Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I want to congratulate Focal Extended Inc. on the opening of the Focal Community Centre at 6 Canning Street, North Ipswich. It was my privilege last Saturday to be at the opening of this new facility. The Nunukul Yuggera Aboriginal Dance Group welcomed the dozens of people who were there. Roy Henderson, the president, was the MC. The patron is Sir Llew Edwards, a former member for Ipswich and a former Liberal Party Deputy Premier of Queensland. The executive officer, Tanya Miller, was present; and Rachel Nolan, the member for Ipswich and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Disability Services in Queensland, opened the facility by cutting the ribbon and unveiling the plaque.

Focal Extended Inc. supports individuals who have disabilities and their carers. It is a strange name. It comes out of the Friends of Challinor Aid League, which was formed in February 1974, 34 years ago, in Ipswich. Its vision is to provide support to enable and empower people who have a disability and to help them participate freely in their chosen community—which happens to be my chosen community as well, Ipswich. Focal’s early work involved active lobbying for legislative change regarding the rights of people with disabilities. You could barely be a politician in South-East Queensland in the 1970s and 1980s without receiving some lobbying from Focal. As individuals moved into the community, Focal took a wider support role, and the name was changed to Focal Extended Inc. to reflect that development.

A number of Focal’s members, who are known to me—Lionel Rackley, Peg Tozer, Jim Cummings and Betty McCrindle—had the honour of being awarded the Order of Australia in recognition of their fine community work over the years. Furthermore, Jim Cummings, whom I have known for many years, was awarded the Ipswich Citizen of the Year award in 1995—an honour he certainly deserved.

The opening of the Focal Community Centre is a new chapter in the life of Focal. The centre provides a home base and it is a place of new opportunities that will be limited only by the imagination of those who attend. There will be tremendous contributions by local residents, and many people have shown tremendous commitment to disability support in Ipswich for a long time.

What does Focal do? There are about 16 staff at the centre. There are about 27 support workers and they have five to six who work regularly in vacation care. In the Independent Pathways program they can have up to 15 clients at a time. Independent Pathways is a development program for young people aged 18 to 35. It is designed to assist individuals with a disability to develop skills and independence. There is also an independent living program, which is an accommodation support program for people with a disability. There is a family respite care program, an out of school hours care program—with a senior program and a junior program—and there is a postschool program and adult lifestyle support services, which enhance community access, life skills and vocational training opportunities.

This is very important for my local area, because the Challinor Centre was a disability centre for people who were institutionalised. In Ipswich there are a lot of people with disabilities who are now in the community leading lives of personal development, social integration, independent living and playing an important role in the life of the community. I congratulate all the people involved in Focal Extended Inc. for their many years of hard work and lobbying, and I look forward to the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services coming to Ipswich, as he has promised to do. I would be delighted to have him visit the new centre, and the people are looking forward to his visit very much. I hope that will happen later this year or, if not, early in the new year. This is a wonderful community facility and these are wonderful people.