2016–17 Activity Statement—Community

Queenslanders want to reduce disadvantage, create opportunity, embrace diversity and work together so no one is left behind. We want our communities to be vibrant places where the contribution of everyone is valued and we all have opportunities to enrich the lives of others.

Queenslanders seek a united, harmonious and inclusive community that is free from discrimination, violence, poverty and prejudice. Our communities are our heartland—places where the Queensland spirit shines through.

Building safe, caring and connected communities is one of the Queensland Government’s objectives for the community. In 2016–17, the Queensland Government:

Creating jobs and a diverse economy

• contracted three Social Benefit Bonds creating a market for impact investment in Queensland and providing opportunities to attract private investors and to find new ways to tackle some of our most challenging social issues
• released and commenced implementing Queensland’s Personalised Transport Horizon: Five year strategic plan for personalised transport services 2016-21, providing access to safe, reliable and affordable personalised transport services and a sustainable and competitive industry to deliver them
• implemented outcomes of the South East Queensland Fare Review, making it easier and more affordable for people to connect to employment, education and other essential services by reducing zones and fares, introducing free travel for children on weekends, new travel incentive schemes, concession fares for job seekers and asylum seekers, and extending off-peak travel periods
• progressed the $2.1 million redevelopment of the Three Rivers Community Centre in Aurukun which will be used to run training programs and cultural events, and will support 6 full time jobs
• extended eligibility for the Electricity Rebate to Federal Health Care Card holders and asylum seekers, an additional 157,000 low-income and vulnerable households in Queensland with help towards their electricity bills
• supported 39 Queensland arts organisations through the expanded Organisations Fund 2017–2020, creating opportunities and strengthening corporate governance for local artists and cultural organisations
• continued the Queensland Arts Showcase Program (QASP), supporting the arts sector to develop and present vibrant and accessible arts and cultural experiences and investing more than $2.43 million in 74 projects across Queensland
• established the three year Carol Lloyd Award in partnership with the Queensland Music Festival, APRA AMCOS and Hutchinson Builders to support the careers of Queensland’s next generation of female musicians
• continued support for the Grant McLennan Fellowship in partnership with APRA AMCOS, and the Billy Thorpe Scholarship.

Delivering quality frontline services

• commenced transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) on 1 July 2016
• commissioned new services to support people experiencing domestic and family violence
• commenced trials of new approaches to working with perpetrators of domestic and family violence, including clients of Child Safety, to support families to be free from violence
• provided domestic and family violence victims with easier pathways to suppress their transport record, cancel their vehicle registration and remove themselves from a jointly registered vehicle
• fielded more than 76,563 information enquires through the free Women’s Infolink service, including 60,300 website information contacts and more than 16,260 referrals through the telephone, email and web services
• commenced rollout of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing services—a total of 17 services are now operating in South Burnett, Moreton Bay, Mackay, Roma, Townsville, Palm Island, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Gold Coast, Beaudesert, Gympie, Logan, Redlands, Toowoomba and Far North Queensland
• continued to fund services to deliver a range of programs across Queensland to help reduce older people’s risk of isolation, improve their health, and strengthen links with their community
• continued to fund the Elder Abuse Prevention Unit and Seniors Legal and Support Services
• supported National Volunteer Week
• delivered professional development and mentoring opportunities through the Women in Local Government strategy to promote greater diversity and inclusion
• delivered integrated public transport ticketing, supporting major events including New Year’s Eve, Anzac Day, Riverfire, Ekka, State of Origin, V8 Motor Racing on the Gold Coast and in Townsville, and music concerts
• hosted more than 1.3 million visitors at four major musicals, QPAC International Series, 77 seasons in collaboration with 29 arts local arts companies, and 46 free performances of Green Jam sessions showcasing emerging and established artists
• hosted 1.73 million visits at Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), with another 300,000 visits to QAGOMA exhibitions touring in regional Queensland, interstate and overseas
• hosted 2.02 million visitors at the Queensland Museum and Sciencentre, placing visits to the museum in line to be the highest to any single museum in Australia
• provided support and consultation to home ownership applicants, local governments and trustees to progress home ownership aspirations in remote Indigenous communities
• continued to assist delivery of the Reparations Scheme, engaging with individuals and service providers to complete reparations claims on behalf of living and deceased claimants
• supported Opportunity Hubs to deliver services for parents and children in the four Welfare Reform communities.

