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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-11-19 Daily Xml
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Disability Services

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (15:14): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the minister representing the Minister for Disabilities regarding the Public Advocate's annual report.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: Yesterday, as members will know, the 2013-14 annual report of the Public Advocate, John Brayley, was tabled in this place. Part A of that report includes an overview of major matters arising during the year. The report speaks of significant concern regarding unmet need, the lack of a senior disability practitioner with statutory powers, the need for a reformed state disability act, and the need for a specific forensic disability service.

Dignity for Disability notes in particular that, as of 30 September 2014, the category 1 disability unmet needs list, representing people at critical risk of homelessness or high risk of self-harm or harm to others, stands at a record high of 1,743. We also note that in 2011 the Social Inclusion Board recommended the clearing of the category 1 and 2 unmet needs lists in a single budget cycle. My questions to the minister are:

1. When will the minister take action to arrest the ever-growing category 1 unmet needs list, as recommended by the government's own Social Inclusion Board report back in 2011?

2. When will the minister enshrine the statutory authority of a senior disability practitioner in legislation, as recommended by the Public Advocate and included in amendments I proposed in the government's Disability Services (Rights, Protection and Inclusion) Amendment Bill 2013?

3. When does the minister intend to draft a new Disability Services Act in light of the impending full implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and as recommended by the Public Advocate?

4. What is the minister's opinion on the establishment of a separate forensic disability service, in consultation with the health minister, to better service people with disabilities who are deemed unfit to plead in the criminal justice system?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:17): I thank the honourable member for her most important questions and will refer those to the Minister for Disabilities in another place and bring back a response.

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