Under the historic Treaty Bill tabled at the Victorian Parliament, Aboriginal-led community-controlled organisations will continue to be supported and funded, says a local leader.
The Dandenong and Districts Aborigines Co-operative Limited (DDACL) recently evacuated from its ageing, crumbling, asbestos-exposed building on Stud Road.
The “one stop shop” provides crucial services in housing, aged care support, youth program services, maternal health, community programs with an adjoining health care clinic, Bunurong Aboriginal Health Service.
It had finally secured its first-ever infrastructure funding of $12.3 million announced in May, comprising $9.7 million towards the fit-out of their new accommodation at the Monash Health Integrated Care Centre in Cranbourne and $2.3 million to cover the lease for five years.
First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria member Andrew Gardiner is identified as the reserved seat holder in the Metro Region representing Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.
He has previously worked at the DDACL as a manager, general manager and chief executive.
“Treaty will enable opportunities for community-controlled organisations like DDACL to continue to provide the depths of services they do at present and produce those into the future,” Mr Gardiner says.
“They’ll apply every two to three years to renew their funding for the programs the delivery they can show the increased improvements in the community.”
Mr Gardiner says all Aboriginal community-controlled organisations were consulted and included as part of the treaty, including DDACL.
“The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria have met a number of times in state-wide meetings with all Aboriginal community-controlled organisations discussing how the treaty would affect them.
“I’m confident they (DDACL) participated in one or number of those.
“They had little to do, other organisations had more to do, others had smaller contributions. The question was how is it going to affect us?
“Just because the treaty comes doesn’t mean they stop, it’s not a round up with their funds discontinued. They’ll continue to provide their services, the work and funding they are getting.”
Whether the First Peoples’ Assembly will look into establishming new Aboriginal community organisations hasn’t “been on the drawing board”, he said. It will depend on the community needs and gaps in existing services.
“If there’s gaps in services that all those organisations can identify they can call for another organisation to be produced to fill in those gaps or they can collaborate.
“The treaty is not about taking over and cutting their money.
“The DDACL has developed in a lot of ways but they can’t do everything, so it needs an injection of funds to respond to the needs of the community.
“If another organisation would be established it would have to be doing something different.”
The landmark bill, if passed, will establish the First Peoples’ Assembly under a new council called Gellung Warl to make rules on matters that directly affect First Peoples in the state.
It will deliver a formal apology to First Peoples, educate students as part of Aboriginal truth-telling school curriculum, name parks and waterways after traditional Aboriginal names while aiming not to take anything away from the broader community in the process.
The Dandenong facility is one of the 200 Aboriginal health and wellbeing facilities across the state, according to a recent report co-authored by Infrastructure Victoria and The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO).
The report has revealed more than half of those buildings are already at the end of their economic life with 82 per cent of the community-controlled health organisations need to be replaced or require substantial repairs within the next 15 years.
The buildings assessed are 40 years old on average with 17 of them more than 100 years old.
The oldest building is 174 years old.
DDACL was established on Stud Rd in 1975 however its current CEO Jenny Ockwell recently said the building dates back to the early 1950’s-60’s.
