REDWatch submission on RWA Employment Enterprise Plan
Submission of areas of concern relating to the Redfern Waterloo Authority [RWA]’s Employment Enterprise Plan [EE Plan] from REDWatch, a local community based organisation.
- That all the submissions to the EE Plan are posted as per the practice for Parliamentary Inquiries.
- That the EE Plan takes into account the changes in the Department of Housing’s Reshaping Public Housing Plan and the associated tenant turnover with the inherent dilution of the “Work Place” readiness and ability to enter the workforce of the replacement tenants.
- That the EE Plan’s reliance on the ‘trickle down’ effect from the employment created from the built environment is questionable, especially since the issue of sustainability of employment opportunities has not been addressed.
- That the need to address and resolve the structural issues to ensure a successful employment plan that will complement changes in the built environment to deliver positive benefit to the community of the RWA area.
- That there is no demonstrated sustainable means of implementation.
- That selected residents will be initially given preference for employment over non-residents. There is concern that this approach has the potential to create division in the community and lacks long term positive implications.
- The RWA and its Minister appear not to have reacted to community concerns whilst imposing their own predetermined outcomes.
- That there is no expanded provision of Child Care facilities at prices that are not in themselves economic deterrents to entering the workforce.
- That there is no expanded provision for mature age people to re-enter the workforce.
- That there is no provision for funding for the implementation of the EE Plan. This in is face of the importance of the Plan and its ability to reduce the demand for Welfare and Human Services.
- That there is a need for additional statistical and analytical work to be done to identify, quantify and then track actual outcomes.
- That the linkage between locale and new commercial /industrial estate development in the RWA area is weak and thus calls into doubt the value placed on it.
- That the Poverty Trap factor –get low paid work, start earning , loose benefits and loose freedom/flexibility of time – has not been given due weight or consideration.
- That the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures used to measure the outcomes of the EE Plan will be different chronologically to those used to develop the EE Plan.
- That the EE Plan does not fully take into account the low rate of motor vehicle ownership throughout the RWA area and the attendant dependence on public transport to access places of employment.
- That there is minimal provision for small scale light industrial/non-office type commercial space.
- That there is barely provision of support for small scale family based business. This sector is the predominant source of employment. Its income and wage bill stays in the local area.
- That the full potential of Planning Instruments is not being used for creation of sustainable employment of a nature suited to the people of the RWA area.
- That the Private Corporate sector controls the employment opportunities and nature of them.
- That the “EE Plan is RWA Centric” and fails to address potential and real conflicts with other Government Departments and their Policies - there is no “whole of Government” approach as such.
- That the needs of the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse [CALD] sector have not been recognized or responded to.
- That there is potential for low paid workers to be forced out of area by rising housing costs due to competition from the influx of workers generated by the EE Plan.
- That the Redfern Waterloo Authority has been hampered in its efforts by a lack of funding. This gives rise to concerns that the EE Plan may be compromised as a result and thus dependent on learning as it is implemented.