Minister for Child Safety and Minister for Sport

This year, $695.9 million in funding will be provided to Child Safety Services to protect our children from harm and support families and carers in raising healthy and happy children.

In conjunction with my colleague Minister Struthers, we are allocating $55 million over four years from 2010-11 to pilot our new early intervention and prevention initiative, Helping out Families.

An increase of $3 million in recurrent funding from 2010-11 will recruit more frontline staff in high demand areas. This initiative is part of a broader program to increase frontline service capacity to better respond to the needs of children.

An increase of $2 million in recurrent funding from 2011-12 will provide therapeutic services to more than 60 additional children and young people with complex and extreme needs in the child protection system each year.

We will work toward making Queenslanders Australia's healthiest people and build on our reputation as a major sporting and entertainment destination through:

• continued implementation of a new suite of sport and recreation programs, worth $138 million over three years from 2010-11, to deliver infrastructure and programs to get more Queenslanders involved in sport and recreation activities
• $4.6 million over two years to refurbish Dalby's aquatic centre
• $1.1 million over two years for Townsville City Council to improve facilities for the Townsville 400 V8 Supercar event.

I am pleased to present a strong Budget that will contribute to a fairer, safer and healthier Queensland.

The Honourable Phil Reeves MP
Minister for Child Safety and Minister for Sport