Funding cut to Indigenous Community Volunteers

[Lyn Jones]

Hello Everyone,

received this from Ewan from our local Amnesty International Group, and Anna from the Gold Coast Reconciliation Group.

For information on the work done by Indigenous Community Volunteers, please see attachment to this email.

Any assistance you can provide at this time would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Lyn 

ps please remember our gathering tomorrow afternoon, in the picnic area behind the Arts Centre. But if there is too much wind or it is raining/starting to rain come to the Arts Cafe instead(without your afternoon tea offerings!)

 

 

 

Hi there ... more sad news on the indigenous affairs front.
One wonders whether our Federal Government is really interested in closing the gap.
See the ICV website for more info ...  http://www.icv.com.au/home/
Best wishes
Ewan

Dear friends

We need your help. The Australian Government has proposed to cut funding to ICV by 83% - from $1.7 million this financial year to only $300,000 from 1 July. This could significantly affect the services that ICV provides to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients who also are some of Australia’s most disadvantaged and marginalised people.

Last year, over 25,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people benefited directly from ICV’s programs. The total amount of volunteer time put into ICV projects was equivalent to 128 years of human service at a value of $9.9million.  Although we already have a high degree of self-reliance and are slowly gaining a wider funding base from public donations, this dramatic cut in Commonwealth funding to ICV will put at risk the valuable community development services that we are providing to help close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage. 

The Commonwealth has acknowledged that we are delivering a high quality service that is making a difference.  Its advice about the cuts has been the ‘tight Federal budgetary environment’.  But given the people we serve, ICV believes that the services it provides should be the last to be cut in such circumstances.  If you share this view and see value in our product, we urge you to send a letter to Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin MP expressing your concern at ICV missing out on crucial funding in the Federal Budget.

Personalised letters are always more effective. If you are concerned and have the time, we would be grateful if you wrote to Minister Macklin in your own words. Here are some key points to include:

o   Express your concern at the decrease in funding and the impact this will have on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

o   Call on the Australian Government to take swift action to increase funding to support the valuable service provided by ICV.

o   Mention that ICV is leveraging the gratis services of Australians who volunteer their time. 

o   Emphasise that ICV is one of the few organisations working in this field that measures and reports on the impacts of its program.  This means we know that we are having a real effect. 

Minister Macklin’s email address is jmack...@aph.gov.au

If you would prefer to mail a letter, the address to send it to is:

The Hon Jenny Macklin MP

Suite MG 51

Parliament House

Canberra ACT 2600

 

You may receive a response from Minister Macklin’s office, if so please forward the response to us at act...@icv.com.au

If you prefer to not receive these emails, please email act...@icv.com.au with UNSUSBCRIBE in the subject line.

Thank you for your time.

Gregory Andrews

CEO

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http://members.optusnet.com.au/~honur/index.html
 
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