We need to do more for Kidsafe ACT, and all our community organisations

"I think seeking a doubling of funding for one organisation when we recognise that we've got a lot of community sector organisations who've come to us through the budget process seeking additional funding because of the cost pressures that they're facing," the minister told ABC News on Wednesday night.

The ABC was following The Canberra Times, which broke the story that Kidsafe could close down by the end of the year if it did not receive more funding.

The charity has for decades kept kids safe in Canberra, whether that's by properly installing car seats or advising new parents on how to keep their kids safe in the home. And all by the skin of its teeth, staff able to be only paid barely above-minimum wages but dedicated to the job.

(Its chief executive Francis Ventura fulfills the role on top of his job as a humanities teacher at Telopea High. He even paid Kidsafe's contents insurance himself because there was no other way it could be paid.)

Kidsafe ACT deserves every cent is asks for - but more on that in a minute. Let's look at what the minister actually said.

First of all, set aside the hyperbole that Kidsafe ACT is asking for its funding to be "doubled".

To be clear, Kidsafe is asking for its annual funding from the ACT to be increased from just under $200,000 to $400,000 a year. A doubling, yes, but, let's get real, a pittance in the context of the entire budget.

And the other thing Ms Stephen-Smith was basically saying to Kidsafe was "get in line. There are lots of community sector organisations that need extra funding".

(Something Kidsafe's Francis Ventura has also been arguing.)

So, the minister then announced on Friday the government would distribute one-off funding of $1.65 million to 23 community health organisations, a month out from the June 25 budget. Kidsafe will get about $60,000.

It was money very much welcomed but seen as not the answer to the long-term funding problems facing the community sector.

And therein lies the problem. Why are the groups who do such valuable work in our community constantly fighting for funds? Why do they have to run on the smell of an oily rag and, usually, only continue to operate on the goodwill of staff and volunteers?

Because the money is there. It's just being misspent or wasted.

The $1.65 million announced last Friday is equivalent to the $1.5 million being spent to "rebrand" Canberra Health Services including a new logo. Sorry? The only sign I want is showing me how to get to the closest hospital.

And it is an absolute drop in the ocean compared to the $76 million the government wasted on a deficient and now abandoned human resources computer management system.

Or the absolute farce of the government-run Canberra Institute of Technology awarding more than $8.5 million to an external consultant who was a "complexity and systems thinker". Those contracts are now the subject of an Integrity Commission investigation.

We need to get back to basics and, to be brutal, stop spending money on absolute wankery.

I used Kidsafe many times when my children were little.

It was invaluable peace of mind to know their car seat was installed properly and my kids were safe on the road.

And every time I went to Kidsafe, the staff were frantic. Always lovely. Absolutely dedicated. But absolutely run off their feet.

They - and all the others in the sector - deserve so much more.