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CONTENTS
STATE BUDGET 2000/2001The Big Picture Government budgets are about setting and re-ordering big picture priorities, outlining commitments and targets on the small detail, and about ensuring discipline and self-discipline. They are also about marketing to the voter. This year’s State budget has been well received by the Disability sector because the increases in disability-related expenditures were for a change significantly greater than the overall increases in State government expenditures. Whereas expenditures have increased by about 3-4%, expenditure on disability services has grown by about 7%. Following several years in which expenditure on disability services have only kept pace or lagged other expenditures, it seems that this year it was "disability’s turn"! It is well and good to compare the 7%
against the 4% overall expenditure growth, but the story
becomes a little different when we see that in the three
years from 1997 to 2000, the wealth of the top 10
individuals in Australia increased by 75% from $12.370
billion to $21.620 billion; that Mr. Kerry Packer increased
his wealth by 210% from $3.9 billion to $8.2 billion, and
that the threshold for the Top 200 increased by 54% from 55
million to $85 million. (See And what have governments done to tap into these massive increased in wealth? Nothing! Despite pleas by government for corporates and the wealthy to exercise responsibility, it was reported in the Herald recently that half the people with income greater than $500,000 sought no deductions for charitable contributions. Either they forgot to claim, or they couldn’t be bothered with the deduction, or they didn’t give! The Ageing and Disability Department’s factsheets relating to people with physical disabilities on the NSW State Budget are available on two ADD sites:
The CrumbsAccommodation, Community and Family Support Most of the significant increases in the budget were for people with intellectual disabilities, by way of:
These are welcome in much the same way that a little sunlight is welcome to someone locked up for years in a dungeon! But the "wins" should be put in context of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s estimates of 4,500 people in crisis in NSW needing supported accommodation; 4,500 people in NSW in need of and unable to access respite care; 4,000 people with disability in NSW having an unmet need for day programs; 2,500 people with disability living in 47 large residential centres; and up to 170 children and young people living in large residential centres. (From Family Advocacy’s Analysis
of the 2000/2001 State Budget for People with Disability -
the full report of which will be available some time next
week on the Family Advocacy Stop Press page, linked from
Attendant CareIt is better that the Government should honour its promise to provide more Attendant Care places than that it should not honour it, but it is hard to get excited about 25 additional Attendant Care places when there are currently 170 people on the "official" waiting list! It is hard to get excited when the waiting list has increased from 150 this time last year to 170 - despite the 25 new places, and despite the death of some people who had been receiving attendant care! It is hard to get excited when new demand outstrips new supply! It is hard to get excited when we keep receiving reports that the bureaucrat at ADD charged with looking after the Attendant Care program does everything possible to discourage enquirers from adding their name to the waiting list! Why the increase in the waiting list? Because people are moving away from a Home Care service which shows, by the way it provides service, that it prefers dealing with low support low need clients who will put less burden on Home Care's workers' compensation bill. The media would love to hear how people on the waiting list manage from day to day and journalists would particularly appreciate hearing about those who have been discouraged by bureaucracy. But who would be brave enough to risk their place on the Attendant Care program by whistle blowing? People are being reduced to desperate measures to get attendant care - including lying and cheating. Why? Because there is not enough being allocated to support people with high support needs in the community. PADPThe PADP commitment of $8 million over four years, made more than 12 months ago, is finally seeing the light of day. A $2 million per year commitment was made in last year’s budget but as at the end of May, only $200,000 has been spent. It appears that there is going to be something like $3.7 million spent over the next 12 months, including $1.65 million through an equipment loan pool to be managed by service organisations. It also appears that the oxygen program will be separated from the equipment program so that the PADP increases will apply only to the equipment portion, and oxygen will be treated as a recurrent health item. The PADP eligibility criteria, the allocation formulae and the management systems are also being restructured with welcome and abundant consultation with people with physical disabilities. We welcome the Government’s honouring its PADP commitment, but as with Attendant Care, the need at the end of 4 years will still be much greater than the supply. The anecdotal evidence at all the consultations that PDCN runs suggests that the additional $2 million per year is a drop in the ocean, so that at current levels of funding, PADP will continue to require means testing without regard to the additional cost of disability and the additional cost of getting to work if one has a disability. Therapy Services$1.9 m has been allocated to continue the rollout of the therapy service implementation program which is the result of the review of Therapy Service in 1998. This rollout involves setting up local committees across the state to estimate and manage demand and supply of therapy services at the local level. It involves no additional money for actual hand-on therapy. The ADD-Treasury line on this is that management systems have to be put into place before money is allocated to therapy. PDCN has no argument with the principle of setting up good systems, but we have doubts about the model that is being implemented. ADD and Treasury are committed to the implementation model and we can only hope that their model of local committee management of local demand and supply will prove to be effective in delivering additional therapy to school aged children. We expect to be seeing some results on the ground soon since the strategy has now been in place for nearly 12 and it will soon be time for results. We will provide an update in the September Newsletter. Transport$2 million was allocated to buy accessible vehicles from the Paralympic fleet in order replace as many of the 300 or so Community Transport buses and sedans as possible. These vehicles will be able to be hired out to the community. PDCN understands that most of these buses are capable of taking two wheelchairs. ADD's taking advantage of some Olympics spin-off is welcome but the Government as a whole falls short of more long-tern strategies such as:
Home and Community CareAn additional $21.5 million to $291.8 m has been allocated to the Home and Community Care Program. Much has been made of the 7.9% increase as being the largest increase in HACC funding since 1986/87. The question to ask however is: how much of the $21.5 million was to compensate for the enormous increase in the workers' compensation bill, and how much has been to increase service? We will do some homework on this and report the results when they come to hand. ADD reports that the increase is expected to translate into 500,000 hours of service for home maintenance, transport, home help, personal care, respite and heath care for an extra 8,000 people. These look like big numbers, but they are not so large in the context of the totals. Thus, the Budget estimates show that the 7.9% funding increase translate into only a 6.3% increase in Home Care hours. And the 6.3% increase in hours should be put into the context of an ageing population. Once again, PDCN welcomes the increase but we can't get excited! We will get excited when we start to see numbers and programs which give choice and flexibility, elimination of waiting lists, and encouraging signals from service providers. EXEMPTION UPATESORTAThere was an error in the link to the
HREOC page on the ORTA exemption in the Bulletin No. 1. The
correct address should have been We have only to June 13th to respond to the exemption application. One can never know whether the 57 responses and endorsements had anything to do with the ACT’s pulling out of the request for exemption, but there cannot be too many submissions to HREOC pointing out the scandalous arrogance of ORTA’s seeking to take away accessible transport from cities around Australia in order to service the Olympics. After having a look at the HREOC site and reading some of the submissions, make your own submission by email to disabdis@hreoc.gov.au. Kendell AirlinesThere have at this stage only been 3 submissions to the Kendell Airways application to exempt Kendell from carrying passengers with disabilities for at least five years if more than two of five criteria are not satisfied at the local airport from which or to which Kendell is flying. In support of their application Kendell cites a pathetic Action Plan which would qualify as a joke if it were not serious, and a meaningless Disability Awareness Policy which is a warm-up to the Action Plan joke. If there are no more submissions, Kendell will get away with it. Before submitting, have a look at how
things have been going in the US since 1990 by clicking onto
Check TENDERS FOR RESEARCH PROJECT ON SCHOOL EDUCATIONThe Disability Council of NSW invites tenders from contractors capable of undertaking the following research project: "Access to the school education system for parents with a disability." The project will involve examining the ability of parents with a disability to access the school education system, as well as making recommendations regarding the development of policies and strategies that would facilitate their active participation both in their children's education and in the broader educational concerns of the community. The Council requires that tenderers be suitably qualified and experienced in conducting qualitative research. The contractor must have a commitment to participatory research, personal experience of disability or a working knowledge of disability. Tenderers will be assessed against these and other criteria outlined in the tender document and in the Agreement. This also includes compliance with the NSW Government's Code of Tendering and current Australian taxation laws. The project will be completed within 9 months of the contract being signed. The Disability Council of NSW strongly encourages people with a disability to apply. A pre-tender meeting will be held on 5 June 2000, 3pm at the address below. Tenders should be submitted by close of business 23 June 2000 to The Executive Officer The tender document and Agreement can
be obtained by contacting Margaret Garside on +61 2 92112866
or down-loaded from the Council's website: Alternative versions of these documents will be made available on request. Questions about the tender should be directed to Ben Folino on +61 2 9211 2263 or bfolino@discoun.nsw.gov.au ACCESSIBLE WYNYARD AND TOWN HALLTown Hall and Wynyard stations now both have lifts installed, and there are ramps near the guard's booths to assist wheelchair users to get onto the train. The need to get guard support is less than satisfactory, but the lifts are a step in the right direction. It is now up to State Rail to ensure that future purchases of trains are only of a type enabling independent access into and out of carriages. The Town Hall station is accessible from George St. outside the Electricity Commission building. The lift goes to where the ticket booths are located, from where there are a second set of lifts to the various levels on the Eastern and Western sides of the station. The lifts to the Wynyard station platforms are accessible after passing through the ticketing turnstiles from either the long George St. ramp or the Carrington St. lift. The Carrington St. entrance would be preferable for people with ambulant disabilities because of the length of the ramp from George St. SCARLETT FINNEY UPDATEDespite media reports to the contrary, Hills Grammar has not at this stage appealed the Scarlett Finney ruling. Hills have 21 days to do so - that period will run out at the end of next week. If they do appeal, it will first be to a full hearing of the Federal Court. It is hard to see how a Board of Management of any school would vote money to appeal a further ruling - particularly in view of the fact that at this stage the school will not be required to spend any money unless the Finney's decide change their mind and Scarlett goes to Hills Grammar after all. It has been suggested that the court costs, including any appeal, are covered by insurance, but surely stretches no insurance company would give the go-ahead for an appeal against a ruling which imposes no costs other than the legal costs which the school has bought on its own head. PDCN would be very surprised to see any appeal. Hills Grammar would have to be very very bloody-minded or masochistic. CONFERENCENon-English Speaking Background (NESB) Disability Conference "Less Talk, More Action: Advancing Cultural Diversity and Disability in 21st Century" Presented by the Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association of NSW Inc WHEN: Wednesday 14th June 2000 (Parking Available at Goulburn Street Parking Station) For more information and for a
registration form Free for people from NESB with
disability and their families living in NSW. Dougie Herd, Executive Officer
Feel free to let others, including
members of your organisation know that they can sign up for
free by E-mail the above particulars to pdcnsw@pdcnsw.org.au
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1606 PDC NSW Inc is funded by the NSW Government's Ageing and Disability Department. Views expressed by PDC NSW Inc are not necessarily endorsed by the NSW Government.
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