Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is the Minister representing the Minister for Disability Reform, Senator McLucas. Can the minister update the Senate on some very significant Labor policy—that is, the progress of DisabilityCare Australia?

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Singh for her question. Our Labor government is building a stronger and fairer Australia—an Australia that provides people with disability, their families and their carers with the support they need and they deserve. We have been clear that DisabilityCare Australia will be for all Australians so that everyone has the peace of mind that if they or a loved one are born with or acquire a disability they will be supported, ending the cruel lottery where care and support depends on where you live or how you acquire your disability.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme Act received royal assent on 28 March. That landmark piece of legislation lays the framework for the operation of DisabilityCare Australia as it launches around the country from 1 July this year. Senators will recall that in December last year we reached a historic agreement with the New South Wales government to roll out DisabilityCare right across that state, and since then we have reached agreement about funding and roll-out with the governments of South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, the ACT, my own state of Queensland, and the Northern Territory. These agreements provide certainty for the vast majority of Australians so that if they or people close to them have or acquire a disability they will receive reasonable and necessary support to achieve their goals in life and to participate in community life.

There were those on the other side of the chamber and in the other place who said that Labor could not achieve this historic reform, that we were unfairly raising the hopes and expectations of people with disabilities. While they heckled from the sidelines, we got on with the job. While they told Australians to lower their expectations and demand less, Labor worked to put the agreements and put the funding in place. (Time expired)

Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister update the Senate on the preparations to launch DisabilityCare in July this year?

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In just a few months we will launch DisabilityCare Australia. The first stage of the scheme will mean around 26,000 Australians with disability will receive the care and support that they need, and they will have choice and control over the support that they are purchasing. From 1 July this year DisabilityCare Australia will launch in the Barwon region of Victoria, in the Hunter in New South Wales, in South Australia for children aged between zero and five and in Tasmania for young people between the ages of 15 and 24. From July 2014, DisabilityCare will be launched in the Northern Territory and in the Australian Capital Territory. We have established the National Disability Launch Transition Agency, which has been working with people on the ground to deliver this fundamental reform. In less than two years we have built a scheme that will be ready for launch in July. (Time expired)

Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the Minister inform the Senate of any obstacles to the full rollout of DisabilityCare for all Australians?

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have reached agreement with all states and territories to deliver DisabilityCare Australia with the exception, unfortunately, of Western Australia. These agreements mean that around 90 per cent of Australians will be covered by DisabilityCare if they are born with or acquire a significant and permanent disability. But we want to make this 100 per cent. A truly national scheme will mean that Australians with disability will receive the support they need regardless of where they live. I know that people with disability and their families and carers in Western Australia want to be part of DisabilityCare, and so I urge Premier Colin Barnett to join his colleagues in other states and sign on for the full scheme. I thank the states and territories for the work they are doing with us to build DisabilityCare Australia. It is the reform of a generation; it is a reform whose time has come. (Time expired)