Photo caption: Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton (right) pictured with FlatTrack Moree’s Keiran Roberts and Krist Grasnick and participants Brad Hamilton, Andrew Pegus, Brocke Brown and James Nicholls.
At-risk youth in Broken Hill, Dubbo, Lake Cargelligo and Moree will be further supported to get their lives back on track thanks to $1,483,919 in Federal Government funding for BackTrack Network to increase its capacity and capability.
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton today announced the funding, provided under round six of the highly-successful Safer Communities Fund.
“All local residents deserve to feel safe, and all of our young people should have the chance to achieve their full potential,” Mr Coulton said.
“BackTrack Network is a fantastic initiative which provides at-risk youth with essential life skills, as well as education and training opportunities to help them to become work ready and ultimately secure employment.
“This funding will be split between the BackTrack Network, providing educational, training, diversionary and community engagement activities to participants of Making Tracks Broken Hill, LeaderLife Dubbo, Down the Track Lake Cargelligo and FlatTrack Moree in my electorate, with the aim of providing early intervention in reducing youth crime and anti-social behaviour in these communities.
“I’m a big supporter of each of these organisations which are doing a great job to improve the lives of young people.
“The Coalition Government is backing our community-led solutions to crime – to ensure all residents can go about their daily lives free from violence, harassment and anti-social behaviour.”
Mr Coulton visited FlatTrack to find out how the funding will benefit Moree youth.
“Krist Grasnick is doing a great job here in Moree and this funding will go a long way in further establishing FlatTrack and providing positive life pathways for the local participants,” Mr Coulton said.
FlatTrack Program Manager Krist Grasnick said their share of funding will be a huge boost to the current operation in providing early intervention programs for Moree’s at-risk youth by increasing capacity within the existing programs.
“This funding will enable us to have more young people in the shed, more young people out on our work programs within the community and more young people participating in our diversionary camps,” Mr Grasnick said.
“Presently, with limited transport options and limited staffing and resources, it can be quite a juggling act to keep the programs moving on a day to day-to-basis.
“We’re seeing first-hand the importance of individual guidance for these young people and having these additional funds will further resource us to cater to the needs of each individual as the organisation expands.
“Ultimately this funding will enable us here at FlatTrack, to give our young people the resources, attention, and experiences that they deserve as every young person does. Without these programs and investment such as this grant, the opportunities for change in our young people at risk in Moree are very limited.”
Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs Jason Wood said the additional funding was in response to overwhelming demand from the community and will support organisations with demonstrated experience in helping marginalised youth, to build resilience, strengthen community connections and job readiness skills.
“These community organisations do vital work in helping get young people on the right track. We know that some young people engage in activities or have negative experiences that leave them at risk of joining gangs, committing serious crimes and disengaging from the wider community,” Assistant Minister Wood said.
“The challenges we’ve faced over the last two years as a result of the pandemic have only added to the sense of social isolation and disconnection that some young people feel.
“This program ensures young people can get the support and assistance they need. I thank and congratulate the local grant recipients for their ongoing work, which we are proud to support. It’s all about creating a stronger, safer community.”
The funding will be delivered under the latest round of the Safer Communities Fund which has invested more than $265 million and provided over 720 grants directly to local communities to deliver grass roots crime prevention initiatives since 2016.