Page 3733 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2013
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the ACT Assembly as a vehicle to drive national agendas on social issues, whereas the Labor Party and the Greens do.
Mr Hanson’s reaction to this motion and his statement yesterday show his small view of government, his view of what Canberrans want. In fact, a small view of government may be too generous a term, as that view implies that Mr Hanson has some vision for our future when he shows none. Yesterday Mr Hanson said the Canberra Liberals believe Canberrans are too small and weak to drive national agendas on social issues. I say we are doing what is right and fair and about time for Canberrans.
Our duty is first to the people of Canberra and the commitments we made to them at the last election in the broad themes of our vision—creating opportunity and a more liveable city, being a healthier and smarter community, growing a stronger and more diverse economy, focusing on urban renewal as our city grows. By contrast, Mr Hanson’s party in the last election ran on stopping tax reform and a lie.
I am going to talk a little more about the national disability insurance scheme because that is one of the great visions that we are going to be implementing here in the ACT. The ACT is at the forefront of this significant and complex social reform to the way disability care and support will be funded in this country. The NDIS will provide people with significant disabilities access to an economically sustainable and viable universal social insurance scheme. Implementation will require large-scale reforms to the funding, administration, delivery and evaluation of disability services in the ACT. Disability support will be transformed into a market-based arrangement in which people with disability will have greater choice of and control over the funding and supports they receive.
The ACT will be a launch site from July 2014 and will be the first jurisdiction that will achieve full rollout of the scheme by July 2016. As part of the preparations for the NDIS, the enhanced service offer consists of a package of initiatives to assist the ACT in the transition to an NDIS. The grants provide an opportunity to prepare people with disability in the ACT and providers for the new, individualised funding arrangements of the NDIS.
More than 2,300 applications for grants were received, ranging from aids and equipment, flexible supports and services to quality of life grants. Successful grant applications were diverse, ranging from support to taking part in dancing, swimming or other activities, funding for furniture, water tanks, dental work, equipment purchased for computers, software, companion dogs and hearing aids.
On 1 July 2013, $7.7 million was invested in the first round of enhanced service offer grants. The first round of grants offers has been made and second round grant applications close on 8 November 2013. Information from the grants will provide valuable information to providers and the government about what people are likely to seek when given greater choice of and control over what they can choose to support them in their lives under an NDIS.
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