EMPOWERING CDEPS
CONTENTS
Part One: Basic Principles
- Background
- Brief History
- Funding
- Administrative Tasks and Financial Commitments
- Expenditure Requirements
- Reporting Requirements
- Cost of CDEPs to Taxpayers
- Break-even Point
- Urban CDEPs
- Creative Work
- Personal & Community Benefits of CDEP
Part Two: FUNDING ISSUES
A. Funding Constraints
1. Basic Grant Constraints
2. Reduced Funding to Urban CDEPs
3. Funding Inequities to Smaller CDEPs
B. RECENT FUNDING CUTS
1. Recurrent Reductions to Larger CDEPs
2. Reductions to Funding of Business Development
3. Abolition of Training and Support Programs
C. Restrictions on Participant Numbers
1. Reaction to Ghostings
2. Current Participant Number Restrictions
CONTENTS (cont.)
Part Three: Performance Issues
Accounting Issues
1. Breaches of Reporting Requirements
2. Lack or Loss of Accounting Control
3. Improving Financial Accountability
Coordination Issues
1. Effective Purchasing
2. Becoming Enterprising
3. Managerial Competence
4. Axing of Makeshift Funding for the Coordination of CDEPs
5. Creation of an Award to Fund Coordination of CDEPs
6. Training Standards for Coordination Trainees & Assistants
Part Four: AREAS WHERE ATSIC may assist
- Guiding CDEPs to Secure Sales Tax Exemption
- Guiding CDEPs to Secure Govt. Contract Purchasing Rights
- Re-ordering the Dates and Spread of Reporting Deadlines
- Re-issuing CDEP Reporting Timetable/Planner/Calendar
- Release of Relevant CDEP Guide Publications
- Re-Allocating Grant Funding and Participant Numbers
- Adapting Work Schemes to be Useable by CDEP Organisations
- Promotion of User Friendly Software
- Consulting with Regional Councils
10. Consulting with Projects
11. Encouraging Ownership by Participants
12. Promoting Regional Forums
13. Encouraging a Process Approach to Planning
14. More Constructive Funding and Expenditure Periods
15. Ensuring Fairness in Governing Committee Elections
16. Responding to Conference/Workshop Recommendations
17. Employment Policies for Funded Positions
18. Setting up of Service Organisations
19. Development of Governing Committee and Coordination Protocols
20. Encouraging Sound Capital/Recurrent Expenditure
21. Survey of CDEPs Greatest Needs from ATSIC
Part Five:
summary and Conclusions
afterword
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
Terminology
Program refers to the CDEP scheme as a whole, project refers to an individual CDEP, activity refers to the planned and budgeted work that a workgroup within a CDEP undertakes. Objectives are particular undertakings that may occur, either within a single activity, or involve several activities, eg. refurbishing a house and surrounds.
Discrete CDEPs are those which exit within a defined (usually remote) community, Urban CDEPs are those that exist in open (usually urban) society. Sometimes, for ease of understanding, the terms remote, desert, town-based or suburban may be retained where considered more appropriate for understanding.
The term Coordinator has been used to designate the person who has day-to-day overall control of a CDEP organisation. This person might be otherwise designated as the Adviser, Manager, Coordinator, Community Training Officer, CEO, CDEP Manager, etc., to the organisation.