People living in regional New South Wales are being hit by a growing postcode penalty, with where you live increasingly determining the support you can access, the wait times you face and ultimately the outcomes you can expect.
Wesley Mission today warned a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry regional communities are being asked to accept a lower standard of service than their metropolitan counterparts, with systemic gaps in funding, workforce planning and service design creating a hidden and deeply entrenched regional disadvantage.
Appearing before the Inquiry into government service delivery standards in regional NSW, Wesley Mission Executive Director Community Services, Bay Warburton, says regional communities are paying the price through longer waits, reduced access to specialist services, workforce shortages and higher costs that current funding models fail to recognise.
“Regional families should not be penalised simply because of where they live. Your postcode should not determine your life outcomes, yet for many regional families that is exactly what is happening.”
Drawing on Wesley Mission’s frontline experience delivering services across communities including Tamworth, Armidale, Grafton, Taree, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour, Mr Warburton says the challenges facing regional communities were not isolated incidents, they reflected deeper problems built into the system.
“We have built metropolitan assumptions into regional service systems and communities are paying the price. We are seeing a postcode penalty play out every day with longer waits, fewer specialist services, workforce shortages and fewer choices for regional families.”
Wesley Mission told the Inquiry that regional providers are routinely expected to absorb the costs associated with working to deliver the same outcomes as metropolitan services despite covering larger areas, facing workforce shortages.
“Regional communities are not asking for special treatment they are asking for a fair go. A child in Sydney may have multiple support options. A child in regional NSW may have one or none. That postcode penalty can shape long-term outcomes.”
Regional communities cannot keep being expected to fit metropolitan models. It is time for funding and services designed around regional realities."