ASSISTANCE to Queensland’s poorest for items such as rent, bills, food and fuel is under threat following State Government cuts of more than $350,000 to funding for the St Vincent de Paul Society.
The St Vincent de Paul Society has received this funding for more than two decades from the Queensland Government.
The only notification of its discontinuation was a media release issued by the Minister for Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services on September 12.
State president Brian Moore expressed “utter disbelief” at the decision.
“You have to ask yourself if it’s a saving worth making when families are forced to go hungry, are having their electricity cut off or facing eviction,” he said.
The society’s state chief executive officer Peter Maher said the funds “set to go directly to the poor had been pulled with no consultation”.
“It’s very much below the belt – all we’re being told is that this sort of funding is a Federal Government responsibility.”
Mr Maher said redundancies occurring in the government sector were likely to put even more strain on the society’s finances next year.
Mr Moore acknowledged that savings in running government were required.
“But emergency relief is the final backstop for people who have run out of options,” he said.
“This is money that our members give to mothers to buy infant formula, to pensioners for scripts or sole breadwinners to get fuel so they can keep working.
“We gave $9.5 million in direct financial assistance in 2010-11 and a further $4.6 million of in-kind help.
“That assistance gave over 340,000 Queens-landers from every corner of this state a hand up in their time of need.”
Mr Moore said the society would have to find an extra $350,000 from January next year.
“It may not seem like a lot but we have been relying on this funding for the past two decades to help Queensland’s poorest,” he said.
“This doesn’t end with us – we expect there are other community organisations that are now facing the same funding shortfall created by this budget cut.”
St Vincent de Paul Society representatives were to have met last Wednesday with Queensland Communities Minister Tracy Davis.
However, Mr Maher said, given the State Government’s claims such funding was a federal responsibility, he doubted whether any progress would be made in resolving the issue.
“To suggest we should rely on the Federal Government’s scheme when their budget has already been handed down is unrealistic,” he said.
“Anyway, taking care of Queensland’s poorest is a responsibility that should be shared by all levels of government and all levels of society.”
Brisbane archdiocese’s Centacare executive director Peter Selwood said it was too early to tell what the fall-out might be for Centacare in terms of the overall funding and job cuts.
“In a broad sense, funding for disability services and community aged-care services has been maintained and indexed at around three per cent,” he said.
“This is a very pleasing result given the current circumstances.”
However, he expressed concern a number of smaller programs, particularly in regional areas could be at risk.
“The loss of small programs can easily lead to the closure of an entire regional service and we are monitoring this situation closely,” Mr Selwood said.
He also noted Fair Work Australia had awarded significant pay increases to the community and disability sectors.
“These need to be factored in later this year and we are not certain that the increases announced in the budget will meet the growing wages bill,” he said.
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