Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 27 February this year the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service will close its doors after 70 years of providing extraordinary assistance to those with injuries and disabilities who are wanting to return to work. The CRS began life as the Civilian Rehabilitation Scheme, opening its doors in 1941 as injured service personnel began to return home from Africa and the Middle East. The scheme was radically expanded post war, and provided rehabilitation services to tens of thousands of war veterans as well as helping thousands of invalid pensioners to find a future in the workforce. Its name changed to the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Services in the 1950s, and as an agency it continued to evolve to provide first-class interdisciplinary services to its clients. It pioneered the case management practice that has become the gold standard in social service delivery. It also developed practices of community rehabilitation and third-stage rehabilitation. These concepts have been adopted by agencies operating in other areas of rehabilitation, such as the justice system and aged care. The CRS has provided services to both the Commonwealth and the private sector within the area of occupational health and safety, and motor vehicle and worker compensation rehabilitation management throughout Australia. In 2005-06 it reached a significant milestone wherein it placed over 10,000 job seekers into employment in one year.

The government has now disbanded this service and replaced it with a series of private providers. While we do not support the disintegration of this important service, my purpose here today is to pay tribute to the work of the many staff who, over the last 70 years, have committed themselves to the task of restoring to their clients the capacity to lead fulfilling, independent lives. A high proportion of the CRS staff were women with allied health qualifications and backgrounds—professions such as psychology, occupational therapy, social work, exercise physiology, as well as rehabilitation counsellors—who were represented across the CRS network. They were supported by administrative and management staff.

The private agencies with which CRS has been in competition for a number of years have a much smaller proportion of professional staff employed to deliver the services of vocational rehabilitation. No doubt they can operate at a lower cost; however, clients with complex needs run the risk of being rotated through agency and programs as a result.

Thank you, Valda Rose, for taking the time to draw this to my attention. I thank you and all your CRS colleagues for your dedication in providing services that have proved life-changing to so many Australians.