Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to inform the House of the great work being done by the volunteers at the Eastern Emergency Relief Network in my electorate of Deakin. They help out those less fortunate in our community. At the same time I would like to draw attention to the founder, Keith Rooney, a local visionary and champion of the disadvantaged because it was through his persistence that the Eastern Emergency Relief Network has become the indispensable organisation it is today.

As we know, most welfare agencies face enormous challenges on two fronts: to provide day-to-day support to their clients and to maintain a steady supply of resources to keep up with demand. Many agencies have to go out on their own and run appeals and ongoing awareness campaigns to attract donations of clothing, food and furniture. These activities consume enormous amounts of their time and energy. All the while they are competing for resources against other welfare agencies that are out there doing exactly the same thing.

For this reason the Eastern Emergency Relief Network is a wonderful local resource to those welfare agencies on the front line of tackling poverty, particularly in the local community within Deakin and the surrounding areas. Eastern Emergency Relief Network provides a centralised supply source for all the crucial items welfare agencies rely upon, such as clothes, furniture, household goods and food.

This service allows member welfare agencies to get on with their core task of looking after their clients rather than spending time trying to track down particular items that are needed. In fact, 118 member organisations now rely on distributions from Eastern Emergency Relief Network services throughout the year. As of 30 September 2008, distributions of food, furniture and appliances totalled 2,554. This includes the quite startling figures of 784 beds; 360 lounge suites or couches; 134 wardrobes; and 1,591 various types of electrical goods, including 110 fridges and freezers, 183 washing machines and dryers, 125 microwave ovens and 272 televisions.

And a single ‘distribution’, as it may be called, can be huge. It may just be a package of food and clothing, but it can also refer to a full household of furniture, and that depends on the circumstance of the welfare agency client. So in reality we are talking about many truckloads and tonnes of on-the-ground support. I have personally visited the warehouse and seen the vast amount of second-hand items that are in the process of being picked up, repaired, checked and then sent out to new homes. At the warehouse they have specialist volunteers who are trained in repairing things like washing machines and fridges or testing and tagging electrical appliances to make sure that they are safe before they are sent out. It is quite vital with second-hand gear that, if it is going to be given away, we do know it works and, even more so, that it is safe to use.

The other opportunity that comes up from this is, of course, recycling. Most of the items that I saw in the warehouse did not need repairing, they were fine, but they had been replaced. People had decided that they wanted a new TV, for instance, or a bigger fridge and they had got rid of the old model. But, instead of sitting at the tip, it has ended up at the Eastern Emergency Relief Network so that someone who cannot afford such an item then gets the benefit of it.

There are food parcels and racks of clothes at the warehouse and even essential items such as toilet paper and toothbrushes. Financially, the network relies almost entirely on the donations of individuals, community organisations, local businesses and charitable trusts along with grants from local government to cover its non-discretionary operating expenses and purchases of food supplies with member agencies paying a small annual subscription.

Local welfare groups had previously highlighted that there was a need for a centralised source, particularly of second-hand furniture and household goods for distribution as emergency aid. So Keith, along with a small band of volunteers, turned what started as the Whitehorse Emergency Relief Group back in 1995 into the Eastern Emergency Volunteers Network. Within five years, they had grown to include 85 member agencies, assisting 1,100 families and individuals in the period 1999 to 2000 from a warehouse that they use to this very day. The warehouse is open five mornings a week and is supported by 50 dedicated unpaid volunteers, including drivers, jockeys, telephone staff, sorting personnel, maintenance staff and client services. Local service clubs such as Rotary also help out. In only a few short years, this organisation has moved from being very little more than an idea to a full-time volunteer organisation helping thousands of people. I commend the great work of all the volunteers at Eastern Emergency Relief Network to the House.

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