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

One of the profound privileges of being a member of this parliament is meeting inspiring individuals, individuals who make incredible sacrifices with little or no recognition and who, in doing so, leave a lasting impression in the fabric of our local community. One of those individuals in my community is Carmel James. I mentioned her late father Kev Dwyer in previous speeches, a former deputy mayor of Ipswich, a loyal unionist and Labor Party stalwart and a great community advocate. Carmel's life bears the imprint of her father's life. An assistant principal in curriculum at St Edmonds' College in Ipswich, she has had daily impact on the lives of boys who attend the school, but it is as a mother that she makes the most sacrifices and has the greatest impact but receives the least accolades. Carmel is mum to three children: Ben, Lauren and 11-year-old Andrew, who is profoundly disabled with medical and intellectual disabilities. Carmel exemplifies the contrasting natures of motherhood: grace and love, juxtaposed with ferocity and strength.

Over the past 11 years, Carmel and her husband Tony have become fierce disability advocates. Just ask the Assistant Treasurer, the Hon. Bill Shorten, who met Carmel in Ipswich when he was the Parliamentary Secretary for Disability Services. Carmel and Tony have used their experiences to tackle inclusivity issues while advocating for a national disability insurance scheme for a number of years. I cannot imagine the depth of concern of having a child with a disability who is reliant upon care—

Sitting suspended from 16:29 to 16:33

The House having been counted and a quorum being present—

The Productivity Commission report into disability care and support makes it clear that the current system of disability care and support is unsustainable and unfair. The report outlines that a national disability insurance scheme would address this issue. I am pleased the Prime Minister announced that the government is immediately starting the work of building the foundations for an NDIS. Essentially this will entitle all Australians to appropriate levels of support in the event of significant disability. That support will be there regardless of whether a child is born with a disability or it is acquired. We know that transformational reform of disability services is needed and that work has to start straight away.

For 12 long years, the coalition ignored people with disability and their carers—they effectively defunded the system. Disability funding under the coalition grew by 1.8 per cent a year—less than the rate of inflation. The previous coalition government showed little support and little interest in the area of getting people with disability into work. Those with disability who wanted to work had to wait for up to a year to get help through the disability employment services and, when they did, their pensions were reviewed almost immediately.

The Welfare to Work program was another coalition failure. The coalition paid lip service to the sector with a succession of failed attempts to support disability pensioners who were keen to contribute more actively in the community. At the last election, the coalition proposed to support just 6,000 children with disabilities and their families. I wonder what the 158,000 students with special needs in Australian schools—and their families—would think. I am confident the coalition do not have a plan to address the 164,000 students in Australia living with disability.

I am proud that, in the last budget, we allocated $200 million to support young people with disability in our schools. I have spoken to former and current principals and teachers at Ipswich Special School and Ipswich West Special School—people like Peter Davis, Andrew Thompson and Steven Leese. They warmly welcomed this funding. In my electorate of Blair, those living with disability are well served by a host of providers. Blue Care and UnitingCare provide invaluable nursing services to those living with disability, respite support for those who are carers and employment services to assist people with disabilities gain and maintain employment. Ozcare Ipswich, CODI, ALARA, Community Access and Transition Services Inc., known as CATS, are just a few of the organisations providing support and care for my constituents in Blair. Focal Extended is another great local organisation which rose out of the ashes of de-institutionalisation and the closure of the local Challinor Centre. These wonderful organisations and so many others provide individual support through personal care in-home and community access support. There is after hours school care in Ipswich Special School, vacation care during some of the school holidays, the independent pathways program and the independent living program to support those over 18 years of age.

These organisations do terrific work and we are going to make sure that those with disability are not overlooked or ignored. Their families and their carers need support and care. On 10 October I am expecting a large number of care providers and local agencies to attend a forum where the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon. Jenny Macklin, and I will discuss the NDIS in the Ipswich and West Moreton community.

