees. I � will say more further on that. However, I am
advised that it receives funding from the commonwealth government.
(4) For the period 1 January to 30 June
2014, Jacaranda Community Centre reported a total of 331 clients, and for the
period 1 July to 31 December 2014, Jacaranda Community Centre reported a total
of 283 clients. If the member does the maths, she will see that it works out
that two FTE probably work 48 weeks in a year and see that number of clients.
We can imagine that a full FTE would work five days a week, so they are seeing
on average fewer than two people a day at that centre. Members should be aware
that that is what we are talking about in terms of efficiencies that are needed
here. It is possible that some clients are represented in both reporting
periods.
I will go on to say that Jacaranda
was present at the meeting I had yesterday with the members from f inancial counselling services. They have
been very supportive by saying that they also agree that the service needs to
be made more efficient. It is currently running across 47 agencies, averaging
about 1.5 people a day and about three people every two days. On top of that a
fair amount of funding goes into those services across the board that are not
related to providing financial counselling at all. Once again, I think the
Financial Counsellors' Association and the people who were at that
meeting met with me. I � agreed, but
whether they agree with me on it at this time, they are still coming to that
position on it because they are concerned about the numbers I have been
providing them that perhaps the services can be delivered more efficiently. We
can still continue to provide financial counselling to the number of people we
are providing it to and still make a saving of $1.5 million a year, and that is
what we are proposing to do. Any suggestion that there will not be any
financial counselling services is ridiculous. That is not the case; it will
continue. Under the current proposal, it will be done more efficiently and the
expert financial counselling will still be available to people in the
metropolitan area.
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