Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to introduce a totally different tone to the debate. As members of parliament, our role is very varied. Tonight I am speaking in parliament and last week I was working in my electorate of Shortland. In my electorate office I met an amazing young woman, Kellie Nadillo, and her autistic son, Joshua. Joshua is an extremely fortunate boy as both his mother, Kellie, and his father, Simon, are dedicated to assisting him to function at the highest possible level.

Joshua is four in July. He is not an ordinary little boy. He is not like a normal four-year-old. He is not toilet trained. He has very few words. These are the words that I have heard him utter. There was a picture of a dog in my office and he made a noise a little bit like a wolf, ‘oof!’—just expressing air. He can make a noise like the hiss of a cat. He communicates with pictures. Feeding this young man is different to feeding a normal four-year-old. He likes to have the same foods all the time. His eating patterns are very rigid and his parents have to get a special formula to ensure that he gets all the nutrients that he needs to grow. It is a full-time job looking after Joshua. His behaviour is very unpredictable. At any moment he could run in front of a car. No-one in the house knows what he will do from one minute to the next. He has difficulty relating to people and to other children, which of course is an enormous handicap in life.

He was diagnosed with severe communication disorder and delayed speech and language about 18 months ago. But he is a very lucky boy. Tonight I was speaking to his father. I will give you an idea of how dedicated the family is to seeing that Joshua has the fullest possible life that he can. I rang his father and he said that Kellie, the mother, was at a course on how to communicate with autistic children. Young Joshua has had speech therapy. He has done an early intervention program. He goes to a preschool where he gets one-on-one teaching two days a week. He goes to a playgroup two days a week. This is quite an expensive exercise. He is fortunate as he has a mother and a father that have totally dedicated their lives to helping him overcome his autism and to maximising his functionality so he can enjoy a better quality of life.

Imagine my surprise when Kellie told me Centrelink had rejected her application for carers payment—not because her husband earns too much money but because Centrelink deemed that Joshua’s medical condition was not at a sufficient level to be eligible for a carers payment. I have seen young Joshua and I worked with disabled people before I came to this parliament, and I know that Joshua needs full-time care. Any person that met Joshua would know that he needs full-time care. Anyone that met Kellie would know how dedicated she is to giving him that care and anyone that spoke to his father, Simon, would also know that.

Joshua requires full-time care. The family does not go out together. Both Kelly and Simon attend special groups for parents of autistic children—they go to a fathers group and a mothers group. Kellie has been granted respite care for Joshua, yet Centrelink has refused to pay them a carers payment. I think that the process that is in place, the rules this government have put in place, are despicable. I believe that children like Joshua should be eligible. His parents should be eligible to receive a carers payment so that he can get the caring treatment that he has been offered by his family.