NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Disabilities. Minister, will you inform the—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.P. Wortley interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The minister should come to order as well.

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA: Sir, my question is to the Minister for Disabilities. You want me to sit down.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Gazzola, now that it is quiet, you can have a go.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA: You're looking for the question; you should be looking for the answers. My question is to the Minister for Disabilities, as I have said before. Will the minister inform the chamber why the National Disability Insurance Scheme trial site in South Australia will focus on children and young people?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:59): I thank the honourable member for his very pressing question. I was just talking about this the other day with community organisations. In late July this year Premier Jay Weatherill, together with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, announced that South Australia would host a launch site of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The Premier also made the commitment that South Australia's trial would specifically deal with children and young people. The Productivity Commission identified that children currently represent approximately 30 per cent of the NDIS national population. The South Australian launch will focus on approximately 5,000 children aged between the ages of zero and 14 who receive disability support.

During the first year, starting on 1 July 2013, existing and newly eligible children aged zero to five will be accepted to participate in the NDIS trial. It is planned that this will be extended to children aged zero to 13 years in the second year, and children aged zero to 14 in the third year. The focus on children is part of the Weatherill government's efforts to give every chance for every child. This strategic priority aims to provide children with the best possible start in life and to assist families to provide the best possible support for their children. Research has shown us time and time again that early intervention into children's lives pays dividends into the future.

In South Australia, children with disabilities and their families participating in the launch will benefit from increased services delivered through individualised budgets. This will support families to have control in determining the right therapeutic and personal support services to meet children's individual needs.

Since becoming the Minister for Disabilities I have met a great number of parents of children with disability, who have shared their frustrations with me. For example, I have twice met with representatives from the Port Pirie parents of autistic children group, who have told me how difficult it is to access services in regional areas. These parents have federal funding packages for their children but have to travel great distances to access these specialised services, often driving to and from Port Augusta or Kadina just to spend an hour with a speech therapist, for example.

The NDIS will provide an opportunity to fill this gap, and for that reason and many more the trial will first be targeted to children aged zero to 14 across the whole state. The launch will invest in the lives of all eligible children across the whole state, not just those who happen to live in the right location, because we know that for families and carers of children with a disability who live in regional and rural areas accessing vital early intervention therapies and specialised support services is a significant challenge, and in some cases nearly impossible to manage.

I have visited a lot of communities over the last eight months: the APY lands, the South-East, the Riverland, Port Lincoln and the Mid North to name a few of them, but no matter where I go or who I speak to the disability community tells me the same thing: 'We want services in our own communities and we want the NDIS.' We are treating this as the beginning of a once in a generation reform process. While there is a lot of work to be done before 1 July 2013 and while issues of funding and governance are still to be determined, South Australia is fully committed to the full rollout of the NDIS.

We want to get this right. We will start slowly, testing all elements of an NDIS along the way, including assessment, tools, resource allocation and local area coordination. I appreciate that for those in the disability community these long overdue reforms cannot commence soon enough. Some in our sector are frustrated that we are not commencing with a new system for everyone right away. I know that people with disability have put up with faltering systems for too long, but we cannot forget that the design and implementation of an NDIS is a complex task that will take some considerable time.

It is important that we get this new system right, because not doing so will put the whole process in jeopardy. That means making sure not only that the foundations of the new system address the high expectations of the disability community but also that it delivers the personalised care and support people with disability have been asking for.

Choice and control will be central to the launch of the NDIS. There will be a flexible and personalised approach that will allow engagement and community activities and help children, their families and their carers achieve their aspirations. There will be the choice to direct their own lives, decide for themselves what supports they use and how frequently they use them.

South Australia has already moved to a universal individualised funding system which aligns with the NDIS approach. People with a disability will be provided with individualised funding and personal budgets, which will include self-managed funding for those who wish to handle their own finances completely or partially. People receiving self-managed funding will be provided with more choice, flexibility and space to think creatively about how their life outcomes can be achieved. There is a great deal happening in disability right now.

It is important to remember that the national reforms coincide with the significant changes taking place here in South Australia, including the introduction of individualised and self-managed funding, the new Disability Act, the Disability Justice Plan, the Community Visitor Scheme and, of course, the $212.5 million investment into disability services announced by the Treasurer earlier this year in the budget. The Weatherill government set aside $1 million in funding in the 2012-13 budget to help prepare the sector for these changes.

The commonwealth government has also set aside funding to assist the disability sector to prepare for the NDIS launch sites. This process has begun, with the recent Stronger Together conference, and it will ramp up in coming months with visits from international experts Simon Duffy and Helen Sanderson. My department is also finalising extensive support and training plans, in partnership with NDIS and Purple Orange. I look forward to working with people with disabilities, their families and carers, service providers and sector leaders as we establish the NDIS here in South Australia.