Page 1462 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 26 September 1989
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR WOOD (9.05): I think it is important, to begin with, to spell out again what HACC means. The acronym HACC stands for home and community care, and those words are worth stressing. It covers care, as the Minister pointed out, of the frail aged, of younger people who are handicapped, and, very importantly, of people who care for them. The aim in particular is to support these people in their homes. In the few minutes that I have at my disposal in this debate I want to support the value of this program. Home is where people want to be. It is where they maintain better health and, equally importantly, a higher morale. The two, I expect, are rather closely related.
The governments, both Territory and Federal, which provide the joint funding for the HACC programs have enlisted community groups to help in this task. I would make some comment here on Mr Moore's speech. I think he would agree with me that I have seen no HACC program that is not worthy. They are all excellent. I am sure all members here have experience of the community groups who provide this work. I think one of the benefits they have found of self-government is that it gives them access to people who are able to speak on their behalf, to raise matters with administration and with government. They are all - the ones I have seen - excellent groups doing a great job. I rather think Mr Moore got confused between the arrangements for the HACC and for CDF, and they are somewhat different.
I am sure we are all aware of the dedication of those groups and the people in them who provide these important services. It is true that many of them do this as a job and they get paid for it - not very much, I would think. They are employed to do certain tasks, and there are some who are volunteers. Yet it is true to say that they all regard their jobs as a true vocation, and they provide a service beyond what is required of them. They have a great commitment to the people they serve. They perform an arduous job, but as I have come across them it is obviously rewarding, although at the same time, frequently quite stressful and always demanding.
In this debate I want the Assembly to recognise the work of these people who provide the services to the aged and the infirm in society. I believe it is our responsibility to give all the support that we can to the carers. I was interested today to receive - I guess all members received this - a publication called the Carers Support Group Newsletter. That is one important group established under this program, and it has, as I have indicated, an important task of helping the carers in our society. While I am on that matter, I would ask Mr Berry to respond in his reply on the matter of the HACC advisory committee which he said in his speech was about to be set up or re-established. Perhaps he can indicate if that has been done.
I want to make a further point about HACC. It is indisputably cost-effective. It is not only better but it is more economical to provide care in homes than it is in
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .