Bunnings Belrose Sausage Sizzle roster 13 Nov15

Please call or email Brien & Janice Mendham, bjmend77@tpg.com.au,  if you can help at one of the upcoming sausage sizzle fundraising events.  The next event is 13 November and the roster is here...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8rZ09ZXFyX7bFZvNHZ2ZnBOT28/view?usp=sharing

NDIS Update

NDIS Update As you may be aware, the roll-out plans for NSW were recently announced and these plans indicate that a majority of Sunnyfield services will transition from July, 2016. Further to this,if you are a Sunnyfield client who receive regular supports (e.g. Supportive Living, and Day Programs) you may be contacted by the National Disability Insurance Agency to arrange a meeting with a planner in the first 6 months of the transition period for your area. Sunnyfield clients who receive less regular or sporadic supports (e.g. Respite and Clinical Services) may not see a planner until the later months of your transition period. Accessing the NDIS From 1 July 2016, people living in Hunter New England, Southern NSW, Central Coast, Northern Sydney, South Western Sydney, Western Sydney and Nepean Blue Mountains will be able to access the NDIS.  From 1 July 2017, the NDIS will be in place across the rest of NSW, and people living in Northern NSW, Mid North Coast, Sydney, South Eastern Sydney, Illawarra Shoalhaven, Murrumbidgee, Western NSW and Far West NSW will be able to access the NDIS.  What do I need to do?   Start working with your family, carers and providers to think about your current supports, your goals for the future and your support needs. Ask your current provider to make sure your information is up to date, ahead of planning discussions with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). Stay tuned for Sunnyfield's family  information sessions which will be coming to an area near you in November and December Sunnyfield's NDIS Sector Development Officer      Meet Sunnyfield's very own NDIS and Sector Development Officer, Joshua Ayscough. A key part of Josh's role is to scan and keep you up-to-date on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the changes that are happening in the sector that affect you. Josh has a background in supporting people with a disability in the Hunter Valley, a degree in Psychology and a Certificate IV in Disability. Josh has worked as support worker, service manager and co-ordinated the transition of clients through the entirety of the NDIS transition. Over the coming months there will be a lot of NDIS information released, speculation and changes. Josh's aim is to ensure that the communication is succinct, informative and answers specific NDIS questions you may have. Email: j.ayscough@sunnyfield.org.au Phone: 8977 8827

UPDATE: Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT)

Firstly ...

Article in today’s (20 Oct15) Sydney Morning Herald, including reference to Sunnyfield supported employees at:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/20000-workers-face-job-losses-in-disability-wage-claim-20151015-gk9uck.html

It seems that pretty much all Sunnyfield Enterprises families disagree, completely, with Samantha French. Maybe she will volunteer to look after the kids if they get put out of work?

Secondly...

In a further positive development, the new Social Services Minister, Christian Porter, has expressed his support for ADEs in an interview with Alan Jones, stating:

"We have to devise an appropriate and proper wage system going forward that aligns with the Court's ruling [and] that preserves the ability of disability enterprises to employ Australians with a disability because, as you point out, for a long time that system has worked, worked incredibly well - provided wages, yes, but more importantly, dignity, friendship, social relations. So, the challenge for the government is to ensure a way in which wages and remuneration can be sustained in a way that accords with that judgment that you've spoken of that doesn't basically, if I can put not too fine a point on it, put disability enterprises out of business."

This comes from an NDS news update which says...

Progress made in Fair Work Commission BSWAT conciliation

Following extensive discussion, the parties in the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT) conciliation process have agreed on objectives that include a commitment to sustainable employment in financially viable ADEs.

Last week's hearing was the first to be held since NDS released two research reports demonstrating:

• the potential impact of increased wage costs on the viability of Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs); and
• the value of looking at alternative ways of defining and measuring 'productivity' in supported employment, rather than relying solely on 'the rate of productive output' (as occurs in the Supported Wage System).  

Supported employees, their parents and service providers have been increasingly vocal in expressing concern about the future of supported employment.

The objectives agreed by all parties at the FWC include:

• a fair, equitable and non-discriminatory wage outcome to contribute to a living income for employees in supported employment;
• continued opportunities for employment in supported employment settings to build and maintain employee self-esteem and sense of purpose;
• sustainable employment opportunities in viable ADEs; and
• providing security and confidence to employees, parents and carers for the future.

The parties will continue to investigate how to achieve these objectives, including by developing and testing various wage assessment options.

NDS welcomes the shared commitment from all parties to ensuring that supported employment remains a viable option for people with disability. The real test, however, is to agree on a solution that gives practical effect to these objectives.

Keep writing those letters.

ProBono article: Porter Flags Cuts to Disability Payments

New Social Services Minister Christian Porter believes Australia is spending too much money and has flagged cuts to carer and disability payments.

In his first detailed interview since being named Social Services Minister by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Porter said that his portfolio needed to be “a big contributor to slowing the growth of expenditure down”.

Porter indicated to broadcaster Alan Jones that the government would look to disability and carer payments as a way to cut spending.

“You’ve got things like the disability support pension, over the last decade that’s been growing at about 7 per cent a year in real terms. That is just not sustainable into the future,” Porter said.

“[Another] example is the carer income support that the taxpayer pays. Over the last decade that has been growing at 14 per cent a year.

“Any rational government has to try and get a handle on that kind of expenditure growth and restrain it.”

Porter said he rejected the “siren song” that tackling spending in social services was unfair.

“The most unfair thing a government can do is expect a future generation of taxpayers to pay for today’s welfare bill by virtue of the fact that [what] we are borrowing today… has to be paid back by taxpayers of the future,” he said.

Porter also said that the Government needed to simplify the welfare system by streamlining some payments.

“We cannot go on the way that we have been with a system that is so complicated that it’s not navigable by anyone who actually needs it,” he said.

Shadow Minister for Families and Payments, Jenny Macklin, said that Porter was echoing the tone delivered by his predecessors Scott Morrison and Kevin Andrews.

“Unfortunately, Mr Porter seems to think his new job is to take support away from vulnerable Australians; to hurt them rather than support them,” Macklin said.

“The job of Social Services Minister is to ensure that people with disability, carers and other vulnerable Australians get the care and support they need to help them get work, or if they can’t work, to live a decent life.

“Cutting their support will not help them get work. It will only push them further into hardship and poverty.

“The fact that Christian Porter has flagged another round of cuts in the middle of Anti-Poverty Week shows just how out of touch he is.”

Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said the timing of Porter’s comments was unfortunate.

“It is unfortunately completely unsurprising that the Turnbull Government is proposing spending cuts to our most vulnerable during National Anti-Poverty Week and National Carers Week,” Siewert said.

“This week more than ever the Government should be acting to lift people out of poverty rather than entrenching it. They should be increasing Newstart by $50 per week.

“It is very disappointing that Malcolm Turnbull is taking the same approach as the Abbott Government when it comes to attacking our most vulnerable.

“I urge the Government to quickly drop any plans to cut disability and carer payments and focus budget savings on the big end of town".

Safeguarding people with intellectual disabilities from abuse

Mary-Lou Carter suggests this may be of interest to some families.

Safeguarding people with intellectual disabilities from abuse

Presented by:
Dr Paul Cambridge, Independent Trainer and Consultant

Dr Paul Cambridge will explore the evidence on the abuse of vulnerable adults from the UK, including short video sequences which relate the nature and extent of abuse. This will then be used to outline the challenges of adult protection/ safeguarding in a social care market, with lessons for improving adult safeguarding policy and practice identified.

Paul Cambridge was a Senior Lecturer in learning disability at the Tizard Centre, and more recently in social work at the University of Kent, until he retired in 2012. He has worked in local government social services helping close the old long-stay mental handicap institutions and for the Personal Social Services Research Unit on an evaluation of Care in the Community for the Department of Health. He has researched and published extensively on the sexuality of men with intellectual disability and on adult protection/ safeguarding and now works part time as an independent trainer and consultant. He has developed and delivered adult protection/ safeguarding training for social workers and managers in Kent and Medway, Somerset and Cambridgeshire social services departments.

Co-hosted by the Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University

Date: Mon 26 Oct 2015 Time: 4.00pm - 6.00pm Location: SPRC, Level 2, John Goodsell Building, UNSW Kensington Campus map  Map reference: F20 Registration: Required

Register to attend

Supported Employment - Call to Action

You may be aware of the BSWAT court case that has resulted in a national push to substantially increase supported employee wages for people working in Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs). Whilst increased wages for people with disability is a worthy goal, people with disability working in ADEs have moderate to severe disabilities (many with an intellectual disability) and mostly with lower productivity levels. In addition ADEs are charities, established to create work for people with disability and cannot viably afford to pay much higher wages. 

Families please carefully read the attached Sunnyfield pamphlet and if you agree, then send a letter to the Minister.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8rZ09ZXFyX7WVU2S2JGbGtZVm8/view?usp=sharing

A suggested draft of the letter is attached here...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8rZ09ZXFyX7cnJQZGxmM1ZyRVE/view?usp=sharing

Parents Fear Privatisation of NSW Disability Services.

Extraordinarily quick review by Ernst & Young commissioned by the new Federal Government into the NDIS Act

Apparently a review was quietly announced in mid September which will receive SOME submissions from interested parties about the NDIS Act. 

See here  NDIS Act independent review. The discussion paper at this link and was prepared by Ernst & Young. 

It was announced on 15 September, 2015 but we only learned of it in the last week of September, 2015. Submissions are due to be lodged by 9 October which is not a good sign given that the NDIS is the biggest social infrastructure reform since Medicare.  

Apparently the single and/or collective views of Parents and Families are "not invited" (not my words...).

If you think this is not right you need to quickly write to your local Federal MP and copy the new Federal Disability Minister, Christian Porter.

Wage Increases for disabled workers.

Recently NDS, the peak body for Disability Service Enter[rises (DSEs) commissioned a report into the impact of legislated wage increases.  In part the report says this...

A 40% increase in the wages of supported employees would see 85% of Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) in deficit, with four in 10 ADEs making losses above $250,000. 

The report, 'Assessing the impact of increasing wage costs on Australian Disability Enterprises', stress tests ADEs in relation to a range of wage cost increases - from 20% to 100%. It shows that many ADEs currently struggle to be financially viable and that imposing higher wage costs would tip them over the edge. The project collected data from 85 organisations operating ADEs (44% of ADEs nationally employing 57% of supported employees) ensuring a representative sample. 

The report effectively confirms that ADEs could not absorb higher wage costs without the loss of a large number of jobs. If wage costs increased by 40%, the jobs of 10,800 supported employees would potentially be at risk.  

NDS will provide the report to the Fair Work Commission to help inform negotiations about a new wage assessment method. We shall also provide the report to the Australian Human Rights Commission in support of extending the time available for ADEs to adopt a wage assessment tool other than the BSWAT. *

If you are concerned that your disabled relative should stay employed at current rates rather than get a pay rise that forces their employers out of business - so they lose that job, then you should consider making your views known to your local State and Federal political representatives.

Mary-Lou Carter reports that 400 Parents recently attended a rally in Wollongong, convened by Greenacre and Flagstaff (two local DSEs) to discuss a community response.

It is likely a protest rally will be arranged for families to go to Canberra and express their concerns.

POWER is WITH the PARENTS. 

If you want this move rejected you'd better get involved and make your voice heard.

(* NDS National News Update , 30 Sep 2015)