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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (19 November) . . Page.. 3700 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

In recent years, though, there has been a major shift in the way that the community has viewed disability, and we believe this shift is appropriate. The shift has resulted in a move away from seeing people with disabilities as being sick, and in need of some sort of intervention, to viewing people with disabilities as individuals who have specific support requirements to enable them to function as full members of our community.

This shift has also resulted in major changes to the way people with disabilities are supported. We have moved from viewing them as problems which should be hidden in institutions to supporting people who live in our community to take greater control in all aspects of their own lives. As a community, our success in supporting people with disabilities can be measured by the extent to which they are enabled to participate in the various dimensions of community life; the reduction in the level of exclusion they experience from their social life at home, in the family, in the neighbourhood, in leisure, in community activities and at work; and the reduction in the stigma that is often associated with disabilities and the view that they somehow are less than others.

Mr Speaker, we take these issues extremely seriously and have put in place mechanisms and, of course, worked on a number of the approaches that the previous Government was taking to improve the situation for these people. It is within this framework that this Government has sought to refocus and develop services for people with disabilities that are provided by both the government sector and the community sector. Our record is one of major commitment to meeting the needs of people with disabilities; a willingness to address problems and find solutions; and a real focus on seeking to develop a service system that provides quality outcomes for people with disabilities.

It was this Government that responded to the Dell review of intellectual disability services and, over the past 18 months, actually implemented most of the recommendations. These changes include the development of regional interdisciplinary teams providing accessible and flexible services to clients, with an emphasis on achieving integration with local community networks; the reform of respite services, with the provision of a greater diversity of respite options and the provision of more age-appropriate respite accommodation for both older and younger children; improved work force management practices; updating and developing a range of operational policies and procedures to guide the operation of government-run group homes and hostels; and the implementation of staff development initiatives such as the new traineeships in development and disability studies, with the aim of developing a highly skilled work force that can deliver quality support services for clients. We recently saw the graduation of the first group of these new trainees in this area, a group that now goes into working in our disability area full time, although they have been working during their course, as very well trained people. We have seen the start of the new course in that area.

This list is by no means exhaustive and I think you have to recognise that we have recently released the draft strategic directions plan for ACT Community Care's disability program. This was released - wait for this - for consultation. Mr Speaker, I would be very happy to table that. Obviously, Ms Tucker somehow forgot about it. This plan highlights a range of initiatives to enhance the individual focus and quality of service provision. Following the consultation process, we will be moving to implement whatever comes out of the consultation and start the next phase of service improvement. I table that plan.

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