Alan Cadman (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

If the member wishes to provide me with the details of the names, addresses and telephone numbers, I will make sure the minister carefully checks out the precise details. All he has to do is provide me with that information and I guarantee I will do that—as he could himself, of course, but he is game playing here. He could of course take it to the minister and establish the facts himself, but I would be delighted to act as a go-between for him. I guarantee that the minister will give both of us the very best of attention, the most compassionate support, and will willingly assist us in resolving any problems that may exist for people who are currently on a disability pension.

I am fortunate to have somebody who was formerly on a disability pension working in my office. This young man also suffered from a mild form of autism, and he found it very difficult to get a job. In fact, he could not get a job, but he has a brain that just clicks into databases and computers. We were able to establish for Wayne an opportunity—this is a very generous and thoughtful government—with the cocktail of a disability pension and a part payment by a minister. And I encourage members to take into their offices people with disabilities. The minister, the Hon. Gary Nairn, has been very careful in coming up with a way to establish a part payment and a part pension benefit, which ultimately gets people to a point—the point where Wayne is now—where they are on a proper payment and a proper salary. I would like to be able to give Wayne more work in a week than I do, because like all members I feel that an extra staff member would not go astray, but that is not the case at the moment because I only have limited capacity to pay Wayne.

Thanks to the intervention of my colleague from Melbourne Ports, I draw the attention of the House to a statement, on 21 July, by the Melbourne Institute’s deputy director, Mark Wooden, who said that while more long-term unemployed had found work, the outlook continued to be grim for those out of work for a decade or more.  Of course, that is understandable. This is where the effort is going to be put in. This is where the $3.6 billion is going to be directed—in encouraging those people to change. If it is possible to have those regular hours and to establish a regular pattern of conduct of getting out of bed and getting to a place of employment, and if it is possible to make the employment interesting and encourage people to try new things, then I think that in a large number of cases there will be success.

Now I turn to the rise in the number of unemployed fathers caring for children. This is also an interesting phenomenon, and I think that the changes to the Family Law Act are going to help establish a better balance in situations where there has been a family split-up. I know this is a bipartisan issue and I hope that we are successful. I know the parliament hopes that the Attorney-General and the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs will be successful in this process —both of them are carrying responsibilities.

There have been criticisms from advocates who say that cutting payments is going to be a disincentive and will disadvantage people.  I think the balance is about right. I do not really believe that, it is possible to carry on with the high level of support and at the same time expect people to make the choice to go to work. So there needs to be a balance between training and education, and encouragement to pick up a work placement and take advantage of corporations such as Cumberland Industries and North West Personnel, who are the most amazing people.

I will read to you a couple of examples from North West Personnel, which has the best record of any group in the nation for finding jobs and placements for people with a disability. This organisation started off with very low funding. I know that Christine Liddy, who is the director of that organisation, was concerned that they were not being allowed to do enough. But now, with Welfare to Work, their role has expanded and they are going to be able to fulfil what they know they can do to find work for people with a disability.

I want to put on the record the comments made by James Radley, known as ‘Jimmy’. He joined North West Personnel in May 2001. He was asked to fill out a vocational interest profile form, and I will talk about some of the things he highlighted. By the way, human resource directors in large corporations ought to understand that people with disabilities cannot always fill in forms. The first thing they say to people, would you believe, is, ‘Will you fill in this form?’ If a person has a disability, they are not necessarily going to be able to fill in a form, but with a verbal exchange the occupational people within a corporation ought to be able to help them do that. Some of the changes needed involve making businesses understand how they can really match in—hot sync, if you like—with people with disabilities, drawing them into the workplace, providing them with satisfactory employment doing jobs that release other employees to do perhaps more skilled or a greater variety of tasks.

But Jimmy was asked to fill in a form and he was able to do so. Jimmy said:

My goal is to find a job, and to have a feeling of achievement. I know I can make a real difference in my community by making my contribution to it.

He said:

I want to find my place in life, find out where I fit in, and feel a real sense of belonging.

I want to find friends and share a friendship with them. I want to make other people happy.

I want to earn money so that I can live comfortably and be happy and some day am able to travel and see different parts of Australia and the world.

This is a young man with a disability saying, ‘These are my aspirations; these are the things I want to do.’ This is what he said to North West Personnel in 2001. Jimmy went on, saying he wanted:

To become a better person, more competent and recognise my strengths and weaknesses.

I want to build my self confidence and be comfortable around other people. To be accepted by my peers/friends and co-workers. I want to accept people from different cultural backgrounds.

I want to be comfortable making my own decisions and setting goals for myself.

What an admirable range of aspirations for this young disabled person.

Here are some of the things that Jimmy did not like:

Being short makes me feel out of place and different from other people.

He does not like ‘knowing that I have certain limitations that are beyond my control’. He does not like ‘not being able to have my own car or drive’, ‘being dependent on others to take me places’ and ‘inconveniencing others’.

Why did he really want a job? He wanted a job to gain satisfaction. He wanted a job to be able to learn new things and acquire new skills, to really make a difference and a contribution to his community and to get to work with and know people. If you are isolated and disabled, you do not know people and you do not work with people. He wanted to earn money. He wanted to buy nice clothes and dress smartly. What a good thing this is. He wanted to be able to travel. He wanted to be able to buy a car. He wanted to become independent. He wanted to improve his self-confidence and prove that he was not a failure. He said, ‘I can achieve anything if I set my mind to it.’ What a splendid young man. He wanted to be able to ‘pay my bills and learn to budget’ and to be a team member and feel secure. He had great work ethics. He is a good communicator—he has openness. By October 2004, what had Jimmy achieved? He had achieved a great deal by working—(Time expired)

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