Page 3138 - Week 07 - Thursday, 30 June 2011
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remained an unmet need. The directorate has agreed to provide those details, and I look forward to Disability ACT’s plans to address demand into the future.
In respect of therapy services, one welcome initiative is the therapy in schools program, which has an allocation of $647,000 for a pilot therapy assistant program. But it does not extend to non-government schools. So once again we have a disconnect between how students in government and non-government schools are treated, especially at the special needs level.
The committee did question whether the target for hours of therapy addressed the level of demand. While there will be additional hours, there will continue to be a waiting list for services, and it is across all professional service areas—occupational, psychology, physiotherapy and social work, children with developmental delays and adults with a disability.
I raised with the department the frustrations of parents of autistic children in seeking services provided by the ACT government and the federal government. While I accept the director-general’s advice that Australian government funding cannot be influenced by Therapy ACT, it is frustrating for those parents.
Another feasibility study that is due shortly is one concerning future models of respite care. The minister suggested the study would look not only at the physical form but also at the model of care, how flexibility can be provided for individuals and families, whether the care should be offered in blocks of one or two weeks, weekdays or days. The department was to receive the report in July, and I hope that the minister will see fit to share its contents with the Assembly as soon as practical after that.
Minister Burch suggested that there had been an increase in flexible respite hours by over 90 per cent but given the figures I mentioned earlier, the need for respite care will need to continue to grow at accelerated rates. As carers get older, to use the department’s phrasing, natural support failure grows. Demand for additional services will also grow, and we need to factor this into future funding.
Moving to the multicultural affairs portfolio, I will abbreviate my comments tonight to just support recommendation 177 around how the government intends to deliver its whole-of-government language policy and highlight the need for departments to better liaise if indeed they promote policies that require delivery by multiple departments.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (12.22 am): Where do you start with this directorate? It is difficult to know, because there is no end of maladministration by this minister in this directorate. There is childcare, there is Bimberi Youth Justice Centre, there is care and protection and particularly there is the role of parents and grandparents. There is the former Flynn primary school, and now we have added to that the Fitters Workshop. I will speak briefly on each of those topics, although it could be noted that there are others.
Just yesterday we heard Minister Burch tell the Assembly in question time that the national quality framework in relation to childcare includes playschools. Then, the very next question asked the minister whether she was aware that an officer in her
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