| What services do you believe are most important for the ACT?
| In an environment where health and disability services are becoming more of a cost burden on the annual budgets of all levels of Government, self-help is a cost effective means of ensuring the needs of the community are met. Self-help groups can assist people living with all types of health conditions and disability live more fulfilling lives, assisting people to meet not only their health, wellbeing and disability needs, but most importantly their social and emotional needs. It is the isolation that many health and disability issues create that can be the hardest for people to live with. Self-help groups bring with them a unique manner of understanding and approaching problems that only someone with lived experience can offer. |
| How can the ACT Government deliver current services more efficiently and productively or to better meet the needs of Canberrans? | SHOUT Inc has been funded by the ACT Government for 40 years. It has supported many self-help groups to grown and bloom in the community meeting the needs of ordinary Canberrans. Self-help is an inexpensive means of holistic support, by those who are walking the walk of those who they are supporting. In current frameworks where Governance and Operational plans and policies are essential for any group, SHOUT helps these groups to have all the structures in place to ensure they are meeting all their statutory requirements and can then concentrate more fully on meeting the needs of the community they were set up to serve. To do this, SHOUT needs to increase it's funding base so that Canberran's don't miss out on essential services. |
| Are there particular services that you think the ACT Government can improve? | The accommodation available for self-help organisations needs to be improved. Whilst there is a number of premises available in the community, many are sub-standard, and when clients of self-help groups enter a building that hasn't been well-maintained it says to the person, you are only worthy of this. SHOUT has gone to much work to improve their housing of the self-help organisations it supports in the ACT over the past 2 years. As a Government asset, however, the Pearce Community Centre should not have been left to become as run down as it had. Sadly, however, the PCC is in much better condition than many of the buildings, many of which are previous schools, are in. |
| What can the ACT Government do to make Canberra even more liveable? | Adequately fund organisations such as SHOUT Inc to improve the networks within the community for services that meet the needs of the community, and more importantly, steer people away from more costly services such as the teritiary health system. SHOUT Inc needs an extra $50,000 pa to meet the needs of the Canberra community. |
