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In some form or other Unmet Need effects most people with disabilities. Over the last ten years there has been a change in Government policy here in South Australia. Governments in this State decided to close institutions and encourage people with disabilities to be more active in the community.
The disparity between the funding levels for Options Co-ordination and the cost of providing services to the growing number of people seeking help and support is getting wider. As a consequence, Unmet Need is growing.
The exact extent of Unmet Need relating to Options Co-ordination and the State’s equipment program is a sensitive issue for the State Government. The State Government through the Minister for Disability, Jay Weatherill, has injected extra funding into the disability sector during this financial year. But there still remains considerable unmet need in the community as a whole. This funding gap equates to severe short falls and protracted waiting periods for people with disabilities to access services.
Fixing unmet need is all about priorities, but is it important enough?
It obviously is if you can't go to the toilet, can't eat or have a shower.
It's important enough if your wheelchair keeps breaking down and you can't get another one for eighteen months or your bum is always sore because you can't get a new cushion.
It's important if you are a parent and you are faced with the prospect of seeing your child institutionalised. Or if your child's future means living in a metal cage because that is the only way you can keep her safe from herself.
It's certainly important enough if you have to rely on your young child to provide your personal care!' Although the exact number is not known, there are a significant number of children between the ages of six and fifteen who are the principal carers for their parents. Surely it doesn't take too much imagination to think through the implications for both parent and child when a young boy is providing personal care for his mother!
Unmet Need is a major problem and it is only going to get worse unless something is done about it. The current Government did not create the problem they have inherited it from previous Liberal and Labor Governments. The Government does, however, deserve to be judged on its performance. And to date, despite some increases and some re-announced funding, the unmet need in the day care sector for school leavers may have been addressed, but people with disabilities still only get a shower once a week.
This financial year has seen an increase in mental health advocacy. Disability Advocacy and Complaints Service of South Australia Inc. advocates have represented clients predominately in the Guardianship Board but have also liaised and advocated on behalf of mental health clients in areas of accommodation, hospitals, lawyers and employment.
Lack of resources is a major issue, hopefully the Federal and State Governments place the promised millions of dollars for mental health services into the correct areas of service delivery.
Attitudinal problems are also apparent in some areas of service delivery, unless this is addressed it is unlikely that significant improvement in the system will occur.
Disability Advocacy and Complaints Service of South Australia Inc. is also concerned at the increasing role the South Australian Police and South Australian Ambulance Service are being required to play within the mental health system. SAPOL officers are not adequately trained to deal with many of the issues they are currently being required to handle. Conversations between senior SAPOL officers and Disability Advocacy and Complaints Service of South Australia Inc. staff indicate a growing disenchantment with the way the Government is handling the State's mental health crisis.
Similarly, the South Australian judicial system is also at breaking point as a result of the crisis in Mental Health Services in this State, as can be seen from the overload at James Nash House, and the comments coming from Correctional Services about the high incidence of mental health problems in prisons.
The appointment of the new Minister for Mental Health, Ms Gail Gago, who is assisting the Minister for Health, is welcome, as is the extra funding of 2.5 Million for community based support services for people with psychiatric disabilities.
We need to see more action on the front lines, though. A few trials will not address the immense needs, and the growing discomfort in the community about the treatment of people with psychiatric disabilities.
South Australia's record on mental health is particularly poor. There is no time for complacency, the reform of the mental health system in South Australia is long overdue.
This year DACSSA had a greater number of consumers, who lodged complaints with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission through the Disability Advocacy and Complaints Service of South Australia than last year.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission is funded by the Commonwealth Government and has responsibility for the administration of the Disability Discrimination Act. The Commonwealth Government enacted changes to the legislation that governs the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission towards the end 1999. The changes took effect in April 2000.
The changes to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission now mean that rather than the Commission conducting hearings into discrimination cases, complaints that cannot be conciliated through the Commission are now heard in the Federal Court or the Federal Magistrates Court. Decisions of both the Federal Court and Federal Magistrates Court are enforceable and create precedents that can be used to assist other people with the resolution of their cases. Although this is a positive change, the move from a no-cost jurisdiction to a jurisdiction where costs can be imposed disadvantages many people with a disability. This is an issue that needs to be urgently addressed to ensure that the rights of people with a disability are adequately protected.
DACSSA will continue to use the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act as a means of assisting consumers to resolve complaints and will continue to lodge cases with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
In the past twelve months DACSSA has lodged cases with HREOC concerning:
- Employment
- Training, access to vocational education
- Provision of Goods and Services
- Transport provision
Over the past few years DACSSA has been working with two other South Australian advocacy organisations, MALSSA and Parent Advocacy (PAI), in developing a co-operative approach to providing disability advocacy services to people in rural South Australia.
As part of this co-operative approach, DACSSA committed itself to establish an office of the organisation in Whyalla. The DACSSA office is co-located with the Whyalla Counselling Service and was originally open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and Thursday and Friday afternoons.
In September 2004 DACSSA had to close the office in Whyalla, because of financial constraints. In December DACSSA began negotiations with the University of South Australia and the Whyalla Counselling Service. We agreed to a different contract and are now providing a five day, 9 AM - 5 PM, advocacy service in Whyalla in partnership with the Whyalla Counselling Service.
The DACSSA office in Whyalla since re-starting in February 2005, has seen a steady increase in case load. The range of people with disabilities accessing the Whyalla office for assistance has been predominately psychiatric disability, followed by Intellectual disability.DACSSA has been greatly encouraged by the support given to this project by the people of Whyalla and by the officers of the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services who originally assisted in its realisation.
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