Disability Respite Services

Dr ANDREW McDONALD: My question is to the Minister for Disability Services. Will the Minister update the House on the Government's increased respite services for people with a disability and their carers?

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: I thank the member for Macquarie Fields, who is an advocate for people with a disability in his electorate. We know that one in 10 people in the New South Wales community is a carer, looking after—

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Terrigal will cease interjecting.

[Interruption]

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Terrigal to order.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: We know that one in 10 people in the New South Wales community is a carer, looking after a family member or a friend—most often an adult or a child with a disability or a frail older person. Caring for a person you love can be immensely rewarding but it also can be quite isolating and frustrating. That is why carers need care too. They need to know that society—the communityrecognises their important role and they need to know that they have support. The Iemma Government is delivering an important service to carers in the form of respite, which is a service that enables carers to take a break from their caring role while the person they care for is looked after by a support worker. Respite care can be provided as flexible, in-home support or it can be provided in a four- or five-bed centre where a person with a disability can stay for a short while.

From time to time respite beds become blocked when a person with a disability overstays his or her allotted time in respite. This can occur for various reasons, such as family breakdown. It is important to note that when a respite bed becomes blocked, up to 12 families cannot access regular respite care. The Iemma Government is delivering for carers. Currently, more respite places than ever are available and the number of blocked beds is at a lower point than at any time in a decade. The number of blocked beds in the respite system is at a 10-year low and it is getting lower. Claims by the Opposition that there is an ever-expanding number of respite beds—

Mr Andrew Constance: Point of order: I refer to Standing Order 129. The Minister is making a statement that is misleading the House.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. The member for Bega will resume his seat.

Mr Andrew Constance: There are 19 vacant group properties—

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. The member for Bega will resume his seat. I will not tolerate frivolous points of order.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: Thank you for that very good ruling. Claims by the Opposition that there is an ever-expanding number of blocked respite beds are simply not true. They are not borne out by the facts. I am advised that in 1997 187 respite beds were blocked. I am advised that today in the Department of Disability and Home Care respite services 36 respite beds are blocked. Further, and significantly, we have plans for 32 of the people occupying 36 of the beds to move into better, long-term supported accommodation. For some people it might include more support so that they can move back home with their families, for some it means moving into disability supported accommodation, and for others it means that we are purchasing, modifying and constructing new supported accommodation to enable them to move into better long-term care. We are working with the remaining four people, their families and carers to ensure that they, too, have better long-term options than a blocked respite bed.

The member for Bega has said that one-third of all respite beds in New South Wales are blocked. Not only is this not true, but it is not that hard to work out that it is not true. If the member for Bega applied the same minimalist research tactics as the rest of his frontbench colleagues—that is, if he read the Daily Telegraph—he would know the number of blocked respite beds is at a 10-year low and he would know of the significant resources we committed to supporting people with a disability and supported accommodation in respite. But, he does not know. The Opposition has gone for years without a policy in disability services. The Opposition has failed to promise one new policy. It is time for the Opposition to come clean. It is time for members of the Opposition to tell the people of New South Wales whether they support our plan, Stronger Together—$1.3 billion for disability services.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting. There is too much audible conversation in the Chamber.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: Those opposite simply are not interested in disability services. This is why they have not been able to produce one policy on disability services since John Ryan left Parliament.

Mr Brad Hazzard: Point of order: I hate to interrupt the Ohio hard-hitter, but Standing Order 130 requires the Minister not to debate the issue. If she wants to debate it, she should do so by way of substantive motion and we will be happy to discuss it.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wakehurst will resume his seat. The Minister has the call.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: I thought that perhaps the member for Goulburn had been researching disability policy during question time. She has not stopped texting and looking things up on her Blackberry for the whole of question time.

Mr Brad Hazzard: Point of order: My point of order relates to Standing Order 59. The Minister is demonstrating remarkable tedious repetition. She should stick to the issue and answer the question under Standing Order 129.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wakehurst will resume his seat. There is no point of order. The Minister has the call.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: I know one person that the member for Goulburn was not texting. When travelling around and meeting people in disability services, one meets a lot of fascinating people who have innovative ideas about disability services and who are interested in disability services policy. The other day I met one such person and I thought, "What a pity a person like this cannot be elected to Parliament." But I suppose the Liberal Party has no place for Martin Laverty in this House. Will the Opposition endorse the 1,062 new respite places that we have introduced in the last 18 months? Does the Opposition endorse the 791 respite places we have introduced for older parent carers? Will the Opposition commit itself to the significant resources we are directing in Stronger Together, the 1,400 new supported accommodation places and intensive in-home support?

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Coffs Harbour will cease interjecting.

Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY: Or just maybe the Opposition will stand by the one idea that the member for Bega has managed to bring before the House. As the member for Bega advised the House on 9 May, "It is time to consider whether the Government should opt out of the provision of accommodation services altogether." It is a brave idea; it is a courageous idea, but it is not an idea the Iemma Government is going to adopt. We are going to continue to deliver the long-term help and the practical support that people with a disability, their families and carers want and need through our historic plan, Stronger Together.

Question time concluded.