Budget 2023: Jim Chalmers’ $200m passion project to tackle disadvantage

Jim Chalmers will announce in next week’s budget a $200m series of initiatives to help address entrenched disadvantage in key communities across Australia.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Jim Chalmers will announce a $200m series of initiatives to help address entrenched disadvantage in key communities across Australia by working with local and state governments, service providers and philanthropic organisations in next week’s budget. The new and extended programs focus on establishing local partnerships and strengthening place-based approaches that ­tackle barriers to service delivery for children and parents, poverty reduction, address health needs, and boost employment and ­education opportunities.

“Our budget is all about creating more opportunities for more people in more parts of Australia to get ahead and this package will help us achieve that,” Dr Chalmers told The Australian. “I’m here to try and make a difference to communities like the one I grew up in, and this combination of new investments will help.

“A national approach on its own will never be enough if we’re serious about addressing entrenched, community disadvantage. To make a meaningful change, we need to work together with state and local governments, along with the philanthropic and business communities.”

The funding will extend and accelerate work being undertaken under the Stronger Places, Stronger People program in 10 communities, including Rockhampton and Logan in Queensland, Bourke and Kempsey in NSW, Mildura in Victoria and Burnie in Tasmania. It is expected more communities will be included in future years.

In response to the Social Impact Investing report by the Impact Investing Taskforce Expert Panel, the government will establish a $100m Outcomes Fund that will enable the commonwealth to join with state and territory governments and social enterprises to fund projects that alleviate disadvantage in communities.

The combination of governments working with community organisations, businesses and philanthropists in a place-based approach would ensure local needs were responded to by better funding and directing services, Dr Chalmers said. “There’s strong appetite in the philanthropic community to partner with government to ensure funding is getting where it’s needed most,” he said. “Local leaders know their communities best, and this strategy will put locals in the driver’s seat and allow us to better target funding and support.”

The $199.8m package of initiatives is a passion project for the Treasurer. It is partly modelled on the Logan Together program operating in his Queensland electorate of Rankin, which is focused on improving access to services for children aged up to 8, with better co-ordination and co-operation between local organisations.

The government will develop a new strategy through the Investment Dialogue for Australia’s Children by working with philanthropic organisations to strengthen linkages between local services and speed up funding delivery.

Other elements include improving data collection and sharing by working closely with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, fostering greater local input and decision-making within place-based programs and developing further local initiatives that could potentially access new funding by working across governments.