Page 1595 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 7 May 2013
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Community conversations will be developed across the ACT. The first conversation is planned for 14 May. Initially these conversations will provide information about DisabilityCare Australia and to hear from people with a disability and their families about what they need to get ready. These conversations will be held in cafes and clubs during the day or in the evening and will then turn to discussing what is important to people and how they might think about what they need differently.
The task force will use the information and advice from the expert panel, the community conversations, the provider forums, national research and feedback through the information line to develop a strategy with the commonwealth government for sector readiness in the ACT. This strategy, informed by local and national needs, will guide how the $12 million committed by the commonwealth government will be invested for people with a disability, their families and providers, to prepare for DisabilityCare in the ACT.
DisabilityCare Australia will commence from 1 July this year in Tasmania, South Australia, the Hunter region of New South Wales and the Barwon region of Victoria. Regional offices of DisabilityCare Australia are preparing to open in these locations.
I am pleased to see that there is an increasing commitment across the country to the rollout of the full scheme. The Northern Territory has agreed to host a launch site focusing on a remote area. At this time the ACT, along with New South Wales and South Australia, has agreed to implement the full scheme. Only last week, Tasmania also agreed to implement the full scheme by 2019. As we have just heard on the weekend, Victoria has also signed up to implement the full scheme. We look forward to all states and territories agreeing to the implementation of DisabilityCare Australia to enable all Australians to be covered by the scheme.
Last week Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced an increase in the Medicare levy of half a per cent, with funds to be quarantined for DisabilityCare Australia. This provides certainty around the funding for the long-term future of this national scheme.
Our government is supportive of increasing the Medicare levy by half a per cent to provide additional funding to support people with a disability. Funding DisabilityCare with this increase to the Medicare levy will secure funding into the future and provide funding certainty that will underpin the scheme. The commonwealth has committed to provide states and territories with 25 per cent of the levy raised through the Medicare increase. This means an additional $192 million will be available to the ACT over a 10-year period.
As I have already observed, no-one expects to have to deal with living with a disability, and the NDIS will change forever the support provided to people with a disability, their families and carers. As minister for disability in the ACT, I am proud that we will be the first jurisdiction to have all eligible people transition to DisabilityCare by June 2016. Making a difference to the lives of people with a disability is what this is all about.
Here in the ACT I believe that we are leading the way. I think all of us in this chamber recognise the fundamental change that DisabilityCare Australia will bring
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