“The community is right to ask about the untimely closure of social and community infrastructure enjoyed by vulnerable Canberrans when it is offered by large, benevolent organisations that enjoy support from donors and taxpayers,” writes disability advocate CRAIG WALLACE.
The untimely and rapid closure of community programs used by ageing Canberrans and people with disabilities and chronic conditions managed by large, non-government providers is worrying.
There are concerns about gaps in government service provision as well as the exercise of the social licence enjoyed by some not-for-profit organisations in the ACT.
In March, clients of the Y Chifley Health and Wellness Centre, a popular gym used by seniors, people with disabilities and chronic illness, were surprised to turn up to their classes to find that the YMCA Canberra had made the decision to close the gym.
The gym provided a safe comfortable haven for many Canberrans with disabilities and older people who find regular commercial gyms confronting, inaccessible and unwelcoming.
For people with chronic disease and illness, regular exercise in a well-equipped and accessible gym is less about showing off a toned body on Instagram or Tik Tok and more about managing pain, weight and wellness in ways that enable people to stay out of hospitals or even nursing homes. Some regular users of the gym were referred by Canberra Health Services.
A notice on the YMCA’s website announces that “the Canberra region is changing” and informs unlucky patrons that the gym was a victim of the organisations new 10-year worldwide strategy which refocused the organisation on its primary charitable purpose of supporting and empowering children and young people.
They had “made the important and carefully considered decision to close and exit from certain aspects of our health and recreation business that unfortunately does not align with this new 2030 Strategy and our renewed focus on children and young people”.
The Canberra region might be changing, but it still includes older Canberrans and people with disabilities with the aches, pains and health problems that time brings to us all.
No one would argue that community organisations need to be financially viable and have a right to make decisions about their core business.
But the community also has a right to ask questions about the rapid and untimely closure of beneficial social and community infrastructure enjoyed by vulnerable Canberrans when it is offered by large benevolent organisations that enjoy generous support from the Canberra community, donors and taxpayers.
Ultimately, these large organisations are not businesses but entities that enjoy agreed preferences and benefits arising from their social mission to provide help and comfort to people in need in the community. Some of them are old folks.
While the ACT government was quick to meet with users of the gym and the relevant minister has made genuine efforts to find a new host for the gym, this issue also highlights the abrogation of responsibilities by government.
Governments have walked away from community services and allied health supports while relying on services cross subsidised by community organisations, which are increasingly fragile due to cuts, poor pricing and funding changes in programs such as the NDIS.
The NDIS Review pointedly highlights gaps in many services needed to keep people from developing the need for critical lifelines through the NDIS
Some similar issues for the community sector and government are raised by the process around the awarding of the ACT waste management tender to run the Green Shed to Vinnies leaving around 80 staff, many of them with disabilities, unsure about their futures.
My organisation, Advocacy for Inclusion, was contacted by staff at the Green Shed desperate for advice and support after feeling like they were left in limbo following the announcement of the tender outcome.
Again there is nothing wrong with a charitable organisation winning a tender, but the community is also entitled to expect that not-for-profit providers, who enjoy the support of or deep pockets for the vulnerable, will bend towards kindness rather than the zeal of a Silicon Valley IT start-up acquisition.
In the case of The Green Shed, having a plan ready to go on day one to provide vulnerable and anxious employees with disability with a clear and timely transition plan, access to advocacy and industrial democracy and help and support would not have been unreasonable.
These concerns are also now apparent in the manner of changes to a number of services and programs offered by community organisations to people on the NDIS and other people needing chronic and temporary health supports in this town over the past 12 months.
In too many cases people with disabilities have been suddenly told that services are winding up without time to organise alternatives.
Prominent charitable and benevolent organisations enjoy a privileged place in a city with pockets of high-income people such as Canberra. This includes access to tax exemptions, government contracts, the support of a generous Canberra community on top of being able to operate business arms with a social purpose in a jurisdiction that outsources many municipal services, health and social programs.
No one expects Canberra’s charities to step away from competitive commercial operations that subsidise good works or endlessly operate unviable programs and services, but we are entitled to expect that when they exit programs or win new contracts they will meet crucial transitions with the humanity, kindness and empathy that defines their face to the world.
Craig Wallace is head of policy at Advocacy for Inclusion
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