The future of the tagari lia and wayraparattee Aboriginal Children and Family Centres in Tasmania is up in the air following the Abbott government’s Budget of wrong choices and wrong priorities, which did not renew ongoing funding.

The tagari lia centre in Bridgewater and the wayraparattee centre in Geeveston are two of 38 centres around the nation which face oblivion when the National Partnership Agreement (NPA) on Indigenous Early Childhood Development expires on 30 June 2014.

Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Shayne Neumann, together with Senator for Tasmania, Catryna Bilyk, visited tagari lia to talk to management, staff and families and hear first-hand how they will be affected by the funding cuts.

“We know early childhood education is at the heart of our efforts to Closing the Gap in Indigenous disadvantage,” Mr Neumann said.

“The tagari lia and wayraparattee centres have been essential in educating young children, while instilling and strengthening their sense of Aboriginal identity and self-esteem in this region.

“Tony Abbott’s refusal to commit any funds to centres such as tagari lia and wayraparattee will have devastating and long lasting effects which threaten to undermine our efforts to Closing the Gap in Indigenous disadvantage.

“Tony Abbott’s choices show he does not recognise or value the important cultural and social relationships that underlie all of our efforts to Close the Gap.”

The National Partnership Agreement committed $564 million for the establishment of 38 Children and Family Centres, which deliver early childhood education, antenatal care programs and maternal and child health services.

The centres provide quality, culturally appropriate, community-based integrated support services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.

Senator Bilyk said that having worked closely with both of Tasmania’s Aboriginal Children and Family Centres, she could see the amazing transformative impact that they are having on their local communities.

“These centres provide a range of education, health and well-being services including counselling, family planning, playgroups, childbirth classes, child health services and family support programs to name just a few,” Senator Bilyk said.

“Both tagari lia and wayraparattee have been embraced by their local communities, with hundreds of people accessing the centres’ services every month.

“With suburbs like Bridgewater and Geeveston already experiencing high levels of unemployment and social disadvantage, the impact of these Centres closing will be devastating.”

tagari lia and wayraparattee were built as part of the Council of Australian Government’s approach to Closing the Gap, which seeks to reduce the gap in developmental outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children by addressing the needs of Indigenous children in their early years.

tagari lia, which is the local Aboriginal word for family, has been operating successfully since 2013 and offers a range of holistic family support services for local families in and around Bridgewater.

wayraparattee, meaning ‘forest ground’, has been operating in Geeveston since 2011.
THE HON SHAYNE NEUMANN MP SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS SHADOW MINISTER FOR AGEING MEMBER FOR BLAIR SENATOR CATRYNA BILYK SENATOR FOR TASMANIA