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"My
point of passion and conviction is to commit
myself to...care and assistance for the
disabled…these are matters of simple
decency.
We
have allowed these issues to slip off the broad
political agenda. We need to put them back
there."
Morris Iemma, Premier of NSW - 2 August,
2005 Morris Iemma, Premier of NSW - 2 August,
2005
Personal Assistance support
is the assistance received by people with physical
disabilities to undertake a range of everyday tasks
and activities. Without these supports, people with
physical disabilities are not be able to
participate in the life of their communities and
attain equality of opportunity and
citizenship.
Supports include personal
hygiene (toileting, bladder and bowel management,
showering); grooming; domestic chores; low level
home maintenance; meal preparation, eating and
drinking; assistance with personal administration
tasks.
When a person with a physical
disability cannot get out of bed in the morning,
they cannot participate. Their support system
fails. They do not have a level playing field.
Where's the decency?
The Department of Ageing
Disability and Home Care (DADHC) provides funded
personal assistance, through two valuable programs:
The Attendant Care Program (ACP) and the
Home Care service of NSW, in particular the
High Need Pool.
Where is the equality?
Where's the
decency?
The Attendant Care
Program
The Attendant Care
Program (ACP) is entirely state funded and is
available to people with physical disability who
are of "working age" and able to direct their
carers. It is not available to those who live at
home with their parents.
The ACP provides up to 34
hours of support each week. People with physical
disabilities are able choose their service
provider and they have a level of control with
regards to the selection and training of their
attendants. DADHC is currently developing a
direct funding model to be piloted in the near
future. Direct pilot models are successful in
Queensland and Western Australia where they have
operated for some time.
For many people, the hours
provided by the ACP are not enough so they can
"top up" their support services through the Home
and Community Care services, provided that the
additional support services needed are not
provided by their ACP funding.
There are currently 314
places within the ACP.
Although there has been
some welcome growth within the ACP in recent
years, this program currently has no vacancies.
As people require their funding for 20-30 years,
which means demand on this service is
growing.
The Physical Disability
Council of NSW estimates there are
approximately 300 people waiting for a
place on the Attendant Care Program.
By policy, DADHC does not
publicly release its waiting list
figures.
Where's the
Decency?
The NSW Government can
act on its promise of simple decency -
- By increasing the
number of available places in the Attendant
Care Program to a total of 700 (an increase
of 386 places);
- By planning for
additional growth into the program in
accordance with predicted population
growth.
The Home Care Service of
NSW
The Home Care
Service of NSW (HCS) is operated by DADHC. It is
funded through the Home and Community Care
funding scheme. Currently 80% of the funding
comes from the Australian Government and 20% of
funding comes from the NSW Government.
There are two streams of
support available within the HCS: Home
Care and the High Need Pool. The high
needs pool specifically targets those with
higher levels of need and provides a full range
of support services in four service type areas:
personal care, domestic assistance, respite for
carers and low level home
maintenance.
The Home Care Service is
both service provider and funder. Although
changes have been made to increase the
flexibility of this vital program service
quality issues remain.
There are approximately
400 approved places within the High Need
Pool.
The Physical Disability
Council of NSW estimates there are
approximately 300 people waiting for a
place within the High Need Pool.
Again, it is not DADHC
policy to release waiting list data.
Where's the
Decency?
The NSW Government can
act on its promise of simple decency
-
- By increasing the
number of available places within the High
Need Pool to 700 (an increase of
300);
- By planning for
additional growth into the program in
accordance with predicted population
growth.
- The NSW Government
will need to increase its proportion of the
funding into the Home Care Service of NSW
regardless of increase in funding by the
Australian government.
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