Page 3431 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 14 November 2006
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I am sure that all MLAs were sent a copy of a letter that was sent to Mr Corbell as Attorney-General from Dee McGrath, who is the CEO of Carers ACT. She highlights issues by quoting from a number of case studies where the carer is not listened to—I suppose that is the best way to put it—and where the person for whom they care has an appointment with or talks to an official person, whether it is a psychiatrist or another person with authority to make decisions affecting that person, and the carer is discounted.
This is a very difficult question, because it is hard to balance the rights of people who have a mental illness or another issue which puts them in a position of needing to be cared for and the rights of the carer to have some say in the way that person is treated because it will impact on the person who cares. I appreciate these are difficult areas. I believe that there needs to be an exploration of them and a way of dealing with them. But this bill does not appear to have done that.
I know that the ACT government is awaiting the consideration of a draft national health privacy code and has been since 2003. That seems to me to be a long time for such urgent issues. I would appreciate it if the government could give us an update of where that national health privacy code is at, how it affects the ACT and perhaps the input that the ACT government has had into that process.
Despite all these issues regarding recognition and legislation, carers must also be provided with on-the-ground support and assistance. The approach the ACT government is taking at the moment in many areas seems to be one of restricting funding but recognising rights. While I am sure that young carers appreciate their new right to make complaints on behalf of the person they are caring for, I am sure that they would also appreciate greater assistance with their education and living costs, because these are the areas that really suffer when they have to dedicate themselves to providing care.
I know that there are some excellent programs out there that provide some assistance, but only a small number of carers access them. Community organisations often have their hands tied in the way that they can spend their funds on the young carers. Whether it is marketing their programs, spending money on schoolbooks or buying food to put on the table, the fact is that choices have to be made. While the public service must be able to account for the manner in which a community organisation has spent government funds, there does not seem to be a lot of flexibility in the way that an organisation can spend those funds and choose which is the most effective way to spend them for individual clients.
I note that only one progress report regarding the caring for carers action plan has thus far been tabled. According to the DHCS website, the next one will be tabled this month. I look forward to that report—I expect we could even see it this week, or next week at the latest—as it appears that progress has yet to be made in regard to housing, respite care, training, the carer recognition scheme and consideration of issues affecting young carers by the upcoming Commissioner for Children and Young People. I have expressed this concern before—that is, if he or she has the resources to do so—because this is one area where that commissioner could be very valuable.
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