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

I rise today to talk about an incredibly innovative program called the Casey Kids Club. It is a concept that was designed to bridge the void between children with disabilities who can access out-of-school programs and those who cannot. The Casey Kids Club has been running a program through the various school terms. It has accommodated between five and eight special-needs children from Marnebek School in Cranbourne and Dandenong Valley School in the City of Casey. The venue is at the Dandenong Valley School, and the children from Marnebek are transported by bus. Between 3 pm and 6 pm after school, qualified respite carers run structured activities in a group setting in which children can also socialise with their friends.

The Casey Kids Club has a two-pronged objective. The first is to ensure that children are purposefully involved in activities, are socialising with their friends and have an activity that is theirs to look forward to—for instance, basketball or other activities which interest them. The second is allowing the parents, particularly in that time band of between 3 pm and 6 pm, to meet their commitments to work, meetings or studies or even, if necessary, complete home duties such as shopping and banking, essentially giving them more flexibility and avoiding the negative effect of a complete withdrawal from the community. This program has given the parents and carers that have participated in it the opportunity to spend time with their other children, becoming involved in their out of school activities.

After term 1 there was a very comprehensive pre- and post-evaluation program conducted by the Bunurong community care service development coordinator to measure the outcomes for children and families. Though obviously brief, the postevaluation found extremely positive results—so much so that the parents and people associated with it wanted to extend the program past term 1. But, because they could not find a provider or an organisation to provide funding for it and they were struggling, they actually got donations from the community. Finally the Commonwealth Carer Respite Centre in the southern metropolitan region and Wresacare provided interim funding to keep the program growing. But we have now got to the stage that I believe this very innovative social program needs to have Commonwealth funding to continue.

The organisers behind this—particularly Amanda Stapledon, the driving force behind this particular program, who has a special needs son, Pete, who has been accessing the program—have been requesting a meeting with the minister, Minister Cobb, to discuss funding this program not only in Melbourne but across Australia. But, notwithstanding our efforts to access a meeting and a donation by Paul Creasy to fund an airfare to meet the minister, the minister has refused to meet this mother. That is an absolute disgrace and an indictment of the government. The minister should get his act together. (Time expired)