Kay Elson (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak in support of this motion moved by the honourable member for Riverina. Before being elected to this place, I spent 15 years working for Multicap, the Queensland Spastic Welfare League and the handicapped association. In my work of co-ordinating fundraising efforts for these three worthy organisations, I often met and worked with families of disabled children and adults who attended and were assisted by the excellent programs these organisations ran then and continue to run today. By far one of the biggest concerns for these dedicated and caring families was the issue of who would care for their disabled son or daughter when they themselves were aged and frail.

There is not enough time for it in the debate today, but I could tell some truly heartbreaking stories of families stretched to the limit, of elderly parents putting their own health and safety at risk and of the sad situation they ultimately find themselves in if they are physically unable to continue caring for their adult disabled son or daughter. While we as a society have taken some very big steps forward to assist many people with disabilities to become more independent, the reality is that many will need a lifetime of care and support in some form. It is a problem that will continue for many years to come. There are currently 320,000 children aged from birth to 14 years with a disability.

For most of the last century, children with a disability were segregated in institutional settings. Happily that is no longer the case—in fact, the number of children living in institutions almost halved between 1981 and 1996. It must be recognised that, while very positive, this trend puts increasing pressure on many families. As the National Industry Association for Disability Services said:

Children with disabilities belong with their families, not in institutions, but families often require extra financial assistance and services to care for a son or daughter with a disability. Without such support, the impact of disability can impose significant pressure on parents and siblings and can lead to family breakdown.

Over the past 10 years the Howard government has introduced a raft of positive policies for families of people living with a disability, particularly in the area of more financial support and providing more respite care for full-time carers.

I welcome the $200 million package announced last October aimed at assisting parents to establish private trusts for the future care of their disabled children. It is a positive step forward that trusts established solely for this purpose will be exempt from social security and veterans affairs means tests. This will give many ageing parents peace of mind and allow them to more confidently plan for the future care of their children.

I also note that in February this year the Council of Australian Governments agreed, as part of the health care reforms, that a new program would be initiated to reduce the numbers of young people with disabilities living in nursing homes. Any review of the accommodation needs of our young adults with a disability should be welcomed and applauded. The sad situation of young people living daily with frail and aged in our nursing homes is not acceptable. However, as ACROD have said:

It is essential that governments view this measure as only the first step in the reform of—

the aged care and disability services sector. I take the view that, while much has been achieved over the past 10 years, there is certainly a lot more that can be done. I note the second part of this motion calls on state and federal governments to work together to address accommodation and care issues.

The spirit of the COAG decision in February is certainly a very positive step forward. This is a problem we have to work at, and we have to work together to solve it. We simply must ease the burden on parents of children with a disability, especially ageing parents of adult children who may develop care needs of their own. What aged parents of disabled adults in my electorate are telling me is that their priority is to see the government establish independent living and residential care complexes. Parents of disabled adults want peace of mind, and they want to be assured that their adult children are not going to be placed in nursing homes with the sick and old. When parents find themselves no longer able to care for them because of age or ill health, they want to have the peace of mind that their children will have lease or ownership of these units and can live there for the duration of their disabled lives—and that severely disabled people, especially young people, live in supportive accommodation where they do not have to live with the aged and frail but with people with like minds. As the member for Ballarat said only a few minutes ago, these people are very intelligent young people but their body motor systems are not coordinated.

I urge governments at all levels to continue working towards improved services. I recognise the best way to ensure we can fund these programs in the future is to manage and grow our economy. I thank the member for Riverina for bringing this important issue to the House today. (Time expired)

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