Brumby's Budget leaves disability sector in the cold againWednesday, May 05, 2010 John Brumby’s cynical election Budget will be a bitter disappointment for Victorians with a disability and their families who are already struggling in an under-funded disability system, Shadow Minister for Community Services Mary Wooldridge said. Ms Wooldridge said the Brumby Government had been warned many times about large funding gaps in key service areas of the disability sector. "The disability sector’s problems have been identified time and time again over recent years, but John Brumby is not listening and will not fund the services needed by vulnerable Victorians," Ms Wooldridge said. A report by PriceWaterhouse Coopers commissioned by the Brumby Government and released last year identified funding shortages and cost pressures across the system, closely followed by a parliamentary committee report into supported accommodation for people with a mental illness or disability. Both reports recognised the significant need for additional funding for disability services, supported accommodation, day services and respite care. Under John Brumby’s cynical election Budget, there is:
Despite chronic deficiencies in supported accommodation across Victoria the Budget shows that just one additional place was provided over the past year. "The disability sector clearly stated that under-funding will reduce the quality and quantity of services delivered, yet John Brumby has stopped listening and has failed to act," Ms Wooldridge said. "Labor is out of ideas and can only offer small piecemeal responses to serious widespread problems. "In John Brumby’s Victoria, people with disabilities and their carers still struggle to get the support and assistance they need," Ms Wooldridge said.
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