Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about an extraordinary woman named Amanda Stapleton. Amanda is the parent of a child named Pete, who is 13 years of age. Pete has multiple disabilities, including autism, and consequently has challenging behaviour which has isolated him from almost every kind of social activity. When Pete comes home from school, he retreats to his bedroom and, unless the carer knows how to engage him, he will stay there until Amanda gets home.

I note that the member for Canning is in the chamber; he has raised this issue as well. Amanda is someone who, as a single parent, struggles with the responsibilities of work as well as looking after a child aged 13 with challenging behaviour. That can be very difficult. Amanda has been a consistent, strong and passionate advocate for the needs of those with intellectual disabilities and for their carers. In the city of Casey, it is a particularly moot point, because there are a very large number of young families shifting into the area, and therefore a disproportionate number of young families will be experiencing this particular difficulty. They find that there is a lack of access to particular support services. As I said, Amanda works. Many workplaces do not provide the flexibility for a working mum or dad to drop their child off at a special school. And what do they do between the hours of three o’clock and six o’clock? In a number of instances, the schools close at about three o’clock.

I am pleased to advise the House of an incredible pilot program which has come about through the combined vision of the Bunurong Community Care Centre, Cranbourne Action on Disability, Resicare and Amanda Stapleton. This program, which has been secured by a donation of a substantial amount of money, runs for five days a week, so that when Pete finishes his school day he is then looked after by qualified carers between the hours of 3 pm and 6 pm. For someone like Amanda, that is an incredible relief. She does not have to charge home from work as she knows that Pete is being looked after by qualified carers.

There are three carers and five students involved in this program. It is a pilot program that is not being run anywhere else in Victoria. The problem is that, by the end of June, in another couple of weeks time, this program will run out of funding. It has not been funded by the state government; it has not been funded by the federal government. Both have acknowledged that they have some level of responsibility for this particular issue, but no-one has taken the plunge to fund this program. It does not matter what side of the political divide you are on; this is a program that works. If you listen to Amanda—and I have been down to the centre and have seen the program at work—you will find that it clearly benefits the child. We should be about providing relief for carers, and I call upon both the state and the federal governments to fund this program and continue this remarkable program.