Every week Daniel Lennon meets a young domestic abuse survivor to help her try to process the grief of losing her stepfather.
But the service the youth counsellor leads could be forced to close its door, after the Victorian government’s latest budget revealed its funding had dried up.
“I can’t think of anything worse than having to turn to her and saying, ‘I need to now leave you as well,’ and potentially re-traumatise her,” Lennon says.
The adolescent counselling service, Left and Right Counselling, is one of many frontline social services reeling after the Victorian government’s latest budget, described by the treasurer, Tim Pallas, as his “most difficult”.
Business groups and property investors have criticised new taxes announced in the budget, and “high-fee” independent schools could be stripped of payroll tax exemptions. The loss of up to 4,000 public sector jobs was also announced.
But critical community services are also feeling the pain.
Left and Right Counselling has about 450 young people on its books across the Frankston and Mornington region in south-east Melbourne. It provides free face-to-face counselling for people aged 12 to 25, with the majority of its clients under 18.
In the 2022-23 budget, the service – which opened its doors in 2021 – received one-off funding of $330,000 that runs out next month. Despite lobbying local MPs and the mental health minister for further money, Left and Right’s funding has not been renewed.
Lennon says the loss of funding was devastating and warned it would put more pressure on hospital emergency departments.
“If we close overnight, how safe are [our teenage clients] going to be in the next 24 to 48 hours?” he says. “We’re going to have to say goodbye. It will be catastrophic.”
A Victorian government spokesperson said making mental health and wellbeing care available and accessible for children and young people was a top priority.
“Whether it’s walk-in, over-the-phone, school or community-based care, or acute hospital treatment, we’re making getting support easier for every young Victorian,” the spokesperson said.
The budget is also facing criticism from the Greens, along with social and community housing advocates, for not doing enough to tackle the rental crisis and housing affordability. Meanwhile the opposition and property sector warn a land tax for investment properties could flow down to renters, despite the government rejecting suggestions it would drive rents up.
Deborah Di Natale, the chief executive of Victoria’s Council to Homeless Persons, says there needs to be continued investment in reducing the waitlist for social housing.
The council has long called for at least 6,000 new social housing properties a year over the next decade to meet the demand. “We need to make sure we can provide people with good, long-term secure accommodation,” she says.
The state’s pool of social housing has grown by just 74 units in four years, despite the government embarking on a $5.3bn “Big Housing Build” and a growing waitlist for homes.
Di Natale backs the $134m injection for housing and homelessness support announced in the budget but says there was no new capital investment for the social housing sector.
The Victorian Community Housing Industry Association says the budget did not commit to new significant long-term funding for social housing and warned the crisis would worsen.
The state’s peak social services body described the budget as a “mixed bag” but said it shielded the most vulnerable Victorians from financial pain.
Emma King, the chief executive of the Victorian Council of Social Services, pointed to cuts to state-run employment programs and axing of energy concessions for low-income Victorians.
But she praised the investments in education and an injection of funding to reduce the over-representation of Indigenous children in the out-of-home care sector.
• In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, Mental Health America is available on 800-273-8255
