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Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Page: 8543

Defence Community Organisation

To the Honourable President and members of the Senate in Parliament assembled:

The petition of the undersigned shows:

The Australian community's concern regarding the proposed changes to the Defence Community Organisation (DCO). These changes will have a detrimental effect on the provision of services to Defence personnel and their families.

The proposed changes to the Defence Community Organisation would mean:

Families will no longer have a point of contact at their local DCO office and instead will have to contact a call centre if they need support from DCO

Skilled social workers will be replaced with entry level social workers

Local support services for families in need will be drastically cut

Families will be referred to outside services in many cases

There will be a limit of four visits to DCO officers a year per client

High level clinical support will be cut including bereavement specialists

There will be cuts to support staff, particularly in regional areas.

We call on the Defence Community Organisation to reject these proposed cuts and maintain at current levels the valuable work DCO employees do around the nation.

Your petitioners request that the Senate express its support for the services that the Defence Community Organisation currently delivers, and reject the proposed cuts to these services.

by Senator Carol Brown (from 838 citizens).

Petition received.