Annette Ellis (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to take the opportunity today to bring to the attention of the chamber a great story of determination and persistence which has led to a wonderful outcome. About seven years or so back, a group of parents who have children or a child each with a mild intellectual ability contacted me to tell me about a plan they had to develop appropriate accommodation for their children. They had the idea and started this amazing project. They are like so many families in our communities. They hold concerns for the future accommodation needs of a child with a disability of some kind. What will the future hold for their child as they themselves age and are no longer able to offer their continuing care needs?

Over that period of seven or so years, they have held meetings and planning sessions for finance and land, building design, local authority requirement discussions—everything you can imagine—to achieve their dream. They came up against some pretty huge hurdles. However, they had the strength and determination to continue. During this process they looked at many options—examples both here in the ACT and elsewhere—to see what may be possible. The model they eventually adopted was an Abbeyfield model. Abbeyfield is a UK based organisation with an emphasis on a housing model for elderly people wanting to retain their independence in a home-like and safe environment. We have Abbeyfield houses of that kind in the ACT.

It is true to say that these families faced a few sceptics who, for one reason or another, opposed or at least doubted the appropriateness of this model. However, having seen the model they believed best suited the needs of their children, they then needed to secure land and money. The ACT government made the land available, followed by a one-off grant of $1.3 million for design and construction. This new model, Abbeyfield Disability, is the first Abbeyfield of its kind in the world, I understand. I want to commend the people at Abbeyfield Australia for seeing the potential in this project and having the confidence to proceed in their support.

The years of consultation undertaken by these families and parents involved a strong committee, including community members within the disability and community housing sectors. The house was completed last October. It houses 10 residents with mild intellectual disability who have a reasonable degree of independence. All of them receive the disability support pension. Some are employed or seeking employment and some are pursuing vocational training. Under the Abbeyfield model, a live-in housekeeper involves the residents in the communal kitchen, dining and living areas. It is not possible to visit this house without coming away with a feeling of optimism and a bit of a smile on your face. These young people now have a place they call their own home, and their parents and families are seeing their transition to the independent life they had always hoped they would see their son or daughter experiencing.

There is no ongoing funding provided to the house. It is completely self-funded by residents’ contributions from their incomes, which I understand also include rental assistance. Volunteers contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of the building. I want to pay tribute to John Benson, the founding president and one of the major driving forces behind this project. John’s energy and belief in bringing this supportive accommodation to completion has been outstanding. However, like all such projects, others have contributed enormously. Everyone on that committee deserves equal acknowledgement. I would also like to mention president Jackie Landos and committee members Louise Blue, Peter Vardoulis and David Pederson for their tireless volunteer work in the management of the house. However, all parents and families seem to have a role and a great community has evolved.

I would like to think that the success of this project may have helped pave the way for other communities. I hope they may have an opportunity to contact the house community committee to see what can be done. It is an idea that should be shared around for those whose circumstances may suit such a model. These young people now not only have a home in which to live; they also have a small community in which they live. As I said, there are 10 in the house. These young people have their social lives. As I said, some of them work and some of them participate in special Olympics. They have mad social lives, from what I can see—social lives that some of us could not keep up with. At the end of the day what we have seen is the evolution of a really successful good for the future model for people who it suits, who may have a mild intellectual disability.

I really want to take the opportunity to congratulate everybody concerned with this, the ACT government for their foresight and also all of those parents who for seven years have sat through committee meetings hoping that at the end their energy and their dedication to this project would pay off. It has. As I said, we now have 10 wonderful young people living very successful independent lives, their parents and families with smiles on their faces.