Legislative Council, Tuesday 25 October 2022

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - I reiterate comments made by others with regard to the value of neighbourhood houses and community houses, whatever they are called in the region. They provide a vital service to a community and sometimes they are the absolute backstop of the community when there is nothing else. In Hobart, with a high-density population and lots of other services that the member for Hobart referred to, the need is not there for this sort of service particularly.

I particularly acknowledge the amazing work they do, as others have, and the absolute value of the volunteer workforce that provides support to all the neighbourhood houses around the state. They are truly incredible and we know that COVID-19 had some impact on the volunteers but they have been absolutely reliable and done whatever they could during that time to assist their communities. They are a hub to bring services together or make space available for services to visit where there is nothing else in the region. I have four in my electorate and I will talk briefly about each of them and more particularly about one of them.

In Rosebery, for example, when the bakery shut down and there was nowhere to get a cup of tea in town, they provided that. People would go there and have their morning coffee or cup of tea and that was their meeting place. There was nowhere else for a period. They provide a whole range of other services too but they rely very heavily on volunteers, many of whom are older people in our community which makes it a challenge in itself, particularly when there is illness in the community.

They also provide a safe place for people to go for no particular reason where you can deliver passive services to them, where they can see posters on the wall. They can see things about family violence; they can see things about drug and alcohol misuse; they can see things about gambling addiction. You do not have to make an appointment to see someone about that. They know that they can go there safely and there is a place there.

The member for Montgomery will be familiar with the Burnie Community House.

Mrs Hiscutt - I was going to mention that.

Ms FORREST - It is in my electorate.

Mrs Hiscutt - Seeing as we are talking about shared places, that used to be in my electorate but it is not now. It is in yours but I would like to think that we share that one.

Ms FORREST - We do.

Mrs Hiscutt - Thank you. You are very generous.

Ms FORREST - I think it has always been in mine. Shorewell Creek is the boundary and it is on the western side of Shorewell Creek.

Mr Valentine - I am sure the people who attend come from both areas.

Ms Webb - I am sure the catchment area goes into yours.

Ms FORREST - Yes, a catchment area absolutely. Either way, I am happy to share because we both recognise the great value of this work. It is in a low socio-economic part of Burnie in the Shorewell Park area around Acton, which is the member for Montgomery's area. Shorewell is my area and the creek divides it.

The Child and Family Centre is definitely in the member for Montgomery's area but it is on the other side of the creek which does have a bridge over it which is still functioning. It is only a small bridge.

The Burnie Community House provides an enormous range of services and a lot of them are passive so people can go in and get support for a whole range of matters without fear of being judged and without fear of being thought to be attending for a particular matter. There is such a wide range of services and a wide range of information available there and that is the beauty of these places. They are in smaller communities where everyone likes to know everyone else's business. They absolutely do.

Ms Rattray - It is called caring.

Ms FORREST - Perhaps caring a bit too much on some occasions but that way people do not have to disclose or even feel like - today is the day for drug and alcohol education.

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Before the afternoon break, I was talking about the value and importance of some of the passive service delivery and how it is a safe place for people to access a whole range of services, without identifying the fact that they are going for a particular reason. There is no sign outside saying 'come and have your drug and alcohol education here today', it is much subtler than that. People are much more comfortable and feel they can walk into these neighbourhood houses and receive the services they need without having to necessarily declare the reason they are there. The staff are very good at facilitating that and being very aware, knowing that sometimes they may need to find a quiet room with someone to have an individual chat. I know all our neighbourhood houses would work in a similar way. I note in the Burnie Community House that is a particularly valuable service the way they do that.

Another one of the neighbourhood houses in my electorate is Zeehan. That has had low patronage at times because of the fluctuations in population. Zeehan is coming alive again now with Avebury mine underway and more people in the region. All of these in my electorate found it very difficult to continue to maintain services during COVID-19. A lot of their volunteers were older people, but they were often the only backstop for people during those times. They continued to provide and do continue to provide an amazing service. I thank them sincerely for their work.

The other one I wanted to speak about is the one on King Island, called the Phoenix Community House. I wanted to read in part of a letter of support I wrote for Phoenix House, because it does describe the role and the challenges particularly for King Island with Phoenix House. We know that it is part of a wider network of 35 neighbourhood houses, each offering a place for people to come together to find support, belonging and purpose. Members who came on the electorate tour would have visited there and seen the new Phoenix House complex built where they co-located the Men's Shed and the community garden. I was there a couple of weeks ago and they are doing some incredible work on the community garden, making it much more accessible for people with mobility issues who can more easily access it as the garden is on a bit of a slope. They are doing some great work there.

That day, they had a fantastic new coffee van parked outside. The coffee was free for everyone who wanted to come along and visit. It was fantastic that Phoenix House was providing that service, and the men were popping in and out of the Men's Shed and there were also lots of visitors while I was there.

The committed and dedicated staff of Phoenix Community House, together with the generosity of volunteers, have worked hard to create an oasis, a place to seek support, information skills, develop relationships within the community of King Island, and again, being a small community, it is important that they can turn up there. There is a nice quiet meeting room I have used to meet constituents when I am over there, and they can access a whole range of services passively as well as actively. They also have a great kitchen and they cook some pretty good food as we saw the day we were there.

Ms Rattray - Great morning tea.

Ms FORREST - Yes, and I was there when this beautiful sponge was there. Did you see that photo on Facebook? That was pretty good.

They offer a range of services, including, but not limited to, the King Island Men's Shed, the community garden and various wellbeing and craft activities. I personally believe the Phoenix Community House also plays an important role in the delivery of public notices and information. The promotion and support of local inclusion, participation and engagement creates a real connection with the community for this region, who can suffer from social isolation and exclusion. As I said, the Rosebery Neighbourhood House does and the Zeehan Neighbourhood House, they are called neighbourhood houses too in Rosebery and Zeehan, not community houses.

We know none of this is possible without adequate funding. That is the point I want to raise in regard to Phoenix House. I understand that Zeehan and Rosebery Neighbourhood Houses have secured recurrent funding from the Tasmanian Government, like many others around the state. I also understand that the Phoenix Community House did receive state government funding in the last budget but it was only for one year. It does not give you any surety and security of service provision. This may have been partly because previously Phoenix Community House received ongoing federal funding. As someone else mentioned earlier there was another one that was federally funded.

Mrs Hiscutt - Yes, the defence force one.

Mr Willie - The one at Dowsing Point for veterans.

Ms FORREST - That is right. I am not sure of the history of how Phoenix Community House came to be federally funded but that funding has now ceased. I am supporting the call on behalf of Phoenix Community House and Sally Haneveer who does a truly amazing job there, to ensure we can have committed longer term funding because they do provide such a critical service on the island. Even though, as members would be aware, we do not have high rates of unemployment on King Island, we do not have as high rates of poverty, we certainly have issues with housing over there. Like everywhere, no difference there.

In spite of being a small island that is quite connected, there also are people there who suffer from social isolation and exclusion. They often require linking up of services for them to make sure they can access the services they need and try not to have to leave the island. It is quite expensive, as members may be aware, and it is not always easy for them because if they are going with Sharp Airlines to the Tasmanian mainland it is a small plane and that can be difficult for them, as the member for McIntyre well knows with going to Flinders Island.

I urge the Government to fully consider the budget submission for funding from Phoenix Community House to ensure it can continue to be funded beyond one year to continue to provide an important service to the island. I thank the member for Prosser for bringing forward the motion. It is important we acknowledge the work of these important organisations throughout the state, particularly those servicing remote and isolated communities at times too. I support the motion and thank the member for bringing it forward.