Sam Hibbins to ask the Minister for Carers and Volunteers —
With reference to the Neighbourhood House Coordination Program, which has suffered from over a decade of indexation well below the actual cost increases incurred, will the Government commit to restoring adequate funding to the sector in the upcoming state budget, including additional funding to meet the growing need for food and material relief.
Response from the Minister for Carers and Volunteers
Neighbourhood houses are important place-based social infrastructure, where people come to connect, learn, and contribute to their local community. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the challenges that the community sector, including neighbourhood houses, face with increasing costs.
I am pleased to confirm that the Allan Labor Government is continuing to provide strong support to the neighbourhood house sector, with funding of more than $43 million each year through the Neighbourhood House Coordination Program. This includes funding to around 400 neighbourhood houses, 16 networks and the peak body, Neighbourhood Houses Victoria.
In 2022, the Government reaffirmed its support for the valuable work of neighbourhood houses by increasing our ongoing annual funding commitment by $6.6 million each year and providing an additional $19 million over three years. The government also increased indexation for community service organisations to 5.45 per cent, up from the 3.29 per cent originally announced in the 2023-24 State Budget.
In addition, since 2020 the Government has delivered more than $50 million to strengthen the food relief system and deliver more food to people in need. This includes allocating more than $16 million in strategic investments to strengthen food relief infrastructure, organisational capacity and collaboration across Victoria’s community food relief sector.
The request for additional funding for the sector will be considered as part of the 2024-25 State Budget process.
I wish all neighbourhood house staff and volunteers across the state well, and I look forward to getting out and visiting houses across the state this year.
