Emily Chapman Laing
Community Information and Support Cranbourne (CISC) employee Leanne Petrides from has warned locals can expect restrictions in the emergency support available to them as the new financial year begins.
Ms Petrides, who has worked at CISS for 24 years, has spoken openly about the Federal Government failing to match funding to demand for emergency relief support in the South Casey area.
“I’ve never seen the situation quite so bad,“ she said.
“We’ve got a more vulnerable community, we’ve got a massive cost of living crisis and I’m seeing more people at imminent risk of homelessness.
“Since the first of July we’ve been forced to halve the amount of financial assistance we can give people and the number of appointments we have each day.“
Ms Petrides said CISC staff are having to turn away around 10 families each day to keep in line with the new budget.
She fears the toll turning people away will have on the “desperate“ families seeking help, as well as the volunteers who are unable to provide the level of care they are accustomed to offering.
“The hardest thing is the distress,“ Ms Petrides said.
“The impact is just so hard.“
In response, CISC has implemented longer appointment times for the families they are able to help, to ensure everything possible is being done to ease their situational burdens.
“Our financial counsellors have said that about 90 per cent of the clients have jobs, but are just falling off of that cliff,“ Ms Petrides said.
In a video posted on Thursday 5 July, Ms Petrides said this financial year, the help provided by the support centre “might look a little bit different“.
“Times are tough, we struggle when we go to the petrol station, people are struggling to pay utility bills and keep a roof over their head,“ she said.
“We know that going to the supermarket can really put a strain on the household budget.
“Unfortunately, with the massive increase in demand and our funding not keeping up with that, we are forced to restrict the level of voucher support that we are able to provide people.“
CISC offers a range of supports, including energy bill relief, food vouchers, emergency grocery items, petrol vouchers, medication vouchers, financial counselling, gambler’s help and refugee support.
All of these resources have felt the brunt of a weak budget, which Ms Petrides said would need to be “doubled“, just to meet baseline demand.
“At the moment, the Federal Government funds emergency relief across Australia, giving $50 million annually, a drop in the ocean,“ she said.
“They can absolutely afford to double that at a minimum.
“What we need is some coordination of funding so that we can actually build capacity to service the community.“
As inflation sees soaring costs for daily necessities, CISC staff are finding their vouchers aren’t getting people very far.
“It kills us when we see petrol jump,“ Ms Petrides said.
At the Cranbourne Chamber of Commerce event on Thursday 5 July, Ms Petrides questioned Federal Member for Holt Cassandra Fernando about the insufficient funding being offered to keep families afloat during the cost of living crisis.
Ms Fernando said she understands funding often fails to meet demand for the services support centres provide.
“We must always strive to support them more,“ she said.
“The Albanese Government is providing further support in the form of increases across the board to Commonwealth payments like Jobseeker, Youth and Study Allowance, and Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
“We have made changes to income thresholds for individuals and couples to access the pension, meaning more seniors can get this vital payment.“
Ms Fernando offered, in response, the various ways she believes the Federal Government is tacking the cost of living crisis.
“We have made medicines under the PBS cheaper – the first time this has happened in its 75-year history,“ she said.
“We have made a historic $3.5 billion investment into Bulk-Billing incentives to increase the coverage of bulkbilling across the country.
“We are implementing 60-day prescriptions – which for many will mean less visits to the GP and a saving of up to $180 a year if eligible and concession card holders will save up to $43.80 a year per medicine.“
Ms Petrides commends Ms Fernando’s involvement in advocating for CISC, but remains unimpressed by the meagre day-to-day increases offered by the Federal Government.
“Twenty dollars isn’t enough, forty dollars isn’t enough,“ she said.
“It’s nowhere near, you just have to look at the increasing rates alone.
“People are on a treadmill, and at the moment, despite all of those things, it’s one step forward, two steps back.“
