Northern Beaches Council has voted to end its historic agreement to provide funding to three local charities and have instead elected a tender process to take its place.
But the decision does provide a welcome stay of execution on the existing funding for Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter for another year, which was at risk of ceasing in June, as reported by Manly Observer yesterday.
The shelter, alongside other major local charity organisations LocalKind and Beaches Youth Hub will now retain their current funding for another year. After this, a new grant program will be introduced where a “formal process” will allow charities to apply for annual funding of up to 100K, for three years.
The rationale for the decision is to allow a diversity of organisations to have an opportunity to apply for the grant through a tender process, with a panel of experts deciding what charitable service would be most needed in the community by the time of the previous funding’s expiry.
It was agreed the charities currently receiving the funding from Council fall under the categories of family domestic violence, homelessness and youth services, with some Councillors citing issues such as elder abuse or mental health may be more relevant on the Northern Beaches in three years time.
Previously, it has been up to councillors to decide the amount of money the charities receive, with Mayor Sue Heins stating in the meeting, “Every time this comes up, it’s a legacy, and it’s a hard decision to make, I think it’s great that what we want to do now is provide equity for everyone… I think it should be $100,000. I just think that every organisation deserves to be funded equally. This isn’t one organisation, one service, deserves more than another.”
The successful amendment was put forward at last night’s Council meeting by Deputy Mayor Candy Bingham. It dictates that upwards of three charity organisations could be granted funding of up to 100k; however, each individual charity who is accepted in the grant may not be eligible to the full amount – this will be decided as part of the panel process.
The funding of 300K a year could even be further stretched among accepted organisations if more than three charities are chosen.
An amendment was also put forward by Greens Councillor Kristyn Glanville, which opted to extend funding for two years to the current charities, giving each an equal amount of $95,000. The argument was that this would be a sufficient amount for them to potentially transition out of the grant program, retain staffing arrangements, and continue community services.
However, the amendment was lost 6 to 8, and consequently, Councillor Bingham’s amendment was carried unanimously.
Beaches Youth Hub CEO Justene Gordon says she is “delighted” that the organisation has Council support for another year and thanked the councillors for their time in considering the best way forward. She further voiced her support for the elected tender process, calling it good governance.
“Council monies should not be distributed based on the capacity of an organisation to advocate for themselves with councillors. Many organisations simply do not have capacity to promote the amazing work they are doing given their resources are so tight and every dollar is directed to care,” Gordon said.
Cr Glanville has recently told Manly Observer she believes Council should implement a large grant program to ensure the organisations have enough funding to fulfil their services and with proper financial planning.
Councillor Vincent De Luca stated that he voted for the substantive motion on the basis that Glanville’s amendment was defeated, and asked the community to gather with donations to the current services in the absence of government support.
“This is a State and Federal government issue primarily, and unfortunately, both State and Federal governments are failing our communities significantly and again, ratepayers of councils are left to fill the cracks,” he said.
Mayor Sue Heins shared this sentiment, reiterating that the responsibility to fund the services should fall onto the State Government.
“From a Council perspective, we have so many wonderful organisations in our area that deserve help,” Mayor Heins said.
The current charities get a combined $258,000 a year from Council, with LocalKind receiving $100,000, Beaches Youth Hub receiving $93,000, and Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter receiving the least with $68,500.
Manly Observer has reached out to LocalKind and Northern Beaches Womens Shelter for their response to the vote
More to come.
