Goranwarrabul House is a Seymour community organisation that supports some of the most vulnerable people in the community and is one of the only Indigenous services in the area.
Ms Cleeland recently met with new Treaty and First Peoples Minister Natalie Hutchins’ chief of staff, Robert Larocca, to advocate for local Aboriginal liaison officers to provide culturally appropriate care.
“I had a great progress with the last minister for First Nations, and I wanted to raise it again with the new minister,” Ms Cleeland said.
“I was just disappointed at the time that it wasn’t raised with me that there was a financial cut when we were advocating for more.”
After meeting with Mr Larocca, she found out that the decision to cut funding for the group had already been made.
“Upon learning that, I reached out to the chief of staff to say this needs to be rectified,” she said.
“He indicated he wasn’t aware of it and would be looking into it.”
Brenda Newman, who is head of Goranwarrabul House and its human wellbeing officer, received a letter notifying her about the budget cut, and she contacted Ms Cleeland immediately.
During the Goranwarrabul Christmas Party earlier this month, Ms Cleeland spoke with people who were a part of the group and talked about how Ms Newman helped their lives.
Ms Newman has worked with Ms Cleeland for the past six months to advocate for regional Aboriginal liaison officers.
According to Ms Cleeland, without Ms Newman and Goranwarrabul House, local Indigenous community members wouldn’t be where they are now.
Ms Cleeland said the house couldn’t operate without one-third of its budget.
“It only operates on less than $150,000 a year, which pays for one staff member and rent,” she said.
If Goranwarrabul House won’t be able to operate, Ms Cleeland said the gap would further widen whether it came to health and education outcomes of the First Nations community.
“More concerningly, I think is that it’s safe to assume that the people in our community will no longer get health support,” she said.
“They’re no longer going to reach out to the services that are going to help them improve.
“Without this safety net for our Aboriginal community, we are just going to see the gap widen and our most vulnerable people impacted in our community.”
The Victorian Government has been contacted for comment.
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