Page 1887 - Week 06 - Thursday, 5 June 2014
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service providers having to compete against each other in a competitive marketplace, it is only fair that all standards are applied fairly and equally across the board. Exempting a service provider from the need to meet the same standards of service as another can skew the marketplace and has the potential to provide an advantage to one provider over another. Given that the territory is remaining a service provider under the NDIS, if only for a short term, we do believe that all rules should be applied consistently across the market.
Just briefly before I close, I would like to note that the minister, during the budget debate, was questioning Mr Smyth on whether or not we would be supporting this bill. I would just like to remind the minister that my office is always open. If she has any questions on whether or not a bill which she has brought into this place is going to be supported by us, she is always welcome to give me, the shadow minister, a call. But in this instance, for some reason, she did not feel that need.
The opposition will be supporting these changes today. However, we will be paying close attention to the changes as they are implemented to ensure that consistency is maintained and that the standards throughout the NDIS trial do not advantage or disadvantage one provider over another.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (4.15): The Disability Services (Disability Service Providers) Amendment Bill 2014 is a bill that seeks to make the changes required to ensure disability standards are maintained as the national disability insurance scheme comes into play on 1 July this year. At the beginning of last year this Assembly made amendments to the Disability Services Act around disability service standards. The intent of that bill was to ensure there was a legislative framework for the ACT government to adopt the national disability service standards as law rather than having service standards linked to funding agreements.
This bill formalises that shift to ensure that there are ongoing standards and safeguards during the trial period of the NDIS and removes the requirement that disability service organisations have a funding relationship and an agreement with the minister to be captured by the scope of the regulatory regime. As such, it changes the language in the bill from “government funded organisations” to “disability service organisations” as an acknowledgement that services will be moved into the non-government sector and that having a funding arrangement with the territory is no longer the defining criteria.
It ensures that the ACT government can continue to regulate disability standards even when there is not a funding agreement in place. And these standards can include the national disability standards or other standards as set by the minister. There was an intention for nationally consistent standards prior to the first NDIS trial. However, that has not been achieved. As such, the ACT as a trial site needs an interim measure until such time as the national quality framework is agreed. The intention is that new providers and current providers will have the same standards apply and that the same standards and provisions will apply as they currently do.
This bill also clarifies the scope of activity to be undertaken by the official visitor so that visitable places include all service delivery providers and are not limited to territory-funded organisations, which is obviously consistent with my earlier remarks.
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