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Neighbourhood Houses Under Threat: Hall

An urgent review of funding arrangements for Neighbourhood Houses needs to be undertaken to ensure their viability, according to Gippsland MP, Peter Hall.

By Peter Hall - 9th September 2005 - Back to News

The Nationals MP raised the issue in Parliament this week, calling for the Minister for Local Government to consider a funding submission from the Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres, which is seeking a "realistic level of administrative funding."

Mr Hall said an increasing reliance on adult, community and further education (ACFE) funding was changing the purpose of neighbourhood houses and in some cases putting their future at risk.

"Neighbourhood houses are part of the network which provides educational opportunities for adults," Mr Hall said. "They share this responsibility primarily with adult and community education and TAFE providers.

"But neighbourhood houses provide far more than just formal education. The social and personal development, the enhancement of self-esteem and community cohesion are all important outcomes of the concept of neighbourhood houses. Indeed, these have been and in my view should continue to be the prime focus of neighbourhood houses in our community."

Mr Hall pointed out however that the reliance on ACFE funding could put some neighbourhood houses at risk, because the minimum fees required could not be met by clients.

"The most recent punch thrown at neighbourhood houses from this government is the requirement that a minimum fee of $51 be charged for all ACFE-funded courses," he said.

"Perhaps if you are doing a 40-hour formal course, then a $51 fee may be appropriate, but typically, neighbourhood houses provide shorter courses usually of 2 or 3 hours duration, up to about 10 hours, and to ask people to pay a $51 fee for those sorts of courses is totally unrealistic.

"In fact, that $51 is becoming a significant barrier to someone undertaking what is a mere taste of further education."

Mr Hall quoted from a letter sent by the Gippsland Regional Neighbourhood Houses Group early this month to the Education and Training Minister, which said: "The decision to introduce a minimum fee of $51 plus for all ACFE-funded courses will have the following outcomes in our region; it will be impossible for many people to afford courses (and) the offering of courses without a vocational possibility will mean a large number of the smaller, more community-focused providers will be forced out of ACE altogether."

Mr Hall said it was vital the Government provided realistic levels of funding to Neighbourhood Houses.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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