Disability services: supported accommodation
15-April-2010
I wish to raise a matter for the Minister for Community Services. I refer the minister to the minority report of the inquiry into supported accommodation for Victorians with a disability and/or mental illness. The action I seek is that the minister acknowledge the crisis within the industry referred to in the minority report and act immediately to address the massive and urgent need that exists.
The inquiry made several key recommendations relating to the provision of supported accommodation. These include an increase in accommodation, more respite care, increased services and long-term planning to support families and carers. Unfortunately the majority report failed to acknowledge the crisis that exists within the industry and through that omission missed the opportunity to adequately emphasise how urgent the need is for positive action.
Seeking appropriate care and accommodation for a loved one with a disability is something that must be done, but it is also a task that parents and carers find frightening, frustrating and often overwhelming. It is critical in such an important and sensitive situation that politics is put to one side and that we act as one to produce the quantities needed of high-standard accommodation that is appropriate, acknowledges the rights of individuals with a disability or mental illness and encourages social inclusion for some of our most vulnerable Victorians.
The government has the opportunity to implement the recommendations of the minority report and make a real difference for people with a disability and their families and carers. The stress and anguish that is experienced by many families, fearful about what the future will hold, must not be allowed to continue.
I would like to quote briefly from a letter I received recently from Somerville residents Julie Purcell and Peter Alp and their plea that the government take positive action on behalf of their daughter Alexandra and other families in their situation:
- We continue to be devastated by the lack of parliamentary resolve to put a process in place that gives my daughter every opportunity to reach her potential. It is incredibly disappointing for us to see the parliamentary secretary for disabilities, Mr Bill Shorten, interviewed on television recently and for him to talk around in circles without a concrete strategy and vision for the immediate future. This was further illustrated in the article where Mr Shorten was quoted as saying that 'disability is underestimated as a political issue by both major parties'. Where's the process? Where's the action?
- We live with Alexandra's disability every minute of every day and it's gratuitous platitudes like this that break my heart and I am sure that if my daughter Alex was capable of interpreting this comment, she would be shattered as well.
I ask the minister to put herself in the position of my constituents and contemplate the stark reality of a life dedicated to the permanent care of a loved one with a disability. What is needed is positive action, and that positive action must be taken now, to address the shameful situation that families caring for someone with a disability confront every day.