MEDICAL HEATING AND COOLING CONCESSION

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (14:54): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Disabilities questions about the medical heating and cooling allowance.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: Late last year the medical heating and cooling allowance was announced with much fanfare. It came after a long and concerted campaign by an alliance of several disability organisations representing people whose disability-related symptoms are exacerbated by exposure to extremes of heat or cold.

The scheme that we now have is, in many respects, very different from what the many groups and individuals who campaigned for it were expecting. While the campaign was conducted in very general terms, the scheme the government has delivered is extremely specific, dealing only with a list of 10 medical conditions considered to result in a 'verified need for close control of environmental temperature'.

I, like many of my parliamentary colleagues, have received a number of complaints and questions about the medical heating and cooling allowance from individuals who are confused about why their applications have been rejected. There are many reasons for this confusion. The minister has already, in answers to questions from other members, both here and in estimates, highlighted the fact that there was widespread confusion amongst doctors regarding the eligibility criteria for the scheme.

It also perhaps appears to be the case that many of those who campaigned for the introduction of the allowance have not had their conditions covered by the resulting scheme. Some of the confusion may stem from this gap between the government's scheme and the expectations of those who lobbied for it. One factor I feel cannot be ignored is the actual application form for the scheme, which appears to contain incorrect or inaccurate information about the eligibility criteria.

I have had a look at the application form and I have had a look at Hansard and I can certainly see why people are confused. To me it looks like the department is confused, because the application form directly contradicts statements the minister has made in parliament about this allowance. When giving the list of conditions covered by the scheme, the materials accompanying the application form indicate that the list 'includes but is not limited to' 10 medical conditions covered by the allowance and go on to explain the process whereby other conditions will be considered.

The minister told this council and estimates that this same list of 10 medical conditions was exclusive, and that there was no capacity for flexibility in the scheme. In addition to this, the application form itself has a checklist of the 10 medical conditions covered by the scheme, as well as a checkbox for 'other qualifying condition', despite the minister having indicated on numerous occasions that there are no other qualifying conditions. My questions are:

1. Does the minister have any plans to expand the list of medical conditions that are eligible for the medical heating and cooling allowance?

2. How many applications for the medical heating and cooling allowance have been rejected because doctors or people with disabilities have ticked the box for the non-existent 'other qualifying condition'?

3. Does the minister accept that much of the confusion regarding the medical heating and cooling allowance has been caused by the glaring inaccuracies contained in the application form and the materials distributed about the scheme by the department?

4. Will the minister undertake to correct the information about the allowance that his department is distributing to doctors and to people with disabilities?

5. Did the minister's department consult about successful schemes interstate before implementing the program here, particularly on the design of criteria and the design of the application form itself?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:58): I thank the honourable member for her most important questions. I launched the medical heating and cooling concession scheme on 20 December 2011. As announced in the 2011-12 state budget, cabinet approved $1.8 million over four years to provide assistance to people on low incomes who incur high energy costs because of their medical need to use an air conditioner on a frequent and/or prolonged basis.

As the honourable member noted, this is not to assist people whose current medical condition might be exacerbated by the temperature going up and down. It is about those patients or those clients who have a verified medical need for close control of their body temperature. I can understand that people feel a level of discomfort and, indeed, pain sometimes because of fluctuating temperatures, but if they do not have a medical condition verified by the medical specialist that they need to closely control their body temperature because of their personal situation then they do not qualify for this very targeted benefit.

This concession was modelled on similar concessions interstate. I understand that we looked most closely at Queensland's model to inform our system, but also the models in Victoria and Western Australia are in my memory. Again, this is a very tightly targeted concessional amount of money for people who have that very close need to control their body temperature.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Vincent has a supplementary question.