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FED UP WITH NOT
GETTING
EQUIPMENT WHEN YOU NEED IT?
The PADP Equipment
system in NSW is a total failure.
Successive Health Ministers have shown little
interest in the problem.
Many people with disabilities and their families
are forced to beg !
ITS TIME TO DO
SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
Make aids and appliances a
NSW election issue on March 27 !
Double the budget and restructure the system
!
A PADP PROTEST
RALLY
will be held
on
WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY
1999
at
11:OOAM
outside
PREMIER BOB CARR'S
OFFICE
(Governor Macquarie Tower
1 Farrer Place Sydney)
All people with
disabilities and their families are urged to
attend.
Please phone 1800 688 831
to find out how
you can support our campaign for
action.
WHY A RALLY?
WHAT IS
PADP?
Program of Appliances for
Disabled People - system of providing equipment
to people with disabilities.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH
PADP?
- Long waiting lists in
most areas whilst other areas are flush with
funds.
- Unfair means testing
to determine eligibility.
- Goes to people who can
work the system or make a media
fuss.
- Government
cost-savings in PADP are more than offset by
losses in the health budget, loss of taxes
and extra expenses. Lack of equipment forces
people into expensive institutions and makes
people welfare dependent instead of fully
participating contributing members of
society.
- Inadequate equipment
supply forces people into begging to local
charities.
WHY DO WE NEED TO HOLD
A RALLY?
- People have been
complaining for more than 15 years without
any results.
- Despite numerous
representations and correspondence to
Ministers for Health and their Departments no
meaningful action has been taken.
- Numerous internal
enquiries have been conducted but the results
are kept hidden - probably because they show
how dismal the system is.
- The program has been
eroded since its inception because
Governments have lost interest.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO
PEOPLE WITH PHYSICAL
DISABILITIES?
- Without decent
equipment we lose our ability to work, to go
to clubs and movies, to go to school and
university, to make choices when we go
shopping - WE LOSE CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS to
participate as equals in the
community.
- Paying for expensive
equipment, modifications, and maintenance
increases our cost of living dramatically and
forces many people with disabilities into
poverty.
WHO IS ORGANISING THE
RALLY?
The rally is being
organised by the Physical Disability Council of
NSW, Australian Quadriplegic Association,
Paraquad NSW, the Spastic Centre of NSW and the
Northcott Society.
WHY DO GOVERNMENTS
CONTINUE WITH THE CURRENT SYSTEM OF EQUIPMENT
PROVISION?
- Incompetence.
- Ignorance.
- Not enough
votes
- They don’t
care.
WHAT DO WE
WANT?
- An immediate doubling
of the PADP budget with further increases in
each of the next three years.
- Immediate release of
the Carla Cranny Report.
- Restructuring of the
entire scheme - eligibility, management,
criteria, accountability, complaints
process.
- Elimination of means
testing over the next four years.
For more details and a
copy of the Issues Paper call Lou-Anne Lind on
1800 688 831.
Keep an eye on the PDCN
Website www.pdcnsw.org.au/priorities/
for continuing developments and additional
documents.
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The
Physical Disability Council of NSW Inc (PDCN) is
the peak body representing people with physical
disabilities across New South Wales.
PDCN is involved in information, education and
systemic advocacy for, and on behalf of, people
with a physical disability.
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