National Disability Insurance Scheme

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (14:56): Supplementary: the minister in her answer was talking about the new potential federal-funded model. Can the minister provide an assurance that no SA carer support organisation will be worse off under a move to this model?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:56): I am happy to talk about this. I spend a considerable amount of time with our carer support agencies. Can I just tell you that how we support carers in South Australia is quite unique. I want us to continue doing it that way. Part of the thing is when we are talking to the federal government about how they are going to work with carers, they are looking at having a carers' portal, a one-stop shop for access. While I welcome that concentration on information, I think that we need to not forget that it is often that face-to-face conversation that makes a difference with carers.

We are in a time of transition. I am looking at it very closely. I have just extended the funding for one more year for our carers' support. Just the other day, the carers in the Barossa received an award for the work they are doing there through our service carers' association—the member for Light was there with me—and it was for that activity of engaging people more widely. Often people don't actually recognise that they are carers because they are often just providing a bit of support for their parents, then they realise it is taking up more and more of their time.

What we want to do is provide that support, the information, the opportunity for potential respite. The reality of it is that any of us could become a carer at any time. If our partner or our child gets sick, or our parent gets sick, we could be called upon to provide more services, personal care, do the shopping—

Ms Bedford interjecting:

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: What we do in South Australia is unique.

The SPEAKER: The member for Florey is called to order.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I want to continue the work that we do, but we are in a period of transition. We need to understand, in regard to the NDIS, as the minister has spoken about, what support will be provided with those packages. The ILC packages we have will have some support for those carers, but what we do see is a movement towards consumer-directed care, whether it is in aged care or with carers.

Mr KNOLL: Point of order, Mr Speaker: I ask you to draw the minister back to the substance of the question—to be able to rule out whether or not carer support organisations will be worse off under the move to the integrated carer support model.

The SPEAKER: In the time remaining, the minister might move a little bit towards the core of the question.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I thank the member for Schubert for his interest in this question. We are in a time of transition. I have extended their funding for another year. We continue to have those discussions with the commonwealth, who are looking at having a holistic way of supporting carers. What is important here in South Australia is for us to maintain that uniqueness, and I will continue to advocate the importance of that.

Can I go back to the substance of the issue here. As we move to looking at consumer-directed care, what that does is look at the individual, the person who needs the support. What it does not tend to look at is the carer. It is National Carers Week this week and, if we had to quantify the work that carers do, if they did not provide that work, that unpaid work, while there are some allowances from the commonwealth government, we could not, as any government could not, provide that level of service. I just want to thank the carers.

I meet every quarter with Carers SA, and they have an enormous team of volunteers who help them do what they do. So, I thank you for your interest. I note your interest and will make sure that I update you as that transition happens.