Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 8 Hansard (28 August) . . Page.. 2637 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

However, council did endorse a concerted national effort to develop a broad range of effective and evidence-based treatment options for people who are opioid dependent. To this end, the ACT Government has announced that it will work collaboratively with the Victorian Government in trialling buprenorphine for withdrawal and naltrexone for relapse prevention. The Government remains committed to ensuring that there is a range of treatment options available to heroin-dependent people, and recently announced that it will be expanding its methadone program by 30 places. This is consistent with the national methadone policy.

There is enormous community concern about illicit drugs, and it is vital that the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy takes a leadership role in the development of appropriate national policies. It is also vital that all jurisdictions are consulted in the development of such policies, and it is vital that council agreements are implemented by jurisdictions. I therefore call on the Commonwealth to show its commitment to the national drug strategy and to the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy by taking a cooperative and collaborative approach to the development of a strategic approach to illicit drugs.

Mr Speaker, I also attended a meeting of Ministers with responsibility for disability services. As many members will be aware, negotiations have been continuing over the past 12 months on a new agreement to replace the Commonwealth Disability Agreement that expired on 30 June 1997. One of the major issues for these negotiations has been the legitimate expectation of States and Territories that the Commonwealth should share equitably in the cost of meeting the demand for adequate levels of high-quality service for people with disabilities and their families. The ACT has borne the majority of the cost of increasing services in this area.

Since 1993, Commonwealth funding to the ACT under the Commonwealth-State Disability Agreement has increased from $2.8m to $3.8m, while ACT expenditure under the agreement has increased from $11.6m to $16.2m. This means that, while total funding for disability support services in the ACT has grown by $5.6m during the life of the agreement, the ACT has provided 82 per cent of these funds, while the Commonwealth contribution has been only 18 per cent. From a Territory perspective, this situation is unsustainable, and we require the Commonwealth to accept a greater share of the cost of meeting the need for services in this area.

Prior to the Cairns meeting, State and Territory Ministers had agreed to consider a one-year agreement to allow further negotiations on funding for disability services. However, at the meeting, the Commonwealth indicated that it would sign only a three-year agreement and was not prepared to offer any commitment to increase funding to the States and Territories over and above the level that had previously been offered. This offer was unacceptable to all State and Territory Ministers, and, accordingly, the proposal for a three-year agreement was also unacceptable.

Mr Speaker, to ensure that services to people with disabilities were not disrupted, all governments agreed to an extension of the current agreement for six months while options for longer-term agreements are explored. From the ACT's perspective, these options must include a firm commitment by the Commonwealth to accept a reasonable share of the cost of meeting demand for disability services.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .