To:
Dear Lillian,
Thank you for the invitation to attend the Public Hearing on Wednesday 7th April in Benalla. I would be more than happy to attend. Attached is NESAY's written submission to the Inquiry.
If you require any7 further information please do not hesitate to contact me. Regards
Glen James Chief Executive Officer NESAY Inc.
03 57202201 0407 217001 www.nesay.com.au
North East Support and Action for Youth Incorporated (NESAY) submission to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Extent and Nature of Disadvantage and Inequity in Rural and Regional Victoria.
MARCH 2010
NESAY Overview: NESAY is an independent community managed incorporated welfare agency committed to providing a service to vulnerable young people, the homeless and people who have been disenfranchised by their personal circumstances to address the issues of adolescence, family life, homelessness, and education and employment options. NESAY has developed and implemented a number of very innovative and family focussed intervention programs for marginalised people outside the ‘standard welfare arena. NESAY believes that marginalised and/or homeless people should have access to non discriminatory services that will improve their independent living skills, boost their self esteem and encourage young people to move towards secure living situations - ? increase connections to local community?
NESAY services eleven local government areas in the ‘Hume Corridor’; Rural City of Wangaratta, City of Wodonga , Shire of Towong, Benalla Rural City, Mansfield Shire, Alpine Shire, Indigo Shire, eastern half of Moira Shire, Mitchell Shire, Murrindindi Shire and the northern half of Strathbogie Shire. NESAY sources it’s funding from State and Commonwealth government grants, philanthropic trusts funds and community donations.
NESAY Programs: • Homelessness Programs: - Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (15 to 25 year olds) - Reconnect (10 to 18 year olds & parents) - Creating Connections (15 to 25 year olds) - Intensive Case Management (15 – 65 year olds)
• Intervention Programs: - Finding Solutions (10 to 18 year olds & parents) - Adolescent Support Program (10 to 18 year olds & parents) - Bushfire Counselling Response – Alpine & Indigo
• Violence Protection Programs for Adolescents: - Walk the Talk, Group program, (12 to 18 year olds) - North East Adolescent Assistance Program in conjunction with Victoria Police (10 to 18 year olds) - Tackling Technology Responsibly - Don’t Go There Girlfriend, Group program (12 to 18 year olds)
• Community Development: - Regional Mentoring Support - Benalla Rural City – Youth - Alpine Shire – Youth - Mansfield Shire - Youth
• Schools Programs: - Student Counselling - School Focused Youth Service - Borinya – Alternative Education School Partner - School Engagement Program
• Employment Programs: - Jobs Services Australia – Specialist Youth at Risk Provider (15 – 21 year olds) - Jobs Services Australia – Specialist Homelessness Provider (15 – 65 year olds)
Levels of Disadvantage in NESAY’s service catchment:
• Perceptions of both public and governments alike is that if you live in a ‘rural region’ then by that alone you are on the first rung to disadvantage and inequality, however this is never matched with appropriate ‘rural disadvantaged’ funding by government bodies. The majority of funding that NESAY receives is based on ‘unit’ funding equal to or more often less than metropolitan services. The inequality is that the factors of wide geography, isolation, lack of associated services (health, legal etc), cost of infrastructure, fuel and vehicles, staffing issues and safety is never considered when allocating funding to rural areas for service delivery. • The most disadvantaged communities in Hume Region are located in the larger population centres of Benalla, Shepparton, Seymour, Wangaratta and Wodonga. NESAY services all of these communities in the ‘Hume Corridor’ with the exception of Shepparton1. • Most regional areas of relatively high disadvantage also have high concentrations of public housing. • Benalla has an area at the highest level of relative disadvantage in Victoria outside the urban area. • Benalla is within the top 5% for disadvantage in Victoria2. • Moira Shire has more disadvantaged locations than any other LGA in Hume Region (mostly in small towns) and a significant proportion of the Shire’s total population living in areas of identified disadvantage. • Socio-economic hardship experienced by people on low incomes, limited access to services associated with geographical isolation and the impact of extended drought are key factors contributing to disadvantage in many communities across the Hume Region. • Hume Region has the highest rate of homelessness of any region in Victoria; the Hume Region has the lowest number of SAAP agencies