Families being turned away from support
The Dalwood Spilstead Service in Seaforth is fighting to secure long-term funding following the withdrawal of grants from the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) at the end of June.
DSS wants to secure the future of its one-stop-shop model for services that include trauma-informed early education, parent-child interaction therapy, counselling, speech pathology, and parent education.
Run by NSW Health with additional funding provided by DCJ through a contract with the Benevolent Society, Dalwood was previously able to assist up to 90 families and about 150 children at any time for the last 15 years. That number has fallen dramatically to about 25, Dalwood auxiliary president John Darragh told PL, despite NSW Health’s decision to ‘plug the gap’ left by the Benevolent Society until July 2025. Families seeking help have now been turned away.
“The funding has got to be returned and guaranteed long term,” Mr Darragh said.
“The government cannot see that they’ve got this gem of an organisation right in front of their nose that costs the same as what they’re doing through the Benevolent Society, but has a much higher rate of success and rate of continuity.
“The service is so good that it needs to be rolled out across NSW and potentially nationally.”
Mr Darragh said the service provided by the Benevolent Society was ineffective compared to Dalwood.
“The Benevolent Society visits a house once a week and advises clients on what they need to do, and then they disappear,” Mr Darragh said. “So, the clients are complaining that the Benevolent Society service is nothing like Dalwood. Yet the cost is about the same.”
Louise Hosemans, President of the Dalwood Parents in Action Group, said it was a ‘total disregard for something that works’. “Why is there a total lack of listening to the community?”
Local MPs have voiced support for Dalwood’s plight. Manly’s James Griffin (pictured above) said he has been fighting to keep Dalwood in its current form for many years, and encouraged the community to sign a petition in his office to get the State Government to commit to long-term funding.