Page 302 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2006
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Children—brain injuries
(Question No 814)
Mrs Burke asked the Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, upon notice, on 14 December 2005:
(1) How many children under the age of five with a brain injury are there in the ACT;
(2) What forms of assistance for therapy, other than through Therapy ACT, does the ACT government provide;
(3) What capacity does Therapy ACT have to provide a program of intensive therapy for children, particularly in the crucial first five years of their lives;
(4) Does the ACT Government offer assistance to families who wish to pursue a program of intensive therapy for their brain injured child, recognising that such a program can cost a family up to $20,000 a year.
Mr Hargreaves: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
(1) I am unable to give you any figures for the number of children under the age of five with a brain injury in the ACT. There is no specific research, database or register with this information.
(2) Where the brain injury is the result of a motor vehicle accident, the child would access acute medial and therapy services through The Canberra Hospital. Long-term therapy services are provided through Therapy ACT. Children with a disability are also able to access respite and some support services through Disability ACT, and from community-based organisations funded under the Home and Community Care program.
(3) Therapy ACT provides multidisciplinary therapy services and family support on a needs base. Therapy ACT follows the “Opportunity Model” where the opportunity for practice of skills and developmental experiences are incorporated into the child’s daily life and environments. Therapists develop programs where families and teachers etc are educated to use the program principals in all aspects of the child’s life.
(4) No.
Housing ACT—full market renters
(Question No 815)
Mrs Burke asked the Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, upon notice, on 14 December 2005:
(1) Further to the answer to Question on Notice No 450, due to the decline over time of full market renters in the public housing system, what (a) efficiency measures and (b) alternative revenue options is Housing ACT considering;
(2) When does Housing ACT anticipate that, due to the decline in the percentage of full market renters in the system and the declining financial viability of the public housing system in its current form, other forms of financing will have to be sourced.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .