Page 958 - Week 03 - Thursday, 23 March 2017
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An LAC provider has recently been announced. This provider, Feros Care, is Queensland based, and I have welcomed the way in which the community sector have said they will support Feros to settle into the ACT and make connections with local providers.
As has been reported in the media recently, there have also been delays from the NDIS in opening the grants round for information, linkages and capacity building funding. The delay in the opening of the ILC grant round has created uncertainty for a number of smaller community organisations as they seek to provide continuity for the community and their staff into the next financial year.
The grant round closed in early March and I hope that decisions are made in a timely way and communicated effectively, with maximum engagement with the community. In the meantime, the ACT government was able to negotiate an extra two months of transitional funding so that the organisations have security until the end of August.
The ongoing work of supporting people with disability to participate fully in the economic life of the community is of course broader than the support provided by the NDIS. The personalised support is essential to so many and is underwritten by the public responsibility we as a government carry to ensure we create inclusive communities.
I had the pleasure of sharing with the Assembly in December the release of the second implementation plan of the national disability strategy—driving action 2015-2018, and reaffirming our commitment to the whole-of-community effort to create the full inclusion of people with disability in the life of the Canberra community.
This government has retained its commitment to good outcomes for people with disability, as evidenced through the new office for disability, which will support a broad range of initiatives to ensure that all people with disability in the ACT and the people that care for them have opportunities to contribute and belong.
I note particularly the work of the office in hosting the Connect and Participate Expo. The expo provides the opportunity for over 120 of Canberra’s community groups to seek new participants and for people with disability to see the opportunities to connect and be included in the life of the community. This year’s expo will be held on Saturday, 25 March, and I hope to see many members there.
I look forward to progressing work on the NDIS, the Involve initiative and a range of other issues with the refreshed disability reference group, which will soon welcome new members. I look forward to receiving their advice on how we can keep building a stronger, more inclusive Canberra. I present the following statement:
National Disability Insurance Scheme—Role of the ACT Government—Six monthly report—December 2016—Ministerial statement, 23 March 2016.
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the paper.
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