DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (15:04): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Disabilities questions about day options and employment with Australian business enterprises for people with disabilities.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I have been contacted by a number of people from a special school who are concerned about students' ability to access the day options program when they leave school. I am aware that they have also been in contact with the minister's office and that the minister has responded to their concerns, as I also wrote to the minister highlighting their concerns and received a copy of the minister's response.

Staff and parents at the school are concerned about a perceived change in the eligibility for accessing the day options program. They indicate that they were recently informed that students would no longer be able to work in supported employment part-time and attend day options on the days when they are not at work. In his response the minister indicated that, since its inception in 1997, day options has always been a program for people with developmental disabilities who are unable to work. While I recognise that this has perhaps been the government's policy, it would appear that it has not been its practice.

Those who have contacted my office have indicated that, in the past, young adults leaving the school have been able to work part-time to the extent that they were able and attend the day options program on days when they were not able to work, while waiting to be placed in supported accommodation. This arrangement has provided valuable social engagement and living skills for these young people with disability and also allowed parents and siblings to participate in employment and study.

It would appear that for the past 15 years, regardless of what the government's policy regarding day options has been, young people who were seeking work or working part-time in supported employment have been accessing the service. The apparent sudden change in the government's approach to the day options program will place significant strain on families of young people with disabilities. Parents and siblings will find themselves unable to continue with work or study or will need to dramatically scale back their involvement in order to provide care and supervision for their child or sibling.

Young people with disabilities denied access to the program will also miss out on valuable opportunities to gain living skills, experience and social engagement. Many young people with disabilities may be discouraged from engaging in part-time supported employment, as working as little as one or two days per week will result in their being excluded from the opportunities that day options would otherwise provide. My questions to the minister are:

1. Has there been a change in Disability Services's approach to young people with disabilities working part-time in supported employment and accessing the day options program?

2. If the practice in relation to day options has changed, what prompted that change?

3. Will Disability Services be offering any alternative options to young people with disabilities and their families to allow these people to gain the benefits afforded by the day options program and allow their parents and siblings to continue to participate in employment and study?

4. If Disability Services does not have any alternative services available, what does the minister propose young people with disabilities and their families do?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:07): I thank the honourable member for her most important questions and her continued interest in this area. In relation to her four questions, the answer to question 1 is no, and question No. 2 is therefore not applicable; No. 3, yes, and therefore the answer to No. 4 is not applicable.

To give a little bit more information, let me say that the day options program is for people with disability who have a moderate to severe intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder and are unable to work upon leaving school. These eligibility criteria have been in place since the establishment of the Day Options program in 1997 and, as I understand it, have not changed.

Initially some people with low support needs were allowed to attend a day options program. However, in 2000, other pathways were determined to be more suitable for people with low support needs. Instead of day options, people with low support needs can access other post-school pathways, including formal education through programs offered at TAFE or university, and vocational training programs, such as VET to Work programs, which offer additional assistance and support in a structured work placement.

People with low support needs are also able to work in either open or supported employment. Disability Services has a sincere desire to give people living with disability the best possible outcomes in life, and these post-school pathways are much more suitable for people with low support needs, offering them meaningful study and employment options, whereas day options may not give them the sort of stimulus and interaction that they require. People who are employed either part-time or full-time are not eligible to receive day options allocations. This is not a new policy, as has been claimed by some.

I want to assure everyone and the community that the program guidelines and eligibility criteria have not changed; however, a person with a disability who works part-time and is eligible to receive support from Disability Services can elect to use their individual funding budget to purchase day options, if they choose to. Indeed, I am advised this is already happening with some clients who work, say, two days a week and purchase an additional few days of day options from their individualised budget. This will not change.

I would also like to point out that the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion has no requirement for people with disability to work five days per week, as some others were claiming. A person's ability to work and the availability of work will determine whether they are involved in part-time or full-time employment.