Building safe, caring and connected communities

• made significant progress on the whole-of-government approach to domestic and family violence reforms, implementing around two-thirds of the recommendations of the landmark Not Now, Not Ever: Putting an end to domestic violence in Queensland report (Not Now, Not Ever Report)
• developed an advertising campaign targeting young Queenslanders to help achieve generational change in behaviour as part of a $9.6 million program, Stop the Hurting—End Domestic Violence
• strengthened the justice system’s response to domestic and family violence in Queensland, by:
• continuing the specialist domestic and family violence court at Southport and announcing roll out of specialist approaches in four other locations
• expanding the Domestic Violence Duty Lawyer Service across the state through Legal Aid Queensland
• establishing an independent Domestic and Family Violence Death Review and Advisory Board, to make recommendations to improve systems, practices and procedures to prevent future deaths
• introducing legislation allowing Queensland to participate in the National Domestic Violence Order Scheme, providing for automatic recognition of orders made in other Australian jurisdictions
• amending the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009, improving financial assistance and strengthening the rights of victims, including victims of domestic and family violence
• amending the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 to strengthen domestic violence laws, by allowing police to act more quickly and ensuring protection orders remain in place for a minimum period of five years, unless there are reasons for a shorter period
• introducing sexual assault counselling privilege provisions in the Victims of Crime and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2017
• worked in partnership with discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, identifying strategies to reduce supply of, and demand for, alcohol, and reduce alcohol misuse and harm
• supported community residents to seek Dry Place Declarations and encouraged service providers to assist residents to consider the option - dry places are houses where no alcohol is allowed and are available in Mossman Gorge, Coen, and all discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
• enhanced the Government Champions Program, by including Ministerial Champions, and supporting a number of significant projects like the Lockhart River Solar Power trial and rolling out 4G in Aurukun
• developed and implemented an Aurukun Four Point Plan, with four priority areas: strengthening community capacity, access to education, strengthening the community and governance, and harnessing jobs and economic opportunities
• implemented responses to the Commission of Inquiry into Organised Crime in Queensland
• established Taskforce Orion to combat the online sharing of child exploitation material
• released Towards an all abilities Queensland, where over 1,000 Queenslanders had their say in shaping the new state disability plan, to build more inclusive and accessible communities
• continued to implement the National Disability Strategy 2010–20 Second Implementation
  Plan—Driving Action 2015–2018 in collaboration with all levels of government to improve outcomes for people with disability across the strategy outcome areas; and increased collaborative efforts in additional focus areas of the strategy, particularly to identify and undertake activities to reinvigorate the strategy
• continued to implement the Queensland Women’s Strategy 2016–21, with a vision of making Queensland a place where all women and girls are respected, gender equality is embraced, and the rights, interests and wellbeing of women and girls are promoted and protected
• delivered Queensland Women’s Week with YWCA Queensland, including events for women and girls across Queensland
• launched Women on Boards, providing targeted support to achieve gender parity on boards, including online resources to support government, business and community sectors to increase women’s representation on boards
• continued implementing recommendations of the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry through the Supporting Families, Changing Futures reforms, including further rollout of Family and Child Connect and Intensive Family Support services
• delivered Our Way—a generational strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families 2017–2037 and Changing Tracks—an action plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families 2017–2019
• implemented actions from Queensland: an age-friendly community implementation schedule and the government response to the Parliamentary inquiry’s recommendations into the adequacy of existing financial protections for Queensland’s seniors
• delivered the Elder Abuse Prevention campaign, helping Queenslanders to recognise the signs of elder abuse and raise awareness
• released the Queensland Youth Strategy—Building young Queenslanders for a global future, focussing on four building blocks: supporting our most vulnerable young people, housing, healthy futures, and educating into employment
• supported National Youth Week 2017 to promote the voices and achievements of young people
• supported the delivery of the YMCA Youth Parliament, building the leadership and civic participation skills of young people
• continued Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence Policy initiatives to reduce alcohol related harm in and around licensed venues and Queensland’s key entertainment precincts
• introduced Murri Courts in 14 locations across the state, enabling members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to participate in a court process where defendants take responsibility for their offending behaviour and which respects and acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture
• continued intensive case management at Caboolture Youth Justice Service Centre with serious young offenders and expanded the trial to include young people in Townsville
• introduced a specialist High Risk Youth Court in Townsville with a dedicated Magistrate, prioritising sentencing options for defendants aged 10 to 16 years identified as repeat offenders at high risk of future offending
• amended the Criminal Code to ensure that an unwanted sexual advance would not be enough to establish the partial defence of provocation unless there were exceptional circumstances
• continued to protect consumers against unsafe products and unethical behaviour in the marketplace
• permanently established Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Justice of the Peace (JP) services, improving timely access to justice services by allowing JPs to hear some minor civil disputes
