While some recipients have expressed gratitude for past council funding, others believe the assistance is not enough to tackle the real problems. These comments come as grants of up to $50,000 become available for Redlands community spaces seeking to improve their facilities.
Mayor Jos Mitchell says the Redland City Council grants can secure better facilities, local partnerships, and new employment, as well as benefiting disadvantaged and vulnerable community members.
Minjerribah Moorgumpin Elders-in-Council (MMEIC) chairperson Aunty Mary Burgess views council support, such as the Capital Infrastructure Grant program, as a success story. MMEIC is a not-for-profit cultural body working to preserve and advocate for the First Nations communities of North Stradbroke and Moreton Island. As a recipient of the Civic Support fund at the end of 2023, Aunty Mary said that MMEIC distributed $185 vouchers from Stradbroke Island Butchery to 110 local residents in need during tough times with the rising cost of living.
“The vouchers were more than just a meal; they represented support and solidarity. Our community recipients told us how much this gesture meant to them and their families during the festive season,” Aunty Mary said. She added that MMEIC was staying alert for future grant opportunities and encourages other community groups to do the same. MMEIC noted they were aware of this year’s grant program but had already secured sufficient federal funding.
On the other hand, Redlands Community Centre’s Allison Wicks, whose organization received Civic Support funding last year, said the grants were not enough to meet essential needs. “That funding went overnight,” Ms. Wicks said, indicating unsustainable grants for community-based centres nationwide.
“People are doing it tough… they need food, accommodation, a roof over their head, and to get their kids equipped for school.” Ms. Wicks said the centre was grateful for its $20,000 in funding towards school children last year, excluding GST, but where resources were needed most was the centre itself.
“When you take a community centre like ours, which has lost 46% of its funding over the last four years, (the council) says, ‘Yep, we want you to apply for these grants, and all of this money is going to the community.’ But we still need to have people to deliver these programs, and none of the funds from any of these grants can be used towards staff resources. It’s not holistic, and it’s not sustainable.”
While Redland City Council’s latest program funds community centre infrastructure directly, this money does not go towards staff pay. Ms. Wicks said that it was too little, too late. “We are stretched to the limit; my staffing levels have gone from 15 to five, and yet you still have to go through quite an arduous process to get quite small sums of money delivered to communities in need, and yet we’re not getting any support to deliver these projects.”
Community Legal Centres Australia plans to launch a campaign to Parliament to address underfunding of frontline services in local communities. The organisation said the campaign “will reveal that underfunded local legal services are turning away twice as many people every year as they can assist with current resources.”