and receives the second lowest recurrent allocation of SAAP funds3 • Before the February 2009 Bushfires Seymour had areas of disadvantage which are the third highest in Hume Region and, together with Broadford which was the top 15% for relative disadvantage in Victoria. This level of disadvantage has now risen dramatically after the catastrophic event. In conjunction with this, levels of ‘food stress’ and ‘financial stress’ in Mitchell Shire are also higher than the regional and state averages. • In the statistical subdivision of East Ovens-Murray, which includes Alpine and Towong, 193 people were recorded as being homeless in the 2006 Census. This is homeless rate of 121 per 10,000 people. This is the highest rate of any subdivision outside Inner Melbourne.4 • Young people in Wangaratta are more affected by homelessness than should be expected and young women increasingly becoming more at risk of homelessness in Wangaratta. • Of growing concern is intergenerational poverty of rural people who experience homelessness as children are more likely to find themselves homeless as young adults • Affordable and social housing for marginalised people extremely limited in regional centres, do not exist in rural communities. • The lack of alternative education pathways for rural young people who are less than 15 years of age and do not adapt to mainstream educational approaches (especially for those young people where there is no choice of school in their small community)
1 Distribution of Disadvantage in Hume Region – Hume RMF (September 2007) Prepared by Robyn Guiney, Regional Executive Support Officer (RESO) Dept. of Planning and Community Development – Hume 2 Dropping off the Edge: the distribution of disadvantage in Australia (Jesuit Social Services, 2007).
3 Wangaratta Crisis Accommodation Research Project (2008) Craig Marshall PACT 4 ABS Counting the Homeless (2006)
• The inequality between rural and other communities is demonstrated in the poorer health status of people living in rural communities • Research in men's health indicates that rural men have significantly poorer health than their metropolitan counterparts with mortality rates some 20% higher and morbidity rates from respiratory disease, injury and poisoning and heart disease substantially higher than for males in urban areas.5 • Limited access for vulnerable people in the smaller rural communities to specialised health & wellbeing services (mental health, sexuality issues, contraception, family breakdown etc). • In the North East the age group of disengaged young people is becoming younger and an increased proportion of primary school aged students are disengaging and/or being suspended or expelled from school – major gap in funding school engagement programs for rural areas • Transport options for rural people to larger centres non existent, exacerbated by the rail upgrade and the reliance on bus services to Melbourne by extending travel times by extra 2 hours. Some communities have no or extremely limited access to public transport to enable them to access health / welfare services • Young people unable to live independently and study in the regional centres and Melbourne due changes in Youth Allowance guidelines. • University entrance for rural and regional young people has declined significantly over the last five years. Deferrals offset the declining number of students entering university. However, the rising number of deferrals is of concern. Apprenticeships and traineeships are on the decline6. • Rurality is further compounding for young people, as distance and lack of technology advances their isolation, lack of opportunities and significantly impacts on their ability to undertake their studies (all LGAs are below state average for access to the Internet and Broadband). • Further to the barriers of distance and isolation, young people in the ‘Hume Corridor’ region also experience other difficulties such as affordable accommodation shortages, identity and disadvantage. This is particularly exacerbated by years of extreme drought and significant bushfire events over the last 5 years. • Lack of sustainable employment opportunities and career pathways enabling young people to remain in their communities • Many young rural people see rural communities as not very youth friendly – with a focus on catering for needs of older residents • Wodonga has areas of increasing relative disadvantage which are some of the highest in rural Victoria and the Hume Region. A significant number of people and proportion of the population of the City of Wodonga live in areas of high relative disadvantage, predominantly associated with public housing. In recent years there has been no identifiable joined-up government investment to address disadvantage or strengthen local communities (i.e. Neighbourhood Renewal).
