Since this Council was elected last September it has been focussed on gathering relevant and up to date industry information so we can make the right choices on how to move forward with social change in the Dubbo Region.
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At the May Council meeting we moved the motion for the draft Collective Impact for Social Change Policy to go on public exhibition for the community and specifically stakeholders to make comment on.
This policy applies to the functional areas of Council that are resourced to interact at a grass roots level and to work collaboratively with agencies and the Non-Government Organisations in the bid to find a holistic approach to solving the social issues within our community.
We have been very public in lobbying for residential rehabilitation centre, detoxification facility and a drug court in Dubbo as a step in the right direction to helping ease these social issues.
Councillor Stephen Lawrence even went as far to provide evidence on behalf of Council to the NSW Upper House inquiry on the provision of drug rehabilitation services in regional, rural and remote New South Wales at a public hearing in Dubbo on behalf of the Council just last Month.
The evidence is there, that the Dubbo Region needs a facility to make the social changes possible.
I do want to make a mention that Council is in no way, shape or form putting its hand up to operate, fund or build this proposed centre. We are simply not equipped to adequately resource a centre of this significance and of this type.
It has to be operated and governed by professionals in this field be it experienced bodies from the non- government community services sector or government agencies.
What we are doing as a Council though is investing money in developing a strong business case and strategic plan that we can present to the State and Federal Government come budget planning time in September 2018.
We may not have the professional resources and experience in running a rehabilitation centre but we have demonstrated experience and connectivity to work with community groups, stakeholders, non-government organisations and the like to achieve a sound and robust plan that will work for our community.
And this is what we are doing now; we are investing time and money to find out what the real problems are, and often it’s not only the substance addiction that’s the problem.
We have evidence to suggest that the social issues in our community are stemmed from long term intergenerational factors that are leading our youth down an inevitable path.
Importantly we are reviewing the model of rehabilitation that will best suit the needs of our community – there are many successful models out there but anything being delivered in the Dubbo Regional Council area must deliver for our community.
Potentially the centre we are pitching for will not only cater for the effects of substance abuse but start unveiling the layers that have led them there in the first place.
We don’t want this centre to be band aid solution, we want this centre to make significant changes to the lives of many people who are depending on it which in turn will make significant improvements to the social issues our community is facing.
When individual people are able to work through their addiction via a healing process they can become valuable contributors to our community. In this sense our whole community wins whether it be from reduced crime statistics, better education retention and attainment rates and positive employment outcomes.
Addressing intergenerational social disadvantage requires all stakeholders to play their part and this is but one way your Council is contributing.
Mayor of Dubbo visit www.facebook.com/mayorofdubbo or www.dubbo.nsw.gov.au/about-council/who-we-are/mayor/mayor-of-dubbo-region.