Page 2650 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 11 August 2015
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Key issues focused on staffing as the transition was undertaken and the effect that this has on staff within Disability ACT and Therapy ACT. I applaud the estimates committee’s recommendation, namely:
… that the ACT Government include in its National Disability Insurance Scheme quarterly reporting to the Legislative Assembly information on the level of staffing in Disability ACT and Therapy ACT during the transition.
The committee also recommended:
… that the ACT Government continue to work with Tier 2 community service organisations on the NDIS Information, Linkages and Capacity Building to ensure a smooth transition of funding with appropriate notification periods for those organisations.
This was in order to provide more certainty around staffing and the continuation of service. The reporting of staffing is a crucial element given the government’s decision to cease being a service provider. Questions still remain as to the exact make-up of the staffing profile of Disability ACT going forward, how many staff will be left, how many staff will have left of their own volition and what happens to those who choose not to move on voluntarily.
The provision of early intervention services is yet another area of major concern for families requiring services in the ACT. This minister’s lack of communication with stakeholders historically has led to frustration, anxiety and fear over the continuation of service and what it looks like under the NDIS model. The committee’s recommendation was:
… that the ACT Government determine the level of unmet need for early intervention services and report to the … Assembly by the last sitting day in 2015 on the level of unmet need and how they intend to address that need.
That is much wanted reassurance that this government needs to deliver in order to maintain confidence amongst families who rely on these services.
I will move on to Indigenous affairs and the matters brought to the attention of the committee this year. The theme is much like that of the disability sector—the lack of transparent communication. Appearing before the estimates committee in June this year was the Chair of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, Mr Rod Little, who had this to say when he was asked for a response in respect of the 2015-16 ACT budget and the newly created Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agreement:
… I think our disappointment was that we could not see a whole lot in the budget. That may be buried within the detail. We saw a couple of things—in particular, the prevention of or decrease in smoking. We think that is just a small portion of the need in the ACT community. It did not basically reflect the commitment by the government to the recent signing of the whole-of-government agreement. That has a whole series of community priorities developed in consultation with community, but it also has some clear alignment with the COAG targets. I guess that I and my colleagues were somewhat disappointed.
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