By Christine de Kock
BRAYBROOK’s reputation as an area of disadvantage may not change for 15 to 20 years, a Maribyrnong City council officer estimates.
Nick Matteo, the council’s manager of community planning and advocacy, said the council was dealing with the issue of disadvantage in Braybrook on a number of different levels.
But as some families in Braybrook had experienced third-generational unemployment it would take some time to break the cycle of disadvantage, he said.
“So council is there for the long haul and we are going to be providing all the infrastructure and programs on an ongoing basis to make sure that we respond to that,” Mr Matteo said.
His comments came in response to a study, published last week, that labelled Braybrook one of the most socially disadvantaged suburbs in Victoria.
Dropping Off The Edge was a report undertaken by Professor Tony Vinson of Sydney University on behalf of Jesuit Social Services and Catholic Social Services Australia.
Braybrook was investigated among 726 postcodes and was featured among the top 12 areas of concern.
Twenty-four indicators were used to judge disadvantage in Victoria, and these included low birth weight, childhood accidents, school attendance among 14 to 18-year-olds and dependence on disability and sickness benefits.
Prof Vinson linked these indicators to resulting unemployment, crime in the community and eventual imprisonment.
“I infer that a society that wants to avoid that, particularly areas remaining in a state of disadvantage for decades, need to have an emphasis on education,” Prof Vinson said.
One of Prof Vinson’s suggestions includes providing incentives to keep experienced teachers, as opposed to novice teachers, in disadvantaged areas.
“We say an incentive had to be offered to experienced teachers to get professional satisfaction and some recompense from bringing kids up from a low level of education to a satisfactory level,” he said.
Mr Matteo said the council was working with all the service providers in the Braybrook area to improve the circumstances for the community.
“We are working with all service providers – schools, Melbourne City Mission, the Community Health Centre – we are working very closely and in concert at a project level but also at a strategic level to make sure the long- term goals are aligned,” he said.
He said community-building projects included the Braybrook Big Day Out and supporting the Local Learning and Employment Network.
“The network is a partnership of schools, community organisations and employers that get together to plan and implement education and employment pathways for young people in Braybrook,” Mr Matteo said.
“One example is the initiative where we were encouraging newly arrived African communities, as part of their skills development, to work with rural communities so they develop some agricultural skills and then they could move to Swan Hill or those sorts of places where they could follow employment.”
He said that even though there were certain reports that discussed disadvantage in Braybrook, many Braybrook people were proud and happy to live in the community.
