Since our last campaign update we have met with Minister, Peter Primrose, Shadow Minister, Andrew Constance and senior staff of Ageing Disability and Home Care to clarify their intentions and to argue the key requirements of the Self Directed Supports Campaign.
All meetings were very positive. The Minister and senior ADHC staff are genuinely committed to enabling anyone receiving disability services to have the option on having an individualised option by 30 June 2014. The Shadow Minister affirmed the Coalition commitment to offer choice between the current case management model and that of a more personalised service approach in which funding packages enable individuals to direct the services that they wish to have and when.”
All stressed that consultation will be a vital part of implementation and ADHC intends to start engagement prior to the election in March.
We at Family Advocacy and In Control Australia believe that there is bipartisan political support for the general direction of a self directed approach. We are mindful however that ‘the devil is in the detail’ and that we will seek to be proactively involved and will monitor developments closely, particularly in relation to our campaign priorities, summarized below.
Priority 1: Providing all existing and new users of government and non government disability services the opportunity to direct their own support.
We will be looking to ensure that:
We will be looking to ensure that:
· people who want control over their resources have the opportunity at the earliest time;
· individualised portable funding arrangements translate into choice, voice and control.
Priority 2: Providing decision making support that is independent of government and service providers. We will be working to ensure that:
- the ‘decision making resources’ are independent of government and service providers, able to be accessed easily and give the person with disability control.
Priority 3: Transition support for services
We will be working to ensure that:
We will be working to ensure that:
· the voices of people with disability and families are heard in the process of service transformation.
Priority 4: Administrative processes consistent with a self directed approach.
We will be working to ensure that:
We will be working to ensure that:
- the Stronger Together goal of “choice, portability and flexibility in funding and supports” means that people have control over how the money is used;
- government and service provider processes do not intrude into people’s lives; and
- there is a minimum of bureaucracy and paperwork.
Next Steps
It is important to thank the Leader of the Opposition, Barry O’Farrell for his support for Stronger Together funding and to consolidate his support for a self directed approach.
We suggest that you write/email him.
- Start by thanking him for the Coalition commitment to funding for Stronger Together 2 and his commitment to a more personalized approach to service delivery.
- Tell him about your family and the way in which current service provision restricts opportunities.
- Tell him what you might do if you had control over the resources allocated for the support of your family member with disability.
- Finish by letting him know that people will need help with information, planning, advocacy, and support coordination in order to enjoy the benefits of personalized self directed support, and that it is critical that the assistance is independent of government and service providers.
Leader of the Opposition Parliament House Macquarie Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 |
We will be in touch early in 2011
Have a safe and good holiday season
Belinda Epstein-Frisch AM
Family Advocacy
For information about Self Directed Supports: A NSW Campaign
to join the campaign http://www.family-advocacy.com/join-the-campaign.html
Follow the campaign on facebook http://www.facebook.com/Self.Directed.Support
Follow the campaign on facebook http://www.facebook.com/Self.Directed.Support
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