Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Community leadership programs

Jade BENHAM (Mildura) (19:13): (87) This adjournment matter is for the Minister for Regional Development, and the action I seek is to urgently fund the Northern Mallee Leaders program and other regional Victorian leadership programs for five years to enable them to create public value in my electorate and right across the state. Community leadership programs have been developing confident and capable leaders in our regional communities since 1996, and yet year after year they need to advocate for funding from the very governments they are creating public value for. It does not lead to a very productive time. Funding for community leadership programs has fallen from three- or four-year commitments to just 12 months at a time. This lack of consistency makes it almost impossible for these programs to retain key staff or to keep the staff that remain from burning out as they work tirelessly to deliver programs, coordinate projects, advocate for further funding et cetera. They do work very, very hard.

There are nine community leadership programs that operate across over 217,000 square kilometres, and they boast a graduate network of over 4500 key influencers – in the right way – in their communities. This network of community-minded Victorians work together to create public value and prepare for emergencies and are at the head of every recovery effort, from bushfires to floods, the pandemic and everything else that is thrown their way. Their volunteer value is three times that of the average person that is not a graduate of the Northern Mallee Leaders program. Research currently being conducted by scholars – and I sat with a PhD candidate last week, and she was so passionate about the data that she has collected – at Swinburne University highlights that the community leadership programs are responsible for creating public value through the design and delivery of community projects and the volunteer contribution of these community leaders. Their programs also have significant economic, environmental and social impact in our regions, and many projects continue to run year after year after the graduates have finished the program. They also address both the regional development goals and in fact the United Nations sustainable development goals.

These communities are not going anywhere, and neither should the programs that are vital to creating public value in regional Victoria. With the Commonwealth Games coming up and the need for skilled volunteers throughout regional Victoria at their peak, now is the time to commit to these funding programs for at least the next five years. Each year the cohorts include community members who identify as LGBTQIA+, Indigenous or Torres Strait Islanders, carers, people living with a disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and people at all ages and stages of their career. I seek this action not just for the Northern Mallee Leadership program but all programs throughout the region.