Further to that, on 2 December I will stage the second Blair Disability Links, an expo where disability care and support providers set up information stalls in the Brassall Shopping Centre for members of the community. Last year I held the inaugural event—a very successful event it was—with the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers, the Hon. Senator Jan McLucas attending. These events connect people with the appropriate services so they have a greater chance to realise their potential by increasing engagement with employment, education, training and, indeed, sport. More than that, they provide a networking opportunity for these service providers.

It can be a difficult pathway to navigate when you suddenly have a child who has a disability or when your life is turned around through a profound accident that leaves you with a disability. Carmel and Tony James will tell you that one of the most frustrating things for their family is dealing with the mountain of bureaucracy involved in accessing funding and programs. As a schoolteacher, Carmel often sees families who do not cope with these stresses and sees that they get support. But they need more, and it takes determination and energy to ensure you get access to everything you need.

Even then in the Ipswich and Somerset region, in spite of the myriad of great services, you cannot get overnight respite easily. I am proud to be part of a federal Labor government that is turning the spotlight onto those with disability and confronting the cold, hard reality that we can no longer ignore the fact that by 2030 an estimated 2.3 million Australians will live with a profound or severe limitation.

I am proud that the foundations of an NDIS are being addressed. We no longer want in our country those with disability feeling invisible. Based on the Productivity Commission recommendations, the government has begun the foundations to this major reform, delivering an immediate additional $10 million to support the technical policy work, establishing a COAG select council for ministers from Commonwealth, states and territories to lead the reform, establishing an advisory group to the select council led by Dr Jeff Harmer to provide expert advice in delivering the foundations for reform. This vital work will be crucial for the care providers and its agencies in Ipswich and the Somerset region.

We are also providing additional funding of $147 million for the Better Start for Children with Disability initiative. This will be a great help for early intervention. There is the $60 million Supported Accommodation Innovation Fund. That is all in addition to the $7.6 billion provided to the state and territory governments through the National Disability Agreement to deliver increased and improved specialist disability services such as support accommodation, target support and respite.

The Productivity Commission recommended that the reform process will take seven years to be done right and to be financially sustainable. I know the James family has been fighting for 11 years to see significant reform. They appreciate that unravelling the various Commonwealth, state and territory systems and programs will be a mighty challenge. But, like them, we want to see reform sooner rather than later. As their federal member, I still have to look them in the eye and explain why the process is long, but we are determined to deliver an NDIS. Only then will people like Carmel and Tony James have the confidence that Andrew and others like him will receive the care and support that he and others will need throughout their lives. As their local federal number and part of a government that makes the tough decisions in the nation's interest I am pleased to support a national disability insurance scheme. I will continue to advocate for families like the James's, for kids like Andrew and for the many carers and support agencies in Blair that have committed themselves to supporting those with disabilities.

Carers Queensland say that there are more carers in my electorate than in any other electorate in all of Queensland. This is not just a peripheral issue. This is a mainstream issue that affects average families and individuals throughout the length and breadth of this country. Communities like mine, the Ipswich and Somerset regions, will benefit greatly from an NDIS. I commend the motion to the House.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak about issues facing people with disabilities and their carers. I would also like to thank and commend the member for Blair for presenting this motion. I do not thank him for some of the party-political ranting which started his address, but he eventually got past that and started to talk more constructively about the issues facing people with disabilities.

I believe there is a need for bipartisanship as we deal with the very real challenges facing people with disabilities and their carers. I also refer to the Productivity Commission's final report into disability care and support, which found that the current system of disability care and support is unsustainable, underfunded and unfair and that it does not deliver the appropriate levels of care and support to Australians with a disability. I am certain that is not news to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and it is not news to me or to anyone else who has spent any time at all meeting with people, getting to understand their issues and trying to deal with the many inconsistencies that exist in the current system.

