Page 512 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
The issue of being able to socialise is very important to maintain someone’s health, not only physical but mental, and that often falls by the wayside. That is why I think respite services and flexibility in respite services is such an important issue, because it brings in those other aspects of what they need to maintain their role.
A number of points raised through the House of Representatives report are reiterated separately by the 2010-11 budget submission from National Disability Services ACT. The submission points to concerns with the ageing of carers in the population and how they can ensure their children are cared for into the future. This has been raised by a number of speakers today and is a major issue for carers as a significant proportion of carers are over the age of 60 years. A consistent issue and theme which has come through the various inquiries and reports over the years is this very issue. Carers worry about what will happen to the person they care for when they are gone. They also worry about what will happen as they get older and may not be any longer able to maintain their caring role.
Understanding need is also a key concern in that levels of need in the community for government assistance are often underestimated. I note that Disability ACT has an ongoing commitment to collect data and better predict demand levels. I think in recent years it was said to be around $9 million per annum. I look forward to future updates from the minister on what work Disability ACT is doing in this area.
One of the recommendations from the House of Reps report that I found of interest related to powers of attorney and advanced care directives. Recommendation 15 states:
That the Attorney-General promote national consistency and mutual recognition governing enduring powers of attorney and advanced care directives to the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General.
I note that, at a local level, carer groups are keen to see the outcomes of the review of the Mental Health Act, as it is envisaged that matters regarding powers of attorney and advanced directives will be considered through that process. I did ask the Attorney-General a question on notice about this in recent months, and I was advised that the review of the legislation is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011 and that the ACT government is committed to the recognition of formal legal documents such as advanced health directives as important and necessary both within the ACT and nationally. This is a major issue which needs to be addressed in the interests of not just carers but also consumers.
Focusing a bit more on the issue of mental health, I would like to bring to the Assembly’s attention the report Adversity to advocacy—the lives and hopes of mental health carers. The report was produced by the Mental Health Council of Australia, and it was funded by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and represented the first major attempt to monitor, measure and record the experiences of mental health carers.
The report is based on over 100 workshops which were conducted by the Mental Health Council across Australia. I was working there at the time and conducted
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .