Page 1142 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 10 April 2018
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From 2015 through to December 2017, ACT Disability, Aged and Carer Advocacy Services, known as ADACAS, was funded $270,000 by the ACT government to deliver the supported decision making, link and learn pilot project. An additional $33,845 was provided to Associate Professor Paul Ramcharan, from the global urban and social studies department at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology to complete the evaluation report of the pilot project, which was completed on 23 February 2018.
This pilot was designed to embed supported decision-making across the ACT through the delivery of training, awareness raising and mentoring with stakeholders, which included people with impaired decision-making aged between 18 and 65, their families, friends and carers.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities indicates supported decision-making is the first resort and preferred alternative to substitute decision-making. The ACT government is committed to the national disability strategy. The strategy identifies the need to ensure that supported decision-making safeguards are in place for those individuals who need them, including accountability of guardianship and substitute decision-making.
Under section 2.12 of the national disability strategy 2010-2020, the ACT government has committed to “ensuring supported decision-making safeguards for those people who need them are in place, including accountability of guardianship and substitute decision-makers”.
Associate Professor Paul Ramcharan’s evaluation report for the link and learn pilot project provides a useful quote that highlights the distinction between supported decision-making and substitute decision-making, and I quote
Supported decision-making refers to formal arrangements that go beyond the informal assistance of family and friends but stop short of substitute decision-making through guardianship, administration and Enduring Powers of Attorney.
The supported decision making link and learn pilot project evaluation by Associate Professor Ramcharan indicated that development of a culture of supported decision-making through awareness raising was innovative and highlighted the benefits of awareness raising activities in creating a culture of change.
The supported decision making link and learn pilot project delivered awareness raising activities to 300 people. It delivered 20 workshops in developing supported decision-making skills and 30 professional development sessions. I am pleased to report that there was an overwhelmingly positive response to the training of the supported decision making link and learn pilot project. Ninety-four per cent of participants felt that supported decision-making was an essential service.
In conclusion, the evaluation report concludes that there have been many positive outcomes for participants from the awareness raising, training and mentoring sessions
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