On Tuesday 21 June, the NCQ team attended the pre-budget stakeholders briefing at Parliament House.

We learned that many of our Budget Asks have been heard.
Our sector will receive:

  • 127 state-funded NCCs will receive baseline minimum operational funding (a.k.a. Neighbourhood Centre Program Funding) of $230k per year to bring everyone up to this new minimum level. Starting July 1.
    (This is an increase from the median amount of $124,600 per centre, and close to the $256,000 we advocated for!)
  • Each state-funded NCC housed in non-State Government facilities will receive $20,000 additional per year.
  • There’s a fund of $9m to upgrade existing NCC facilities.
  • $39m to construct 6 new centres.
    This is on top of the new centres announced for Rockhampton prior to the budget announcement.
  • $9.3m for 20 community connect workers.
  • $4m Innovation Fund to support community-led initiatives targeting loneliness and social isolation that may also involve NCCs.

Thank you to our members for all of your extraordinary work over many years for your communities. We also want to acknowledge your work with us and the power of our collective advocacy efforts. 

We acknowledge our budget ask for unfunded centres hasn’t been recognised this time around. Be assured, that we will continue to advocate for those centres as well.

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Published: 21 June 2022

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