The current system of support for people with disabilities and their carers is broken. It will be expensive to fix it but we are, I hasten to add, a very wealthy nation. The question should not be: can we afford to do better? The question should be: can we afford to let the current situation continue? We need to deal with the big issues in the disability sector. There are big issues such as the differing levels of assistance provided, depending upon how you acquire a disability; young people with disabilities who are forced to live in aged care homes because of a lack of residential care available for them; the lack of respite care for carers, who are doing the toughest job in the world but who need a helping hand; providing more funding for basic facilities like wheelchairs and modified vehicles, which often require volunteer fundraising activities in each of our electorates; and providing caseworkers to guide parents as they navigate their way through the maze of support services when they first are told that their child has a disability such as autism.

In my very first speech in this place I spoke about the need for increased funding in regional areas for support services for children with a disability, and I will continue to support efforts from both sides of this chamber for a better system. The opportunity presents itself today for me to publicly acknowledge the work of the former Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers, the member for Maribyrnong, and also the shadow minister, Mitch Fifield, for their efforts over the last several years to champion the rights of people with a disability. Arguably the greatest achievement of the member for Maribyrnong in his time in parliament is the way he has been able to provide some hope to people with disabilities and their loved ones. It is a hope that someone in a position of authority is on their side, and I congratulate him for his capacity to champion in this place the needs of people with disabilities.

In that same vein, I would like to congratulate the Premier of Victoria, Ted Baillieu, for being at the forefront of this debate at the state level, for being prepared to advocate for a national disability insurance scheme and for offering Victoria as the ideal location for a trial of a national rollout of such a scheme. I would also like to congratulate the people who work in special schools and other facilities who are directly involved in providing support services for people with disabilities in my electorate. They do an amazing job with great love and tenderness for the people in their care. It can be a very difficult job at times and it is an unforgiving role in many ways, and I know the families certainly appreciate the support they receive from you.

People with disabilities and the people who care for them often feel that they are alone in our community. They often feel that they are outcasts and that they are the problem that no-one else wants to deal with. I would have preferred tonight to have this debate about the national disability insurance scheme in the main chamber. I would have preferred that we debate this all week. Rather than talking about the carbon tax, which I believe is a multibillion dollar cost on the budget for something that may or may not happen in several decades time, in the disability sector right now we are talking about something that is very real on a minute-by-minute basis, an hour-by-hour basis and a day-by-day basis for people in my community. It is happening today. People need help today and it will require a multibillion dollar commitment from this and future governments. The case for the national disability insurance scheme is compelling, and I have spoken about it publicly on many occasions in my electorate. I acknowledge the member for Blair. In his comments tonight he made it sound as though, just by announcing it, the NDIS is already in place. I am sure he did not mean it to sound like that, but people in the disability sector are very concerned. The Labor Party made the in-principle announcement that it is on side and certainly the coalition has made an in-principle announcement that it supports that position. If I have any criticism, it is that I am worried about the time frames. It seems to be a very slow pace for reform and I believe we have to move as fast as we possibly can to achieve a fair and workable system. I take on the member for Blair's comments that we do need to achieve this sooner rather than later. It is a big reform, but we need to keep in the back of our minds that people need help today.

We need a system that puts people with disability at the very centre of the equation and provides them and their carers with flexible packages to access the services which most meet their needs in their own particular communities. I think we can do a lot more to help keep families together, as they are the ideal units to care for a person with a disability. I fear that too much of our current debate in the disability sector is crisis driven. The families at the centre of this issue are often left to soldier on. If they are not directly in crisis at the time, they are often left to fend for themselves, but there is no question that they do need more help.

It always seems to me that it is very difficult for governments to loosen the reins of control and let local communities develop some local solutions that suit the needs of local people, particularly in regional areas, but we are going to need that flexibility in the new scheme. We must not use planning for the National Disability Insurance Scheme as an excuse to stop the other reforms that are required from occurring in the meantime, as there are many steps that we can take now. On a cautionary note, I am wary of state governments backing out of their current levels of commitment under the guise of preparing for the NDIS.

