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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-11-30 Daily Xml
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NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (14:49): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Disabilities questions regarding the national disability insurance scheme, disability blueprint and supported accommodation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: This week is Spread the Word week for the Every Australian Counts or national disability insurance campaign, a campaign that the Labor Prime Minister counts as one of her significant priorities, according to a recent news article. The NDIS is something that our neighbouring state Victoria has indeed already begun to be prepared for.

The head of the NDIS Every Australian Counts campaign is former New South Wales disability minister, Labor's John Della Bosca. This morning, Mr Della Bosca has been on radio explaining just why we need an NDIS, given a PricewaterhouseCoopers report that has been released. This report shows that people with disabilities are more likely to be living in poverty in Australia than other developed countries in the OECD. It also showed that people with disability were half as likely to be employed in this country as people without disability and that 45 per cent of people in this community were living in poverty currently.

It is now six weeks since the government released its long overdue blueprint for disability reform in the sector. Despite there being many priority actions and many well-intentioned words about these recommendations, I fear the report is set to languish on the shelves gathering dust in some government department. Further, despite it being a recommendation of the blueprint, we are yet to see one shred of real action on clearing the supported accommodation waiting list.

It may surprise the minister to know just how many parents aged in their 60s, 70s and 80s are anxious that their child with disabilities is still living at home and may not get care and accommodation when the parent passes away or is too ill to take care of them. It is a significant and very real concern that, when they die, this support may not be available. Given the current waiting lists, there is no chance of any real reassurance being given to these parents. My questions to the minister are:

1. Why has the minister not taken immediate action on his own government's report to urgently clear the unmet needs list?

2. When can the more than 1,700 South Australians waiting for supported accommodation expect to be made a priority by this government?

3. Given that it is Spread the Word week for the national disability insurance scheme, what actions is the minister taking to ready South Australia for the implementation of the scheme?

4. Given the disgraceful results in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report released today, and following on from his government's blueprint, what is the minister doing to ensure that the 45 per cent of people with disability living in poverty in this state have an opportunity to escape it?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:52): I thank the honourable member for her important question and for her continued advocacy for this community. As the article in The Australian today notes, we need a cultural shift in the way that we view people with disabilities and their capacities. That is something that was similarly identified in the Strong Voices disability blueprint, which the Hon. Kelly Vincent mentioned in her explanation.

It is important that we look at how people with disabilities are able to live their lives with dignity. While the national disability insurance scheme will improve the lives of people with disabilities, we need also to focus on measures that will promote independence and a sense of dignity for those people living with disabilities. As was noted in the article in today's paper:

Broader social and cultural changes are needed, including a greater acceptance of the disabled in workplaces, says Disability expectations: investing in a better life, a stronger Australia.

As referenced by the honourable member, the article states that John Della Bosca, national campaign director of the Every Australian Counts campaign, and a former New South Wales Labor cabinet minister, said:

...future labour market shortages were front of mind for many employers, and with the right infrastructure and culture people with disability were a huge resource ready to be tapped.

That is one of the challenges that face us as a state and as a state government when we address the issues that are before us in terms of the blueprint and also the national disability insurance scheme.

The South Australian government has given in-principle support to the proposed national disability insurance scheme (NDIS). Our in-principle support also extends to the proposed no fault national injury insurance scheme. This aims to focus on people with a catastrophic industry regardless of the cause of that injury.

The Productivity Commission estimates the recurrent annual cost of the NDIS is approximately $13.6 billion nationally, approximately double the amount of funding that is currently expended by state, territory and commonwealth governments on disability services.

The concept of both schemes will involve a fundamental shift in the way disability services are provided, managed and funded, which we hope will lead to a better way to deliver disability services across the country. This is also likely to include significant policy and funding matters, which will need to be worked through by governments across Australia in a collaborative and joint manner.

In regard to the blueprint, I have said publicly many times now that the government will be releasing our first response very soon. That first response will lay out our approach to disabilities into the future and the government's commitment to people living with disabilities in South Australia, and that will happen within weeks.

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