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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 11 Hansard (26 September) . . Page.. 3685 ..

These reforms will include:

. specifying quality measures in service agreements with consumers;

. creating a culture where client input is encouraged and valued; and

. collecting feedback from clients about their levels of satisfaction with service responsiveness, reliability. competence, accessibility, respect for consumers and credibility.

Responsibility for various reforms and their timeframes have been identified, along with performance measures and reporting arrangements for the Plan.

Top priorities have been given to:

. Formulation of strategies which better equip the Disability Program to provide tailored support in a range of environments in response to the individual needs of clients;

. The establishment of service agreements with consumers which promote accountability and shared expectations by outlining the rights and responsibilities of the consumer and of the Disability Program as service provider;

. The development of a quality assurance framework which ensures that services meet required standards;

. The development and implementation of transparent, consistent, equitable policy and procedures for the assessment of individual support needs, allocation of service and offers of places in accommodation;

. The continuation of workplace reforms to ensure service provision is focused on consumer needs and real outcomes. Practices to be modified include staffing arrangements, work level structures, career structure and workforce development; and

. The review and finalisation of policies, procedures and guidelines on individual support planning. grievance procedures, health-related issues, financial management and the role and structure of advisory committees.

This draft plan reflects the government's vision for services for people with disabilities. We have seen the need to move beyond institutional care for these members of our community.

As I mentioned earlier, this Plan will now be released for consultation and input from interested parties.

Mr Speaker, over the past seven years since self-government, a spirit of bipartisanship, or even tri-partisanship has existed in this area of service delivery.

Anyone who knows anything about this area will tell you that it is not simply a matter of throwing more money at the problems and hoping they will go away.

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