General News
8 February, 2024
Go Goldfields’ future in question amidst funding insecurity for the local initiative
Plagued by funding uncertainty, the region’s one-of-a-kind Go Goldfields initiative may be forced to discontinue its services by June this year — with the closure likely to impact more than 1400 families. In the last nine years, the scheme has...
Plagued by funding uncertainty, the region’s one-of-a-kind Go Goldfields initiative may be forced to discontinue its services by June this year — with the closure likely to impact more than 1400 families.
In the last nine years, the scheme has received close to $6 million through the Victorian Government’s regional development funding program, according to the Central Goldfields Shire Council (CGSC).
Now with the finances from those grant streams expected to run out in the next five months, Go Goldfields is facing the threat of an imminent shutdown unless it secures additional capital.
Acting as the glue, Go Goldfields works towards addressing disadvantage in the community by partnering with multiple organisations — including but not limited to the State Government, the CGSC, Anglicare Victoria and the Maryborough District Health Service.
Through its diverse collaborations, the initiative has been trying to address the high levels of poverty and vulnerability prevalent in the region, impacting a significant number of children and parents.
“The Central Goldfields has one of the lowest [socio-economic] scores in Victoria,” Go Goldfields manager Carolyn Bartholomeusz said.
“We have a real opportunity to work on improving some of those conditions — we believe in strongly advocating for services to be contextual and place-based.”
Under the umbrella of Go Goldfields is one of its most prominent projects, The Nest.
Opened as a community-led drop-in space in Maryborough, The Nest has been providing critical support to 1407 parents and carers since 2022 — ensuring families have access to a safe space to seek help, information and referrals related to parenting.
“The Nest is a [major venture] we’ve undertaken and it’ll be severely impacted if we don’t get more funding because we wouldn’t be able to sustain it,” Ms Bartholomeusz said.
“It’s also a great example of what we can achieve through these partnerships and what happens when the community is listened to.
“Another thing we took into account was that there was a need for a facilitator — there needed to be someone who could look after the space and provide a range of services including soft referrals to the organisations already in the shire.”
Facilitators at The Nest have given out more than 650 referrals in the last two years and Go Goldfields Leadership Table’s independent chair Rebecca Hanley said there was potential to do more if the initiative had financial stability.
“There are many barries to people seeking the help they need and we’ve been trying to unpack those obstacles one by one but it takes time,” she said.
“What we urgently need is long-term investment so we can achieve these long-term outcomes because currently we only have a few dedicated staff members and we’re surviving year-to-year, funding wise.
“We haven’t been in a position to plan more than 12 months at a time so it’s really hard — there are so many people we’re trying to help but if as an agency, you’re in survival mode, it becomes hard to commit to programs that will take more than three years to reap benefits.”
In a letter to the Victorian Minister for Children, Lizzie Blandthorn, both Ms Bartholomeusz and Ms Hanley, stated that Go Goldfields’ operations were in a precarious state.
“The concentrated depth of disadvantage (refer to table on the right) represented by these comparisons is troubling,” the l
etter said.
“Worse still is that the aggregated numbers fail to adequately capture the complexity of the families in the area, and the level of resources required to make a difference for these children in a rural setting.
“Consequently, the current funding and service approach is distressingly inadequate to address the intergenerational poverty, trauma, lack of local services and isolation in our community.”
The desired outcome of the letter is to secure a funding commitment of $2 million for the next four years, CGSC CEO Lucy Roffey said.
“Ideally, we would need $500,000 every year to ensure Go Goldfields achieves all its significant goals,” she said.
“Getting support from the Victorian Government would also help us access a Federal Government scheme called Stronger Places, Stronger People — that’ll really set us up for success.”
Appreciative of the scheme’s work, Member for Ripon Martha Haylett said better outcomes for everyone in the community was her priority.
“The [State Government] has been supportive of Go Goldfields for many years — providing more than $6.6 million in funding since 2015 — including an additional $225,000 in 2023 to ensure the program could continue to the end of the year and plan for the future,” she said.
“I know how much work the Go Goldfields team has been doing with young people and their families locally.
“I have been continually advocating for it since their final round of funding was announced in June last year, and will continue to support initiatives for local kids, parents and families into the future.”