Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-07-05 Daily Xml

Contents

Highgate Park Disability Services

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (15:31): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the minister, representing the Minister for Disabilities, regarding the future of Highgate Park.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: It has come to my attention that the Minister for Disabilities attended a meeting with families of people living at Highgate Park on 4 May this year. I understand that during that meeting the minister discussed the rollout of the NDIS and the future of residents at Highgate Park; that is, the future of Highgate Park as a facility itself. My questions to the minister are:

1. What case management services will be provided to the residents and their families at Highgate Park as they transition to the NDIS in the coming years?

2. Why did the minister and the department state that adults in eastern Adelaide would not begin rolling out for some time yet, so planning was not yet necessary?

3. What certainty can be given that accommodation at Highgate Park for residents will be available, and at what point will the department decide it is no longer economically viable?

4. Is the minister saying that accommodation at Highgate Park would continue with only two residents living there?

5. Why are only 100 homes of the 'One Thousand Homes in 1000 Days' project being built to be accessible to people with disabilities, when making all 1,000 homes base-level accessible would be cost negligible?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:33): I thank the honourable member for the question. Naturally, I will have to refer the question to the responsible minister in the other place for a response to her specific questions. With regard to the park that she refers to, unfortunately I do not have the information at hand to be able to respond immediately, but I am more than happy to take the question on notice and make sure that we try to get a response back as expeditiously as possible.

Apart from that, I also mention, of course, that the Minister for Disabilities, I know, has a great interest in making sure that all South Australians, including those people with a disability, should be able to get access to basic services, including reasonable access to parks, but I am sure she will be able to provide an absolute—

The Hon. K.L. Vincent: It is not a park, it is a residential facility. It is a home called Highgate Park.

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS: I am more than happy to make sure that the honourable member gets a response back from the minister as quickly as possible.