Page 4056 - Week 11 - Thursday, 21 September 2017
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On a daily basis, these dogs interact with people and in many cases other animals equating to up to 21,900,000 interactions per year, not allowing for animal to animal or animal to stranger interactions.
I appreciate that this is not question time, but I would appreciate it if sometime the minister could update the Assembly as to how that number was found and the relevance of the number considering that it does not include animal-to-animal or animal-to-stranger interactions. I thought that it was a wonderful piece of statistics, and I applaud the statistician who provided it for the government.
MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you, Ms Le Couteur. I am sure the minister will get back to you.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
National disability insurance scheme—role of the ACT government
Ministerial statement
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Community Services and Social Inclusion, Minister for Disability, Children and Youth, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (10.29): I am pleased to provide the Assembly with the final scheduled six-monthly progress report on implementation of the national disability insurance scheme, or NDIS, in the ACT. The Assembly’s interest in this groundbreaking national scheme is understandable and welcome. It is reflected in resolutions calling for six-monthly reports to the Assembly on the scheme’s progress in the ACT.
I am proud of what we have achieved since the NDIS trial began in the ACT on 1 July 2014. Indeed, as the first jurisdiction to enter into full implementation of the NDIS, I think all Canberrans can be proud of the disability sector and the contribution of participants and the community more broadly to delivering such a major initiative. We have worked together with the commonwealth and the National Disability Insurance Agency to sort through a range of teething issues, provide advice and highlight the improvements that can be made.
The ACT government is also continuing bilateral discussions with the commonwealth to ensure that Canberrans with disability continue to be provided with timely and secure access to the services they need. Some people with disability have been frustrated by the complexity of the transition to the NDIS and their individual outcomes. I have welcomed their advice and their forbearance. It is also important to remember that many others have had an easier transition and found joining the NDIS a positive experience and one that has lived up to their expectations.
This transition has been a major change from the way things were. Throughout these, at times, uncomfortable changes, people have kept their eyes on the prize of a fairer,
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