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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-06-18 Daily Xml
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Mental Health Services

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:09): Final supplementary: given what the minister has just said, does the minister accept that so far, and based on further evidence that was given in public yesterday at a committee, the NDIS process has failed a number of those vulnerable South Australians that he has alluded to, even in the words of the NDA itself?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:09): I have not been made aware of comments before a select committee yesterday, and I don't know whether it relates to this particular client group of people with psychosocial disability. The Hon. Michelle Lensink (minister for disability) and myself are going to be the last people who will line up to say that the NDIS is perfect.

We have, through both I think it's called the Disability Reform Council and the COAG Health Council, raised major concerns about the way the commonwealth is delivering on their part of the bargain. That is why, since I have been minister, I have supported the Chief Psychiatrist in the establishment of the psychosocial transition task force, so that we can deliver on our commitment to work with NGOs to facilitate this transition.

Thankfully, the commonwealth after a period actually joined that task force, and with the engagement of minister Hunt on 8 March we announced an $8 million joint project to facilitate placement of NDIS clients, particularly those in our hospitals. I am certainly not arguing that the NDIS is perfect. What I do strongly believe, as a person with an ongoing interest in disability services, is that this is an important reform that needs to be supported. I would urge the NGOs to work with us in what is going to be a challenging period of transition, but I think it offers significantly better services and life choices for people with mental illness. They deserve to have us do the hard yards to get it right.

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