BUSTER THE
FUN BUS — FUNDING
373. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the Minister for Community
Services:
(1) Has the
popular Buster the Fun Bus program for children in Fremantle and Melville been
funded this year?
(2) How much
funding did the department provide to this program in previous years?
(3) Is the
minister aware that the program is expected to cease in September this year and
that parents held a rally at the Fremantle Arts Centre yesterday to save the
program?
(4) Why was
funding not provided this year?
(5) Will the
department meet with representatives of the City of Fremantle, which is seeking
to restore this funding?
Hon PETER COLLIER
replied:
On behalf of the
Minister for Community Services, I thank the honourable member for some
notice of this question.
(1) Yes.
(2) Since the
establishment of the Department for Communities, the service has received the
following funding: in 2007–08, $55 639; in 2008–09, $56 713; in
2009–10, $58 441; in 2010–11, $60 749; and in 2011–12,
$63 179.
(3) Yes.
(4) Funding was
provided in 2011–12 and for the first quarter of the 2012–13
financial year. In developing new, longer term funding agreements with service
providers, the Department for Communities has been working with all providers
to develop new service requirements and outcomes for its parenting program in
line with the department's strategic directions and priorities. The
agreed outcomes for the department's parenting program area are for the
provision of information, assistance and support for parents. Along with other
providers, the City of Fremantle was invited to submit a proposal for future
funding to deliver a parenting service. The City of Fremantle's
submission and proposed model of service falls outside the agreed service
outcomes.
(5) Representatives
from the Department for Communities have been in liaison with the City of
Fremantle regarding this issue. Both the department and the city are working to
ensure affected families are able to transition to the more than 40 alternative
playgroup services operating within a 10-kilometre radius of the Fremantle
area.