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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 212 ..

MS REILLY (continuing):

There is one other part of our discussion that I want to raise, and it is part of the recommendations. I refer to tenancy and rights to services contracts, or whatever arrangement might be put in place. I think it goes back to the shock of finding that people who live in the Disability Services homes of the ACT Government have no right of tenancy to stay in those houses. In fact, because there is no tenancy agreement of any variety or no contract, they could be asked to leave at any time. It is too easy to say, "Of course, that will never happen". If people do not have their rights to tenancy and their rights to services spelt out in some sort of contract that provides an equitable agreement between the provider and the consumer, they are disadvantaged. It is an imbalance of power and it also opens the way for exploitation.

Although this has been included in the strategic directions document, I cannot emphasise strongly enough how important it is to develop a contract between the consumers and users of the residential services and other services in the ACT to ensure that those who are using the services have rights. It means that both residence and service are spelt out so that people know what to expect. If this were spelt out and if there were fully-developed care plans, I am sure that a lot of the concern and distress would not be in the system. For both the consumers and the relatives of the consumers, it is the unknown that creates unnecessary stress and tension for all people involved. So it is so important that we spell out what we require and what is expected.

An indication of some of the narrowness of the service availability in the ACT can be gained by looking at the recreation services that are available. As members of the committee have heard me on this subject before, I will not bore the rest of you with it. One of the things that are of concern is the lack of variety of occupation, the lack of variety of recreation, that is available for people with disabilities in the ACT. This is unnecessary. There is no response to individual need and desire, and there is no looking at what people might want to do. This has been done in other States and Territories, so there is no reason why the ACT cannot look at it. It becomes more important that people have a satisfying occupation, particularly as there is less work available. It is important that this is looked at and provided as a matter of urgency.

I commend the report to all of you. It is the result of much hard and careful work on the part of a number of people beyond just the committee members. I am hoping it is a report that will be looked at carefully and not dismissed out of hand. I hope that it will not be looked at just in terms of the dollars that might be attached, but that it will be looked at in terms of ways of providing creative and innovative services in the ACT because through this we are responding to individual need, we are responding to people with disabilities, and that will ensure that they will be members of our community in every way. That will strengthen our community as a whole. If we ignore these people, we are the losers. I hope that in looking at this report the Government will look for good, positive outcomes. I hope that they will not just draw up the barricades and shoot from the hip, but will consider it carefully and look to changing and improving the services in the future.

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