Disability Services

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:40): I have a supplementary arising from the answer. With the greatest of respect, minister, this is your area of responsibility and you should understand the ramifications of what you are doing. What modelling has the government done in terms of what the cost could be to government if public sector employees don't wish to take up the offer of insecure work in the private sector?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:41): We are hopeful and optimistic that the workforce will wish to continue working in this space. That is the ultimate game. This is a very highly valued workforce and they have a range of skills. It takes a special kind of person to work in this area. A lot of them are very attached to their residents, and the residents are very attached to them. We believe that this process will be shaped by those stakeholders and by others as we go forward.

We are very much at the early phase of this process. It is very important that all the stakeholders who are involved are part of the process of how this takes place as the government withdraws from provision of these services, and we are very keen under the NDIS. I receive reports from some families who are now NDIS recipients who sometimes aren't able to get a service because there are just not enough services to go around, so it is an expanding market. We want the market to expand and we want people to remain in this.