CONTENTS

EMPOWERING CDEPS

CONTENTS

Part One: Basic Principles

1. Background
2. Brief History
3. Funding
4. Administrative Tasks and Financial Commitments
5. Expenditure Requirements
6. Reporting Requirements
7. Cost of CDEPs to Taxpayers
8. Break-even Point
9. Urban CDEPs
10. Creative Work
11. 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

1. Guiding CDEPs to Secure Sales Tax Exemption
2. Guiding CDEPs to Secure Govt. Contract Purchasing Rights
3. Re-ordering the Dates and Spread of Reporting Deadlines
4. Re-issuing CDEP Reporting Timetable/Planner/Calendar
5. Release of Relevant CDEP Guide Publications
6. Re-Allocating Grant Funding and Participant Numbers
7. Adapting Work Schemes to be Useable by CDEP Organisations
8. Promotion of User Friendly Software
9. 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.