Achieving Social Inclusion

The ACT Government’s social inclusion and equality agenda focuses on participation, opportunity, and improving outcomes for Canberrans. This work is informed by evidence-based research and data so that we can measure our progress and the difference we make in people’s lives.

Achieving social inclusion and equality is not just about individual initiatives. It is a cohesive approach aimed at giving every opportunity to people to fully participate in our community, and it underpins everything that we do. We will achieve this by ensuring that diversity and differences are not obstacles to participation. This forms an integral part of what we do and who we are as a Government.

The Government's social inclusion agenda includes: integrating our service responses; embedding innovative and collaborative practice into the development and delivery of services; and working together to improve outcomes.

Better lives for everyone with better services

Better Services is a major ACT Government reform in supporting disadvantaged Canberrans. It has a clear purpose: creating a simple service system to provide targeted and appropriate support to people, when and how they need it.

We want services that allow people to focus on dealing with the challenges they face and encourage them to remain involved in our community.

The Better Services objectives are at the heart of the Government’s focus on social inclusion. People facing acute challenges often need support in a range of areas, be it in education, justice, health, housing, child protection or community support. Too often, getting access to these services is complex – so we are making it simpler.

Better Services is driving the changes we need to simplify the service system and is embedding our underlying reform strategy, the Human Services Blueprint (Blueprint). Making these changes to services is a long-term project to which we are thoroughly committed.

The Blueprint is the Government’s plan to change the complicated structures of our service system. It’s based on design principles that ensure services are person-centred, strengths-based, and focused on outcomes. For Canberrans it means the service system is simple and cohesive.

Across Government, the Blueprint design principles have shaped how we design and deliver services. Examples are:

• New funding models such as needs based funding for students as part of the Gonski education reforms, and individualised funding packages through the National Disability Insurance Scheme giving people with disability choice and control.
• Community-focussed change in the West Belconnen Local Services Network; providing simple access to information and services in the Human Services Gateway, the Child Development Service and through the My Community online portal.
• New service models such as the Strengthening Families and Extended Throughcare Programs that provide individuals and their families with a package of supports.
• Supporting public housing tenants to establish themselves in new communities through Public Housing Renewal and aligning housing stock with the needs of tenants.
• Far-reaching ambitions of A Step Up for Our Kids – Out of Home Care Strategy, the Justice Reinvestment strategy and the Schools for All program where integrated responses are key to breaking cycles of vulnerability and disadvantage.

In the past 12 months, we have learnt from the Better Services reforms. The Better Services partnerships (the Human Services Gateway, the West Belconnen Local Services Network, and Strengthening Families) have allowed us to innovate and learn. We are striking a balance between responsible and accountable service design and delivery, while listening to people who use these services to learn what works and what needs to change.

We have laid the foundations to make the services we fund and deliver more efficient and more sustainable. By innovating and ensuring efficiency, we can deliver human services to more Canberrans who need them most.

Better Services is showing how the human services system is sharing and aligning its work to achieve common goals. We have learnt that improving the way we work together to design services across health, education, justice and community services, are vital to building the solutions we need to address historic systemic challenges.

The next steps in the reform journey will focus on key result areas to drive service performance and accountability; new investment models to drive the development of person-centred care across human services; and a collective system of governance that drives whole-of-system accountability.

Women’s Plan

The Government is committed to building a community where women and girls equally and fully participate in their community, the economy, and their city. Opportunity, safety and sustainability are key priorities which aim to provide women and girls with opportunities and support to share in all aspects of Canberra life, to the benefit of themselves and their community.

The Women’s Plan 2010-2015 (Women’s Plan) was the Government’s strategic framework to improve the status and lives of women and girls and to be a best practice leader in addressing the needs and interests of women and girls, increasing and maintaining gender equity in public life, in the community and in the workplace.

The Women’s Plan framework sets out priorities, objectives and indicators structured around three inter-related aspects of community building: economic, social and environmental. The Women’s Plan required Government Directorates to embed considerations of gender in planning, policy and service delivery, it also required Government Directorates to report policy, programs and services against a set of eleven gender-based performance indicators in their annual reports.

The two progress reports brought together in one publication the whole of government reporting, along with additional gender-based benchmark reporting, to capture progress towards the objectives of the Women’s Plan 2010-2015.

The next Women’s Plan will focus Government efforts to improving outcomes for marginalised and disadvantaged women in our community. This includes women with a disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, women who have or are experiencing domestic violence, and women who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness.

In developing the next Women’s Plan the Office for Women has been working closely with the Ministerial Advisory council on Women to ensure the indicators of progress are measurable.

Access to Health Services

From 1 May 2016, the Multicultural Health Policy Unit has been renamed the Multicultural Health and Diversity Policy Unit. Additional staffing resources have been provided to this unit in order to improve organisational responsiveness to the health needs of our multicultural community, those with disability and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer people. The main areas of focus will remain: access and equity; inclusion; elimination of stigma and discrimination; and health literacy.

The Unit will also explore the possibility of seeking external accreditation through the Rainbow Tick. Organisations that are Rainbow Tick accredited are demonstrating their commitment to LGBTI pride, diversity and inclusion. They are letting their LGBTI consumers, staff and community know that they will receive inclusive services from the moment they step through the door.

Participation

The primary objective of the Inclusive Participation Funding Program is increasing participation opportunities in sport and recreation for identified targeted population groups. The groups eligible to receive funding under this Program are:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) People
• Older Adults (45 years and over)
• People with a Disability.

The objective can be achieved in the following ways:

• To provide financial assistance to eligible organisations in the ACT to create new, or improve existing programs, to increase the participation of the target population groups;
• To enhance the capacity and usage of sport and recreational facilities through the provision of specialised non-consumable equipment for the target population groups to participate in sport and active recreation programs;
• Improvement of education and training for those assisting in the development and delivery of sport and active recreation programs and services for the target population groups.

In 2015 a total of $80,000 in funding was provided to 12 organisations.

Concessions

The Government wants to ensure that the ACT Concessions Program is targeted to help those who need it most. A review of the Concessions Program was undertaken in 2014-15 to ensure the Government delivers fair and sustainable concessions into the future, in light of increasing demand and significant Commonwealth funding reductions.

This review included consultation with the community on their views on priority, targeting and options to constrain growth of the Concessions Program. The community was further consulted in November 2015 on 10 options to improve the fairness and targeting of the program.

The Government is committed to extending a helping hand to Canberrans in need. Making sure vulnerable and disadvantaged people in our community have access to concessions for transport and basic services is a key pillar in the Government’s agenda. A large number of people rely on the assistance of the Concessions Program. At present:

• There are around 15,000 households who access the Water and Sewerage Concession, and around 30,000 households who access the Energy and Utility Concession;
• Approximately 15,000 households receive the General Rates Rebate;
• Approximately 37,000 concessions are provided to pensioners and DVA Gold Card holders who receive a 100 per cent concession on the cost of motor vehicle registration;
• The ACT Seniors Card is available to all permanent residents of the ACT over 60 years of age who work less than 20 hours per week in paid employment. The Seniors Card is issued for free and provides access to discounts on a range of goods and services provided by Government and approximately 300 participating businesses;
• Those who hold a Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, ACT Services Access Card, Student Card or a Seniors Card receive concession fares on ACTION buses. In 2013-14 approximately 5.2 million concession trips were taken.

The Government budgeted $53.5 million for the Concessions Program in 2016-17, which includes an additional $35 million over four years to meet increased demand for concession payments.

The review of the concessions system has led to some changes that will ensure an equitable and sustainable system. This Government is working to ensure the system helps those who need it most, in a way that will be sustainable into the future.

 

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