Page 1450 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2011
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mum, dinner preparation does not even start till well after 7 pm. Is this really acceptable?
Minister Burch thinks that parents can just hang on while this process is spun out via a business case. We really need to stand up for these young people and their parents and say that this service is essential. Sure, we need it to be cost-effective and safe, but someone needs to stand up and say, “We will do this and we will do this soon.” It is pitiful that we place a single parent in such a position caring for a child with a high level of disability, juggling paid work. Others are left unable to work. In this particular case, as she is a contractor, when she does not work, when things go wrong and she has to leave work, she does not get paid. We have heard of young people attending school at Black Mountain and attending respite in Rivett. This is ludicrous. One community organisation providing after-school care spends $1,200 a month on taxi transport money that cannot be passed on to parents and must be found from a minuscule budget.
The Greens are mindful of budgetary issues. We understand that services cannot be funded at all costs. But this is not about costs; this is about priorities. There are already services provided by experienced and respected organisations. They are providing a quality service. There are simply not enough places. Our motion is simply calling for an extension of programs just like the ones currently operating. I would have thought that Minister Burch would have some idea of the cost.
As with most programs in the community sector, they run very efficiently. The Noah’s Ark program provides a service with eight places per day for a mix of disabilities. The service has operated for three years at a cost of $60,000. Minister Burch, is three years of successful operation at such a small cost not a good indication? Why will this government not commit to an implementation date and give parents some certainty? This speech, of course, was written a little while ago and, hopefully, we will be seeing some amendments from Ms Burch which will actually address that question.
In this place we often hear grandstanding of the fantastic role of carers and how their thousands and thousands of hours of unpaid care saves governments millions upon millions. Sometimes these ordinary folk are duly recognised as heroes for the selflessness of their task. Nice words and grand statements are indeed hollow when governments fail to offer carers basic and very necessary practical assistance that enables them to participate in society like other parents.
In December last year the Standing Committee on Health, Community and Social Services—this is a committee that Mr Doszpot chairs—handed down its report into respite care services. It is known as the Love has its limits report. A parent of a 25-year-old son with a severe disability said:
… we have considerable experience with reading literally hundreds of grandiose and ostentatious statements regarding the objective, ideals and plans from countless disability bureaucrats in, again, literally thousands of expensive glossy pamphlets, booklets and reports.
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