Page 398 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 18 March 2014
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MS BURCH: I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
Debate (on motion by Mrs Jones) adjourned to the next sitting.
Enhanced service offer grants
Ministerial statement
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Disability, Children and Young People, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Women, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Racing and Gaming) (10.25): I present the following paper:
Enhanced Service Offer—Ministerial statement, 18 March 2014.
I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
I seek leave to make a ministerial statement on the paper.
Leave granted.
MS BURCH: I would like to thank the Assembly for the opportunity to provide an update on the enhanced service offer grants. These grants are made available to eligible ACT residents as we prepare for the gradual introduction of the national disability insurance scheme in the ACT from July of this year.
The government has allocated $7.7 million for the two enhanced service offer grant rounds. As a first step towards the introduction of the NDIS, the enhanced service offer was designed to give people a taste of how to manage self-directed funding. People were encouraged to think from an individual, rather than a service, point of view and to plan for creating a better life for themselves.
Madam Speaker, I last updated members on these grants in November when some 800 people with a disability had been offered first round grants. The second round had just closed and a further 1,500 applications were being assessed.
Of the second round, 749 people had applied for a grant for an aid, equipment or minor modification; 1,016 people applied for a quality of life grant; and 779 have applied for grants to purchase additional flexible supports and services. Unfortunately, not everyone who applied for a grant could be offered a grant. However, I am delighted that in addition to the first 800 recipients, a further 556 people have been offered a grant in the second round.
Before I talk more about the applicants to the second round, Madam Speaker, I would like to give you a little example of the unique ways in which grants have already
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