Page 185 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 23 February 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
diversity in housing so that aged people have greater choices in affordable accommodation. The Housing Trust has been actively pursuing alternative accommodation options that cater for the needs of older people. The Government also supports older people who wish to remain in their own homes for as long as possible through its continued substantial funding of the home and community care program. An important strategy in enabling people to remain in the community is to promote positive attitudes towards ageing. The Government has embarked on a comprehensive consultative process with senior citizens in order to develop a healthy ageing policy.
During the International Year of the Family in 1994 it is the Government's intention to build on these initiatives for young and older members of families and to improve the quality and accessibility of services and programs we already provide for families. The year provides an opportunity to work towards a number of outcomes for families. We have identified five key themes to meet this challenge, and they are: Improving services for families; helping families to care; making families safer; supporting workers with family responsibilities; and supporting families experiencing economic disadvantage. These themes for the year reflect the Government's strong commitment to social justice. They recognise that the International Year of the Family is not just about celebrating family life; it is also about recognising the issues facing families in our community and, most importantly, doing something about these issues.
By focusing on improving services for families, we will encourage service providers, in both the government sector and the non-government sector, to develop ways of improving the services they provide to families. In order to discover better ways of providing these services and programs, the Government will be asking the community for their views and suggestions, in line with our strong commitment to consultation. We are looking for creative solutions to improve our services - solutions that make the most effective use of our existing resources.
Madam Speaker, families can be a very positive environment in which to care for children, aged people, people with a disability and people who are ill. However, this caring role can be very demanding. By focusing on helping families to care, we can highlight the value of the caring role of families and examine issues such as how best to support the caring capacity of families, and the need to recognise unpaid work. We all realise that some families within the community do not enjoy togetherness, warmth and security. Some families are dysfunctional, and not all experiences within families are positive. During the year the Government will be examining ways of making families safer. The issues of domestic violence and protection of the elderly will be high priorities, along with the promotion of the Government's community safety strategy.
The demands of family life can be quite considerable. Family responsibilities can affect access to the work force and the choice of work undertaken by a family member. They can also affect the ability of that person to participate in community activities. Once in the work force, workers with family responsibilities can face considerable challenges in managing both the work aspects and the family aspects of their lives. The Government has a commitment to supporting workers with family responsibilities. During 1994 the Government will continue to work on this issue, both in terms of developing strategies to support its own employees with family responsibilities and in encouraging private industry to do the same.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .