"Ministers, Actions Speak Louder Than Words!" Say Australians with Intellectual Disability and their Families
By Paul Cain (dicenet@dice.org.au)
March 1, 2002, Melbourne Commonwealth, State and Territory Disability Ministers met today in Melbourne to continue negotiations for the 3rd Commonwealth State Disability Agreement.
The Communiqué issued by the Meeting of Disability and Community Services Ministers fails to set out concrete actions to address the crisis of unmet need that thousands of people with disabilities and their families confront.
People with disabilities and families, who are in urgent need of support in their daily lives, have been left frustrated and angry without any positive progress from today's negotiations.
The Ministers' meeting was met by a delegation of people with disability and their families led by Kevin Stone, President ofthe National Council on Intellectual Disability ( NCID). Following the release of the communiqué, Mr. Stone stated: "The political buck-passing and blame about which level of government is responsible for meeting the funding of unmet need has to stop!"
NCID demands that real negotiations and action begin; and:
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NCID calls on the State and Commonwealth governments to determine an equitable funding formula for joint funding to meet unmet need and demand over the course of the next five-year term of the CSDA.
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NCID calls on the Commonwealth government to accept joint responsibility with the States and Territories, as stated in the CSDA, for the funding of accommodation and respite services for people with disability.
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NCID calls on John Howard to guarantee that the $150m provided by the Commonwealth for unmet need over the last two years, will be included in the recurrent funding base for the 3rd CSDA.
Media Inquiries:
Kevin Stone: 0418 562 922
Mark Pattison: 0407 406 647
DICE News Mailing List at www.dice.org.au
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