That this House:
1. Congratulates Anglicare on establishing its Every Child Succeeds initiative, which forms part of the Communities for Children program funded by the federal government;
2. Acknowledges the support provided by the Launceston City Council, with two aldermen making up part of the Every Child Succeeds board with a view to steering the initiative towards Council’s goal of making Launceston a ‘child friendly’ city by 2019;
3. Recognises that approximately 30% of children and young people in Launceston and surrounds are not meeting basic milestones, with poverty and inequality sited as the predominant reasons;
4. Recognises further the estimation by the Communities for Children program that more children in Launceston, and the Tamar Valley, are living in low-income households; not physically ready for the school day; demonstrating lower language and cognitive, communication and general knowledge skills; are less likely to have had a routine health check; more likely to be hospitalised due to injury; and suffering higher rates of assault or be the subject of a notification to child services;
5. Notes the initiative has six core goals of ensuring children have better access to learning; material basics; healthy lifestyle; a positive sense of culture and identity; are able to participate to the fullest extent and are, above all, loved and safe;
6. Notes that committees have been established in six communities in the North to gather knowledge and generate ideas by prioritising the needs of children, working towards fulfilling the six core goals of the initiative;
7. Notes the call by the Communities for Children program for “communities, politicians, business owners, investors, government agencies and services” to join forces with a view to gleaning a solution to these complex social issues;
Further, that this House:
8. Calls on the State Liberal government to take a particularly keen interest in the initiative with a view to providing additional funding to secure the ongoing success of the program into the future.