Page 1348 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 5 April 2005
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It is easy to see how such situations can result in increasing frustration, friction and even disputes within communities, ultimately requiring a substantial commitment of effort to resolve these situations. There are a number of responses that can be considered to these types of issues. For instance, the Liberal Party has developed a policy concerning a step down facility in the ACT. It is disappointing that this policy has not been supported by the government, because we believe that it is an essential component of a comprehensive approach for responding to the needs of people with a mental health issue.
We see a step down facility as being critical in helping people with their rehabilitation from a range of mental health issues, such that they can ultimately return to the community where they belong. There is no doubt that investing in a step down facility would be a significant investment, but we are convinced that it is a commitment that is required by our community if we are to have the capacity to respond effectively to a range of issues that are present with people who have mental health issues and who cannot find the assistance elsewhere.
Mr Speaker, another policy response that we believe is required to enhance the delivery of service to public housing tenants is the placing of appropriately qualified managers within such public housing facilities as the multiunit housing complexes. These managers would have to have the necessary training and skills that would enable them to deal with the more complex issues that may be displayed by a minority of tenants.
It is not satisfactory for a small number of public housing tenants to behave in ways that are incompatible with standards that are required when there are large numbers of people living in proximity to each other. These managers would need to have the expertise to deal with the small number of tenants so that these people behave appropriately in such residential environments, and are able to interact with other tenants to the extent that this is necessary and desired and ultimately are valued as tenants in such environments.
Mr Speaker, my colleagues will provide more instances where there are opportunities for initiatives to enhance the quality of life for all public housing tenants. We would like to see a capacity for tenants to have some control over how they are housed to enhance the ways in which they receive services from government agencies and ultimately to enable public housing tenants to feel as safe and secure in their homes as it is possible to achieve.
One factor for people who are part of a public housing community—indeed, for people everywhere in their community—is to seek to resolve issues or problems before they escalate into matters that require even more effort and resources to resolve. As I have outlined, there is a need for policies to enhance the sense of responsibility of people living in their communities; there is a need for policies that respond to people who have particular mental health issues, for example; and there is a need for policies that ensure that the community is managing public housing facilities to the best extent possible.
Implicit in the approach we are setting out is an enhanced integration of the delivery of services to public housing tenants, especially those who have high needs for whatever reason this may be. Ideally, the outcome of better integration of service delivery would be a more efficient use of scarce community resources. We will hear much more about the scarcity of resources from the government in the budget that will be brought down
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