Monday, 23 May 2011

From the Minister for Community Services

The Victorian Coalition Government today released its submission in response to the Productivity Commission's Draft Report on Disability Care and Support.

Releasing the submission, Minister for Community Services Mary Wooldridge together with chair of the Victorian NDIS Taskforce and former Chief Executive of Yooralla Bryan Woodford, said the government welcomed the draft report and reconfirmed the Victorian Government's commitment to the development of a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

"The Victorian Coalition Government agrees with the commission's view that the provision of disability services in Australia is 'underfunded, unfair, fragmented and inefficient'," Ms Wooldridge said.

"The Victorian Coalition Government is committed to being a driving force for the reform process and believes we can do better as a nation by delivering major reform to the disability service sector through the establishment of an NDIS.

"Our commitment to support the introduction of a National Disability Insurance Scheme was made in response to calls from people with a disability for respect, to be acknowledged as experts in their own lives and to have the same opportunities as everyone else in our community to make choices and pursue opportunities to reach their potential," Ms Wooldridge said.

Ms Wooldridge said Victoria was well placed to host the first stage of implementation of an NDIS and is keen to do so.

"As our submission describes, Victoria has 15 years experience in implementing a self-directed approach to disability services and in developing a market-based approach to their delivery and has an excellent reputation for successfully managing lifetime care and support schemes through the Transport Accident Commission and WorkSafe Victoria," Ms Wooldridge said.

"Victoria is already playing a key role in leading national work which will be important in establishing an NDIS.

"This includes the development of a common assessment tool, together with Queensland, and the development of a National Quality Framework and Standards, to apply to service providers," Ms Wooldridge said.

Ms Wooldridge said the Victorian Government's submission has benefited from the breadth of expertise and experience represented on the Victorian NDIS Implementation Taskforce, which was established in February to provide advice to the Victorian Government.

"Our submission also draws on the expertise of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council, and the experience of people with a disability, their families and carers and service providers consulted at a roundtable in April 2011," Ms Wooldridge said.

"With the benefit of this community expertise and experience, the Victorian Government's submission seeks to make a constructive contribution to the Productivity Commission's final report.

"The Premier and I would like to thank all members of the taskforce for their dedicated hard work in the preparation of our response to the draft report.

"We look forward to continuing to work with the Taskforce through the next stages of planning for, and implementing a NDIS," Ms Wooldridge said.

The Victorian Coalition Government's submission to the Productivity Commission's Draft Report on Disability Care and Support can be found here.