Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to speak this morning about Merrimu Disability Services in Bacchus Marsh in my electorate. Last Thursday I had the pleasure of visiting this service. The employees and volunteers at Merrimu do an outstanding job in caring for 112 clients, many of them with severe physical and intellectual disabilities. I have visited a number of disability services throughout my career, and I have to say that Merrimu has to rate as one of the best. All the staff I met had such enthusiasm and passion for the people they were caring for. Merrimu was a hive of activity, with pottery classes, gardening, music playing and carpentry. Many people were out in the community participating in activities, each of them having an individual care plan and activity plan to cater for their individual needs.

It is when you visit services such as Merrimu that you realise just how many unsung heroes there are in local communities. During my visit to the service I was told about Robyn Youl. Robyn comes in every Thursday without fail with one of her labradors, and sometimes she even comes in with her cat. While this may not sound like much of an exciting thing to do, the excitement and the enjoyment that the clients get from seeing and playing with Robyn’s dog cannot be underestimated. I heard of young people who had no verbal skills at all, and who had little evidence of engaging with any activity at all, actually starting to talk, although only briefly, while they were engaging in activities with the dog. Robyn’s dedication of coming in each Thursday is a real credit to her and also the local community.

Janet Ward, who runs Merrimu, should be congratulated for creating an environment which is stimulating and caring for people with disabilities. The creation of this environment is no accident. Janet, her staff and the clients at Merrimu have taken ownership of Merrimu and the land that it is on and initiated projects such as the reconstruction of the front entrance. The centrepiece of the front entrance is the pond, which was dug, in some instances, during the pouring rain in winter. Janet told me that, despite the weather, each one of the young people engaged in that project were determined, even through winter, to make sure that that project was finished. The gardens at Merrimu are also tremendous. I should mention in particular the work of Russell, who in fact has his very own garden named after him. He sells vegetables to the staff from this garden.

I would like to conclude by saying thank you to everyone at Merrimu for your hospitality and for taking the time and showing me around your wonderful facility. High-quality disability services are vital to our communities. It is an area that is desperately underfunded both at the state and federal level. It is a credit to Merrimu that they provide such a high-quality service in this context.