Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very excited to inform the Senate of an innovative nationwide project that was started in my state of Tasmania. The National Assistance Card is an initiative of the Brain Injury Association of Tasmania and it has been made possible thanks to the Australian government's Information, Linkages and Capacity Building grants, its ILC grants.

The National Assistance Card is a personalised card that explains the cardholder's unique areas of difficulty and how you can assist them. A QR code on the card links to more detailed information and the cardholder can also upload a short video. One situation where the card is particularly useful is when the cardholder's behaviour is misunderstood by others and the cardholder, due to their disability or stress or anxiety, has difficulty explaining their disability and the assistance they need.

A great example of this is when Hobart woman Cate Curwood, who has an acquired brain injury, was experiencing sensory overload in a store and inadvertently walked out without paying. With the help of her National Assistance Card she was able to explain her situation to store security. The National Assistance Card is currently available to anyone throughout Australia with an acquired brain injury and is currently being trialled in Tasmania for people with autism. In fact, one of my staff has one for his six-year-old autistic son.

While there is a small fee for the card, the cost per cardholder would be unaffordable without government funding for the project. It has the strong support of many agencies, including police services, throughout Australia. I hope that this project can not only continue but expand to cover people with any kind of disability or severe health condition.

I congratulate everyone involved in this project, including the Brain Injury Association of Tasmania, Autism Tasmania, Business Software Tasmania and the Department of Social Services.