John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

According to a report by Marie Sansom in today’s Inner-West Weekly, Beyond Home, a project funded by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and run under the auspices of Inner West Neighbourhood Aid, will end next week due to a lack of recurrent funding. Beyond Home is a wonderful program which has provided transitional care services for veterans and/or family members in Sydney’s inner west who are transferring from home and into aged care.

Moving from one’s home of many years can be a difficult thing for all of us, let alone the frail, elderly or those without family support structures. Beyond Home is a unique service that provides members of our ex-service community with practical and emotional support, be it information that allows informed decisions to be made, purchasing furniture for a new home or visiting members to calm their nerves while settling into their new environment. For all intents and purposes, Beyond Home workers walk hand in hand with the person during a transition period that could otherwise distress or overburden them.

My attention has been drawn to the case of a local constituent, Rita Robinson, who is 87 years of age and partially blind. She has had to uproot her entire life to move into a nursing home and has openly admitted she could not have done so without the assistance and support of her Beyond Home volunteer. I understand that Ms Robinson and her volunteer have since forged a strong friendship. We are all required to be mindful of those within our communities who require our assistance and support. It is important for those of us who do enjoy the good life in Australia to help those who, for whatever reason, need our practical or emotional backing. Such a philosophy also extends to the government when it is running record budget surpluses and can clearly continue to fund this unique and important program.

Australians have long placed considerable stock in the values of mateship and social justice, and those involved with Beyond Home have brought great credit to these values. When announcing funding for this program in 2004, the then Minister for Veterans’ Affairs stated:

Australia owes a debt of gratitude to its veterans and service personnel for their service and sacrifice in times of war and conflict and their continuing contribution to our community.

Never has a truer word been spoken. I would be grateful if the department could investigate extending this debt of gratitude by providing further funding for the Beyond Home project. I also placed question No. 4934 on yesterday’s Notice Paper for the minister’s attention and, given the budgetary pressures on Beyond Home, trust that the minister will address the matter raised as soon as he can.

In speaking on this matter, I have not intended to merely strike at the heart of securing more funding for Beyond Home; I have sought to bring to the attention of those here today the need for ongoing support, be it financial or otherwise, for this and the many other worthy projects in our communities which are undoubtedly valued but whose work may sometimes be forgotten or taken for granted.