For NESAY the leading concern of ‘Disadvanatge and Inequity in rural and regional Victoria’ is the issue of Youth Homelessness.
Most people have the perception that the following issues and data are a city problem – that it is ‘not an issue in the country’ and especially ‘not in a place like Wangaratta’. However, whilst it may not be as visible as urban homelessness – there is a rising proportion of young people in our local area that are out of home, out of school, out of work – very marginalised and in urgent need of support. The recent data released by NESAY on young homeless clients is alarming.
• The average age of rural NESAY clients first experiencing homelessness is 14.8 years • 38.2% had been homeless between one and six months
5 A Litany of Disadvantage – Rural Communities of Australia (2000) ASCSW Secretariat 6 On Track Data – NETracks LLEN 2009
• 11% of those seeking assistance had accompanying children • Homeless youth of Wangaratta, Benalla, Indigo, Alpine, Moira, Mansfield, Strathbogie, Mitchell and Murrindindi LGA’s have no access at all to short term emergency accommodation. The nearest youth refuge with only 6 beds is in away and the other youth refuge with only 6 beds is in Shepparton. • Mansfield Shire receives no SAAP funding or services • The only form of emergency accommodation in the region is caravan parks and cheap motels. The appropriateness of a 15 year old being put in a caravan park 15 klm out of Wangaratta is questionable. All the motel operators in the region will not allow under 18’s to stay in their accommodation. • There is a strong correlation between rural youth homelessness, substance abuse and involvement with the justice system, which has serious implications for the wider community. In NESAY’s recent Homelessness and Health survey (2007) 82% of the respondents reported that they used illicit drugs several times a week AFTER they became homeless. • There is no government funding for ‘generalist’ youth counsellors based in rural youth agencies (early intervention) • On average 33% of NESAY’s homeless young people were not receiving any form of Centrelink allowance or income. • Goulburn-Ovens-Murray region had one of the highest rates of early school leaving amongst males in the non-metropolitan area. • The NESAY Homelessness and Health Survey (2007) reported that 88% of respondents had noted that they experienced some form of mental illness. 75% of the respondents that had suffered from emotional or mental illness stated that it was a major factor in them becoming homeless.
NESAY Youth and Family Services has
• NO emergency or crisis accommodation available for all of the local governments areas that NESAY services • NO SAAP funding allocated to the Central Hume Region for youth emergency or crisis accommodation • NO funded SAAP services at all in Mansfield Shire, Upper Alpine Shire, Strathbogie Shire and Towong Shire • The Central Hume area comprising Alpine, Mansfield, Benalla and Wangaratta local government areas has 21.2% of the total youth population in Hume Region with NESAY (the only youth welfare agency in Central Hume Region) only receiving 6.8% of the total Youth Crisis and Transitional Support funding in the Region (DHS) • Wangaratta has the second highest level of recorded periods of homelessness in the region • State wide perspective – Hume Region received 5.3% of total SAAP funding for Victoria in 2008. • Of the Housing Emergency Fund funding for Hume Region only 4.9% is allocated for youth. • The Hume Region has the lowest number of SAAP agencies in Victoria and receives the second lowest recurrent allocation of funds. • Rural and regional agencies are funded with the same formula as metropolitan agencies despite significant geographic areas to cover (fuel, vehicles, staffing etc) • Recruitment, retention and specialist training for staff is extremely difficult and financially draining • There is a total reliance by our agency on commercially provided accommodation options for crisis or emergency use. • Isolated communities have no options for emergency or crisis accommodation, availability occurs in distant communities isolating people from personal supports and services when most needed. • High levels of poverty exist in young rural homelessness people
• NESAY currently only receives $30,000 for intensive case management services for complex clients who are experiencing homelessness.