Time is going to prevent me from talking at any great length about some of the other issues, but I would like to pass on some of the direct comments from local residents that I met with just last Friday in my electorate. I was there with the state member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, who has been another great champion of people with disabilities in my community. I met with a parents and staff members associated with the MyTime program. For members who are not aware of MyTime, it is a very good program. It provides respite for mums, dads and grandparents, or anyone who is caring for a child with a disability. It gives them a couple of hours on a weekly or fortnightly basis to get together. Their child with a disability is looked after by a professional carer while they have got the opportunity to meet and discuss issues of concern to them. Its ongoing funding is uncertain in the sense that groups are forced to fundraise to make sure they can afford to pay for the extra help. I think the funding is committed to about 2013. I call on both sides of the House to remain committed to this program and to ensure it continues into the future.

One person who attended the meeting was Shirley, who is one of the coordinators in Sale. She said to me:

I just look at these wonderful parents and think to myself - what is being done for them. Everything they do is for their children.

The My Time program is one little thing we can do to help them. It gives them a chance to get together and network and learn from each other's experiences.

Christina, who drove 50 minutes to attend the Sale MyTime gathering, put it this way:

I can talk to my family and friends but they don't get it like the parents in this room. It is not just to have a chat - it's to share information too – it's a great support to me.

I would also like to refer to a letter I have received from Jane and Shannon Nash, who describe themselves as 'parents and advocates for a child with a disability.' It is disappointing that they have to describe themselves as advocates, but in many cases parents have to go into bat to make sure they get access to services for their child. A couple of points that Jane and Shannon raised in this letter are that case management should just be a given when a family has a child who is diagnosed with a disability. They write: 'Our experience was tough. We found we had to self-advocate because professionals we were in contact with did not have the time or the knowledge and expertise to access the system for our child. Our experience has been that the system is inadequately funded and under-resourced. This results in families such as our own being ignored and turned away because they are not considered to be in desperate need.' The letter I have got here from Jane and Shannon I will pass on to the minister.

The really strong point they make towards the end of their letter relates to the family in a situation where you have a child with a disability. There is not a lot of support for the siblings, who often make many sacrifices because parents quite naturally have to put more time and effort into the child with a disability. They make this point: 'We are a family of a five. Our son's siblings are troopers and they love him very much. There is no support for siblings who have a brother or a sister with a disability.' They go on to say, 'Parents like us are trailblazing for those that come after us in the hope that conditions are made better for these wonderful but vulnerable children.'

Decisions made in this place are not academic and when it comes to the disability sector they have a real impact on real people. In the little bit of time I have left I will take as an example the government's decision to withdraw funding for the Take a Break occasional childcare program, which has caused enormous concern in my electorate where in many towns the occasional child care provided by that program was the only child care available to these people. Kristin met with me last week and told me about the support the Take a Break program had provided to her and her son Tyson, who has autism. I will also be passing this letter on to the minister, but I would like to quote from it:

Tyson was recently diagnosed with high-function autism, which has been a huge challenge for me over the years. Michelle Brooks has helped me for two years now with Tyson and the change in him has been amazing. Tyson wouldn't be making friends if it wasn't for the centre and its fantastic workers. Tyson is also coming along in leaps and bounds with his speech because of the interaction with all the other children. Michelle goes out of her way for my son and to lose that now when he is doing so well would break both our hearts.

The Take a Break program is one the government should not have ever thought about defunding and I call on the minister to change her mind. I am confident that, more broadly speaking, we are on the right path with the bipartisan plan to introduce a national disability insurance scheme. As always, the devil will be in the detail but we do have this opportunity and we must get it right for the sake of people with disabilities and their carers throughout our nation.

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

I congratulate the member for Blair for bringing this motion to the parliament and the member for Gippsland for his contribution to the debate. Before entering parliament I worked with people with disabilities and I believe that the National Disability Insurance Scheme is a big step in the right direction, something that is very long overdue. I have great pleasure in supporting this motion before the House today.

The Productivity Commission Report into disability carers support was groundbreaking and I have to congratulate the member for Maribyrnong for the role that he played when he was parliamentary secretary. He was totally committed to ensuring that people with disability actually got a better deal than they have had in the past. The report highlights the importance of funding, it highlights the importance of access to services and it really details the issues that are important for people with disabilities and their carers.

I do not think there would be a member in this parliament who has not had the parents of a child with a disability come to see them and express their fears and worries about what is going to happen to that child as they become older: that there are not the proper supports in place and that there is not the availability of care and accommodation that their child will need. This Productivity Commission report that the government has given an undertaking to support and introduce is going to address those issues. I have two young girls with disabilities who come into my office and work and I know that their parents are concerned about them having the opportunities that they need in life. One concern is about making sure that one of the young women can find suitable living accommodation, and the other young woman is keen to enter the workforce.

I must congratulate the Prime Minister on already giving an undertaking of $10 million. The issues that I have found over the years that are terribly important to people with disabilities and their families are access to funding; care and support for carers; obtaining the aids, appliances and equipment that people with disability need; housing; living independently; and work. Work is an issue that has been very difficult for a number of people with disability, and I see that this will create opportunities for people with disabilities to enter the workforce, to be able to compete for jobs and to have the support in place that they need to be able to obtain employment.

The National Disabilities Support Scheme will provide assistance for a person throughout their life. Instead of trying to grab a little bit of money from here and a little bit of money from there, trying to get assistance from some employment brokerage or agency, it will all come as a package. The needs of that person will be paramount in where they are going. As somebody who has worked in this area and fought for people with a disability to get the piece of equipment that they need and to find a suitable place for them to live in, I know that when the disability insurance scheme is fully operational it will not only make a difference to their lives but actually change them. No longer will there be fundraising for a chair for a person who may be a quadriplegic or a paraplegic. That will no longer be necessary. Rather, they will have the right to expect to live a full life just like other Australians. The scheme will take seven years to be fully implemented, but it is important that we do it properly. It is important that we have in place the right sorts of frameworks, and the Disability Insurance Scheme put forward by the Productivity Commission in its report will ensure that the lives of people with disabilities are changed forever.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(Hughes) (18:55): I am pleased to rise to speak on this important motion. I enter this debate in a unique position as someone in this parliament who, alongside fellow carers across the country, watches with interest the announcements about changes to the disability sector, knowing full well that the current patchwork state and federal system of disability support is inadequate.

The Productivity Commission's report into disability care and support has reinforced what people who live with disabilities and their carers have long known, which is that the current system is broken and needs a full overhaul. For a parent caring for a physically or intellectually disabled child, it is a lifetime's task and, with such poor assistance available, they have little choice but to abandon any hope or thought of a career in order to take up life as the family carer, which is often lonely, arduous and poorly compensated. For carers there are no sick days, there is no holiday pay and there is no superannuation. A parent caring for a physically or intellectually disabled child lives with the fear and stress of what will happen to their child when they are too old or too frail to care for them anymore. This is a story that I have heard and felt countless times from devoted carers, and it is also a fear that I myself have personally felt. The time and emotional energy involved in caring can significantly influence the dynamics within a family, and so it is little surprise that when parents have a disabled child the chance of marriage breakdown almost doubles.

We are a wealthy and compassionate nation. The time has come when, as a society, we must find ways to provide a generous and practical response to properly assist those with severe disabilities and their carers. While the blame game is not as evident in disability support as it is in other aspects of our health system, the responsibility for disability support is fractured across federal and state jurisdictions and that has lent itself towards needing closer examination for some time. Currently, the federal government has responsibility for specialised employment assistance and income support, while state and territory governments are primarily responsible for accommodation support, community support and access to respite services.

In its draft report on disability care and support, the Productivity Commission reinforced the coalition's long-held position that disability support is a core government responsibility and must be treated as such. In response to the release of the report's recommendations, Carers Australia President Tim Moore described feelings of 'great hope' and that 'Australia would at last introduce a scheme that would provide quality care and support to all people with a significant disability'. Indeed, that is the hope of all Australians. But, as always, the devil will be in the detail.

It is important that the legislation surrounding this reform is focused on three core deficits in the current system. They are: community and workforce participation and assistance; increased support for those with disability and their carers; and a simpler support system and advocacy support to help people navigate the bureaucratic maze. A national disability insurance scheme must be the goal of this parliament to work towards, but we must get there sooner rather than later. Talk of it being introduced nationally in seven years should be unacceptable to everyone. The Second World War was fought and won in less time.

In quantifying the unmet need for care and support for Australians with disabilities, the Productivity Commission has established the figure that it will take to provide the sort of care and support that rightfully should be expected of Australians who suffer with severe disabilities and their carers. The Productivity Commission prices the scheme at $6.5 billion, which is no small cost, but it is one that should be, and indeed must be, achievable under a responsible government. It is a national disgrace that the equivalent of the full cost of financing this important scheme will now have to be paid out in the annual interest payments on the debt this Labor government has racked up in just four years. To be able to afford the cost of providing the resources that those with disabilities and their carers need and deserve we must have the economy firing on all cylinders. We must end the waste, we must end the mismanagement and we must end the indulgent schemes. Support for disabilities is not welfare. It should not be. It is an entitlement to assistance and participation in our community.

Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With the member for Blair, I commend the government for its initiative, endorsing the vision set out in the Productivity Commissioner's Disability care and support report. The main recommendations of the Productivity Commission are:

The report also identified a seven-year time frame to transform disability services. As a result of the report, the Prime Minister is in the process of establishing a select council on disability reform at the next meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. This would bring together Commonwealth and state treasurers and disability ministers to do the work needed to lay the foundations for change.

In response to the Productivity Commission's recommendations for the states and territories to harmonise their approach to catastrophic injury, the government will also convene a working group, led by the Assistant Treasurer, to work with state and territory governments, lawyers and other stakeholders to progress this important complementary reform.

In my role as the member for Banks, I meet regularly with people who have disabilities and their carers. Some of the key points of the Productivity Commission report are similar to those which have been raised with me by those individuals. The inconsistency within the current systems is the outstanding issue, together with the difficulties for individuals in establishing what community and government support mechanisms are available to assist.

There is obviously significant work to be done in setting up the disability insurance scheme, so it will not happen overnight. As with any national project of such significance, it is best that it is done correctly from the outset. In the short term, the government has moved to deliver an immediate additional $10 million consistent with the Productivity Commission recommendations to support the technical work, move to establish a COAG select council of ministers from the Commonwealth, states and territories to lead reform in this area at COAG and take steps to establish an advisory group to the select council led by Dr Jeff Harmer to provide expert advice on delivering the foundations for reform and preparation for launch.

On its website, the Productivity Commission highlights the following—and I think it is worth stating:

That is on the Productivity Commission website.

This is an area that deserves cross-party support. It is an area that does not deserve political point scoring. For too long, all sides of politics have looked the other way. We have an opportunity to build on the Productivity Commission report and to do good. I happen to be one who believes that it is imperative on government to provide a safety net for the vulnerable, the disadvantaged and the disabled in our community. I do not apologise for that. It is the role of the more fortunate to help the less fortunate and we should not apologise for it.

