Page 1076 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 March 2013
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people in the ACT will have access and eligibility to the NDIS through the new National Disability Insurance Agency.
The government expects the first of up to 5,000 Canberrans with disability and enduring psychosocial disability will begin to receive this support and services through the NDIS. The scope of the transition for community and government services supporting people with disabilities and psychosocial disabilities will be unprecedented. This government will work with the commonwealth government to prepare our sector for the transition. The NDIS is a quantum leap forward as it puts the needs of people with a disability at the centre. They will be able to use their choice and have control in developing a plan that meets their needs and is tailored to their goals, wants and desires. It will provide certainty that people with disability will receive the care and support they need over their lifetime.
The ACT government will continue to invest in critical public infrastructure. Some examples include the new Majura Parkway, including an off-road cycle path, which is expected to be completed by June 2016, upgrading existing ACT government facilities currently leased to community childcare providers to enable centres to provide up to 100 new places, assisting with transition to the national quality framework and releasing at least three additional sites for the construction of new childcare centres in areas of high demand.
There is also a program of upgrading shopping centres. From the beginning of the coming financial year we will commence delivering on the commitments to major upgrades in centres including Evatt, Florey, Fisher, Kaleen, Hughes, Spence and Macquarie, as well as minor upgrades to a number of other centres.
We have made important health commitments, such as our commitment of over $80 million to provide for an additional 5,000 elective surgery procedures over the next four years. The additional activity is on top of the proposed 45,000 elective surgery procedures already planned over this period, taking the total to over 50,000 elective surgery procedures in four years.
Finally, I would like to touch on the work that the government continues to do to make Canberra a safe and desirable place to live and work. This includes extending portability of long service leave. Portable schemes protect the basic entitlement of workers to take long service leave. The ACT has portable long service leave schemes in the building and construction, cleaning, security and community sectors. In 2012 it became the first jurisdiction to offer a portable long service leave scheme to the security industry. The ACT government has made a commitment to extend portable long service leave to the aged-care and contract waste removal industries.
Another key initiative is implementing the recommendations of the Getting home safely report. The government has committed to implementing all 28 recommendations in the Getting home safely report. The government has already met with industry and employee groups to discuss implementation, has commenced work on necessary legislative changes and has committed to providing WorkSafe with the additional resources it needs to perform its regulatory and educational roles. The government is also expanding trades traineeships and apprenticeships in the ACT public sector.
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