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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (5 September) . . Page.. 3180 ..

MS REILLY (continuing):

The crux of it is the security of tenure that people in Disability Services houses operated through the ACT Government have. What right do they have not to be moved from house to house, not to be moved from bedroom to bedroom, so that they have some opportunity to develop their own networks and to know which community they will be living in for any length of time? I think it would be really good if Disability Services considered the models that are around and tried to ensure that there is security of tenure and that these people have the opportunity for a good quality of life within the ACT community. (Quorum formed)

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Minister for Health and Community Care) (4.14): The disability program, like similar programs all over the world, is undergoing significant reforms while endeavouring to provide the best possible services for people with disabilities. It is very unfortunate that we have had the sorts of comments we heard today about the level of service to people with disabilities in the ACT. Yes, there are some problems; there will always be problems, and we will be doing all we can to overcome those problems. But the reality is that we have a very good service in the ACT in comparison - and you have to compare - with most other parts of Australia.

Recent changes in community attitudes towards people with disability support the move to more inclusive societies which recognise the rights of all people to participate as valued citizens. These changes are also reflected in the way that services are provided and the factors that are emphasised in service provision. In particular, it is critical to maintain a balance between duty of care and respect for the rights of people with disabilities to develop their autonomy and to experience something that I believe this whole debate has forgotten, and that is the dignity of risk. The reality is that, as a society, we have to accept that people living in residential accommodation, people with disabilities, are exposed to a level of risk. They must be, by the very nature of allowing them to develop to the greatest extent possible, to have their autonomy. If we wanted to remove all risk from their lives, we would remove all autonomy from their lives. That is the whole basis of the residential model.

The 1994 Dell report recommendations provided a basis for the program of reforms in the services that make up the ACT community care disability program. The direction and details of reform have also been influenced by the views and concerns of clients, their families and advocates, and by staff members who work with clients on a day-to-day basis. The level of community consultation, the level of consultation with families, with clients and with staff has been enormous, as those opposite should know. The Dell report, which came down in 1994, was supported by the previous Government, I understand, and certainly it is supported by this Government as well.

In 1993, accommodation support services were provided, I understand, for 132 clients. Some 47 of these people lived in two hostels and the remaining 85 people lived in 21 group houses. In a clear response to indications about the many problems associated with large accommodation services for people with disabilities, John Knight Hostel was closed in 1995 and replaced by a number of more appropriate houses.

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