Normally I am one who is critical of the Productivity Commission, because their philosophy has been very different to mine over the years. But in this instance I have no problem in fully embracing each of the recommendations of the Productivity Commission report. For the Productivity Commission to be giving politicians a wake-up call in this area is something I find quite interesting. I commend the motion of the member for Blair to the House. I think it is good that we have an opportunity to put our point of view in this place.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Banks put it very, very well: the more fortunate helping the less fortunate. I commend his remarks. As the population ages, as medical intervention at birth increases and as health know-how improves, the number of people with a disability will increase. At the same time the number of unpaid carers—family members and friends who are willing and able, financially and physically, to provide support—will decrease. It is therefore time to take stock and plan adequately for the future. We need a vision for equity, for fairness and for justice for those with a disability and for the fantastic people who look after them.

On 6 April this year at the Wagga Wagga RSL Club organisers of an information session held about the National Disability Insurance Scheme put out 200 chairs. Another 200 were required; more than 400 people turned up to tell those politicians present—and I was one of them—and others how much this is needed. All Australians feel the need to have control of their own lives and it is incumbent upon the Commonwealth government to provide this freedom.

By highlighting my utmost support for this program I was told I was the first parliamentarian in New South Wales to sign up to the wonderful Every Australian Counts campaign. I would do it all over again, as I feel this is an extremely valuable scheme for our society. A national disability insurance scheme represents a fundamental reform to the way services are funded and delivered. In a budget of $350 billion, surely we can find it in our hearts as well as our finances to find the necessary dollars. As the member for Hughes said, it is an extra $6.5 billion. But I see this is an investment, not a cost.

The member for Hughes also stated what a compassionate nation we were—and we are—as well as acknowledging the fact that the current system is broken. The Productivity Commission certainly thinks we can find the money. We just need the political will, hopefully the bipartisan will. The economic case for reform for the National Disability Insurance Scheme has been described in terms of the number of people with a disability increasing significantly in the next 20 years, while at the same time the number of people willing and able to provide unpaid care will fall. Government is responsible for funding the difference between the two.

The resulting increase in costs has the potential to overwhelm already overburdened state treasuries. If current growth continues, the amount spent on specialist disability services alone will double in 14 years. A National Disability Insurance Scheme will ensure governments have the ability to meet current and future needs, whatever the economic climate. It will also provide other important economic benefits. As I said, I see it as an investment. By focusing on early intervention and identifying those support services which are most effective and efficient, the scheme will maximise the potential of and facilitate greater independence for those who most need it.

By providing people with what they need when they need it the scheme will ensure people with disabilities, their families and their carers have every opportunity to reach their full potential. Surely this is such an Australian ideal. This is about providing people with a disability with what they need when they need it and it should also reduce the pressure currently experienced by families of those unable to fully participate in work, life and the community. It will also enable much-needed respite.

The scheme could be funded by all taxpayers through general revenue or through a Medicare-type levy. Financing will have to be arranged. The modelling also needs to be worked out. As I said, the Productivity Commissioner said that we can do it, so surely we need to follow that lead. If the commission says we can do it then we have to find the necessary political will to be able to do it. This needs bipartisan support. Funding for essential care, support services, therapy, aids and equipment could then be drawn from this consistent pool of funds. The principal beneficiaries would be people whose disability has a significant impact on their daily life. Most importantly, the scheme would provide support no matter how that disability was acquired, because it can happen to anyone at any time. People born with a disability or who acquire a disability through accident or injury or as result of a medical condition or mental illness would all be eligible for assistance. Recipients with a lifelong disability should not, as they are now, be required to constantly prove their disability to continue to receive assistance. Eligibility for the scheme would be transparent, based on careful assessment. The system could be person centred and individualised, based on the choices of the person with a disability and their family. It would focus on early intervention and provide the supports that provide the best long-term outcomes.

Importantly, as I said, we must not forget that disability can happen to anyone at any time. Let us not wait for what might happen; let us act now and put in place a system for those who may need to rely on a little more assistance than many of us do. We need to plan properly for this and make sure it is done correctly but put it in place as soon as is humanly and legislatively possible—not in seven years time. As the member for Hughes said, that is far too long.

Debate adjourned.