• commenced work on enhancing information sharing between relevant agencies to increase visibility of home-based child-related services, such as foster and kinship care, family day care and stand-alone care
• continued, through the Youth Justice First Nations Action Board, to design and deliver youth justice policy, programs and interventions to divert Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people from a life in the youth justice system and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities
• established the Youth Justice Cultural Unit, providing expert advice and support to central and regional youth justice staff to support best outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and communities
• accepted all recommendations of the Youth Detention Centre Review to improve practices and services pivotal to the safety, wellbeing and rehabilitation of young people in youth detention
• re-commissioned community partnership funding across Queensland to better address the needs of young people in the youth justice system
• implemented the LGBTIQ practice framework for young people in the youth justice system
• commenced the Emotional Regulation and Impulse Control trial with Deakin University for young people in the youth justice system
• helped fund community sport and recreation infrastructure developments through:
• upgrades to statewide national parks infrastructure, such as coastal walking tracks in Noosa National Park
• Get Playing Places and Spaces and the Get Playing Plus programs for new or upgraded sport and active recreation facilities
• upgrades to government-owned sport and recreation venues and ongoing construction of the Queensland State Netball Centre, Rockhampton Riverfront and Yeppoon Foreshore Revitalisation and support for the development of the North Queensland Stadium
• conducted the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) challenge. through the Advance Queensland initiative to identify flexible, sustainable and cost efficient next generation lighting solutions for community field-based sports venues
• supported a statewide peer-driven network of disaster management officers and local disaster coordinators to build capability and collaboratively identify best practice in disaster management
• reviewed the Mackay District Disaster Management Group and the Local Disaster Management Groups of Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac Regional Councils, enhancing confidence in emergency management during Tropical Cyclone Debbie
• reviewed the effectiveness of Queensland’s disaster management system in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Debbie, identifying areas of improvement and enhanced the Disaster Management Portal
• worked to build resilient communities and ensure community preparedness for disaster events by
• making new laws requiring all domestic dwellings to install interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms in all bedrooms of the home, in hallways where bedrooms are connected and on every level
• partnering with local governments across the state to provide guidance and support in the development and review of Local Disaster Management Plans and ongoing disaster management planning
• conducted Operation Cool Burn 2016, focussing on fuel reduction and mitigation of bushfire risk across Queensland
• continued to promote a number of community safety education campaigns including the ‘If it's flooded, forget it’ campaign highlighting the dangers of flooded roads, and the Bushfire Safety campaign helping Queenslanders know how to prepare their home, property and family for bushfires
• continued implementing the Transport and Main Roads Disability Action Plan—Improving Access to 2017, improving Queensland public transport accessibility for people with disability
• included five Aboriginal Shire Councils as full members of Regional Roads and Transport Groups in the Roads and Transport Alliance&mdagger;orabinda, Wujal Wujal, Yarrabah, Doomadgee and Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Councils
• worked through the Bowen Basin Regional Roads and Transport Group to assist Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council in developing a 10 year plan for transport infrastructure projects
• initiated the Bus Driver Safety Review to understand the nature, extent and triggers of violence towards bus drivers and identify potential initiatives to make bus drivers safer
• launched and began implementation of the Queensland Housing Strategy 2017–2027
• brought together over 150 community choirs from across Queensland and interstate to raise awareness and sing out against domestic violence through the Queensland Music Festival and You’re the Voice
• presented The Power Within in Moranbah, through the Queensland Music Festival and in partnership with Isaac Regional Council, attracting 5,500 people and over 250 local performers including choirs and schools from Central Queensland mining communities including Clermont, Dysart, Middlemount, Moranbah and Nebo
• engaged the community in creative programs, including the Digital Futures Signature Program, the Queensland Literary Awards, black&write! Indigenous writing and editing program and the Edge's Fabrication Lab
• provided funding to Police-Citizens Youth Clubs to collaboratively deliver activities across Queensland to celebrate young people
• delivered the Queensland Indigenous Youth Leadership program, providing 42 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people with the opportunity to participate
• continued to deliver reforms supporting non-government organisations, including partnering with stakeholders to develop a community services industry strategy, and supporting social innovation
• established the Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council in August 2016 following the commencement of the Multicultural Recognition Act 2016 on 1 July 2016
• delivered a new Queensland Multicultural Policy, Our story, our Future and the Queensland Multicultural Action Plan 2016–17 to 2018–19
• allocated $100,000 to support delivery of educational activities promoting water safety for recently arrived migrants, refugees, international students and visitors
• continued funding for 19 organisations to deliver activities across Queensland under the Community Action for a Multicultural Society program, strengthening social connectedness
• celebrated the inaugural Queensland Multicultural Month, our largest celebration of multiculturalism, in August 2016
• allocated $1 million under the Celebrating Multicultural Queensland grants program to support delivery of more than 130 diverse cultural events and community projects across Queensland, promoting an inclusive and welcoming community.

Read more about the Plan’s goals, targets and measures for community.