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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Adjournment Debate
I raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for Community Services. The action I seek is for this government to put an end to its farcical approach to consultation and establish genuine systems of listening, engagement and discussion on matters of importance in which communities, families and individuals can have confidence.
Let me give members a recent example. Last week the government conducted a consultation panel for the eastern region in Ringwood. This particular consultation was for service users to discuss self-directed planning in the context of the Victorian state disability plan. Let me tell members the reality of what happened.
Participants voiced concerns that the consultation was poorly advertised, many only hearing of it in the days preceding via word of mouth. Obviously the government was banking on a small turnout -- the room was so small that it was crammed with 30 to 40 participants who had replied to invitations. It was completely unsuitable for people in wheelchairs, who found it almost impossible to navigate the room -- incredible at a forum for people with disabilities.
The discussion was meant to focus on a disability services draft model, but participants were not provided with a copy of the draft framework, and when they asked for a copy a government representative explained that the framework consisted of a flow chart on a PowerPoint slide. Government representatives discussed Victoria's disability services in bureaucratic riddles and DHS (Department of Human Services) acronyms and had to be asked by participants a number of times to speak in plain English and refrain from using complex terms.
DHS organisers also regularly failed to record on paper criticisms of Labor's management of disability services.
I would like to put some comments on the record. Participants expressed frustration with this government's ongoing attempts to appease them by holding consultation forum after consultation forum while, after 10 years, the realities for families continue to remain unchanged -- services are bureaucratic, difficult to access and crisis driven. An overwhelming majority of participants claimed that the system lacked choice, flexibility and funding, and they have no confidence in it. One particular mum of a child with a disability said it had been 12 months since she applied for two nights of overnight respite, and she is still waiting to even be assessed.
This example of the forum last week is only a snapshot of what is happening across the board in my shadow portfolio.
Rather than engaging in genuine consultation, this government conducts forums as a means of appeasing Victorians. It wants to be seen to be consulting. This government is not interested in real engagement, nor does it want to hear criticism or genuine feedback.
People with disabilities and their families and carers deserve to be heard, rather than managed; their input should be publicised widely, held in appropriate facilities, and facilitated in an appropriate manner; and, most importantly, their comments and ideas should be genuinely listened to. Any less is a farce.
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