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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 2019 ..

Mrs Carnell: We have three-year plans, we have 10-year plans, we have five-year plans, we have every bloody plan you can think of.

MS REILLY: We know what happened to people who had five-year plans. We would like some action. When you look at the social programs, it is difficult to see where these plans fit. Maybe that is the problem, Mrs Carnell. You are left to wonder whether some of the new mechanisms for work in community care actually run counter to getting a planned, integrated system. Through the purchaser-provider model, using competitive tendering, you wonder whether we can end up with a community sector that can work together well when they are in competition for the small dollars that are available.

Let me look at a couple of issues - for example, one in relation to the coordinated care trial. I note in Budget Paper No. 4, volume 1, on page 133, that the moneys for this were not included at the time because the trial was not sufficiently advanced. I look forward to hearing more about this trial. I understand that it is having great difficulty in getting clients who are interested in being part of it. It will also be interesting to see what happens with the HACC funds.

I love your editorial comments, Mr Speaker; they do help to keep one's thoughts flowing.

MR SPEAKER: That is good. I am pleased to hear that, Ms Reilly.

MS REILLY: I would be lost without them. At times, they have been quite stunning.

MR SPEAKER: Good.

MS REILLY: But let me go back to the coordinated care trial. It is going to be interesting to see how much of the HACC funds is sucked into this trial. We hope that it does not affect other parts of the HACC budget.

I also note that there is $250,000 for community-based residential support for people with a mental disability. This is a very positive action. But it would be interesting to know the background to this and how it was decided that this was the amount of money that should be put into this program. Just taking account of some of the issues that have been raised with the Social Policy Committee of the Assembly, I have to ask: Is this going to be enough money? It is almost as though you say, "Pick a figure, and let us hope that we can make it work". I think it is sad to set up expectations in this area in particular, if they cannot be delivered. I look forward to this money being used, because it is important that we get a much better community-based system for people with mental disabilities in our community. The hospital focus, apart from being expensive, is found in a lot of other areas not to be as successful as community-based services.

Mrs Carnell must have breathed a sigh of relief on Federal budget night when the Commonwealth came to the party to match the funds for the HACC budget. Otherwise, we were going to see a loss of money in that community sector, which is always short of money. We should look at our priorities in the community. I heard yesterday of an 86-year-old woman who is still living in her own home,

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