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The Hon. PETER PRIMROSE [11.00 p.m.]: Charities and welfare groups in New South Wales will be forced to cut support services for the frail aged and people with a disability if the Howard Government does not increase funding to cover staff salaries for community organisations. The Iemma Government had allocated $21 million in this year's budget to cover wage increases in non-government organisations. I congratulate Ms Sally McManus, in particular, the Secretary of the New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory (Services) Branch of the Australian Services Union, on her strong and consistent campaign on behalf of the union's members. The increase will assist organisations, such as the Spastic Centre and Meals on Wheels, the staff of which is paid under the Social and Community Services [SACS] Award. This funding represents an indexation of 3.3 per cent, and allows community organisations to provide home and community care services, such as dementia care and in-home support, to cover the costs of employing staff. About 80 per cent of operating costs for these organisations is spent on salaries.
But the Commonwealth Government's indexation rate of 2.1 per cent will not meet the recent 3.5 per cent SACS award increase. The Commonwealth needs to urgently increase its indexation level so that these services are not jeopardised. Under the Joint Home and Community Care Agreement the Commonwealth pays for 60 per cent of services, with the New South Wales Government paying the remaining 40 per cent. A refusal by the Commonwealth to provide a realistic indexation rate will mean a closure or reduction in essential services. This would be an enormous blow to ageing and disability services in New South Wales and would undermine the record $1.8 billion the Iemma Government has provided for the aged and people with a disability and their families in 2006-07. This represents a $209 million increase, or 13.5 per cent, on funding allocated in the previous financial year. The budget also included an additional $1 billion over the first five years of the Iemma Government's 10-year disability plan, Stronger Together. It would be a tragedy if the Howard Government destroyed this good work by refusing to properly fund non-government organisations at a time when it has a $17 billion surplus.
The New South Wales Minister for Disability Services, the Hon. John Della Bosca, has also warned that people with a disability and their families would be abandoned under a Liberal Government in New South Wales, having regard to the Opposition's response to the State budget earlier today. The honourable member for Vaucluse appears not to rate disability services as a priority, and thousands of families and children with a disability stand to suffer if the Opposition get its way. The Opposition has included no extra funding for disability services and has expressed no vision as to how it will meet the growing challenge of providing improved services. In the lead-up to the last State election the State Opposition vowed to fund its policies by ripping $700 million out of community services. It just cannot be trusted. It will happily repeat the same attack and allow the most vulnerable in the community to suffer. The honourable member for Vaucluse has refused to quarantine disability workers from his staff cuts. How many speech therapists, home care workers and case managers will he get rid of? I reiterate that the State Opposition wanted to slash some $700 million from the Department of Community Services in the lead-up to the last election, a policy that still stands today. The Leader of the Opposition has never walked away from the policy. He should come clean and tell the people of New South Wales what his intentions are.
The New South Wales Government has invested $1.2 billion in reforming the child protection system since 2002, but the State Opposition wants to abandon its notable improvements. The Opposition is placing the welfare of children at risk. It cannot be trusted to support the families of New South Wales. The bottom line is that under its plan all children will suffer. The Opposition plans to cut 675 Department of Community Services [DOCS] caseworkers, $150 million in additional funding for early intervention and family support services, $18.3 million for joint investigation and response teams of police and community workers investigating child abuse, $450 million in additional funding for services to support foster children and foster carers, and $20 million for new legal and psychological staff to support front-line caseworkers. The Opposition's recent promise to cut 29,000 non front-line public servants would also have serious consequences for families who use the services of DOCS.