An eight-month campaign to secure a respite service in Whittlesea for people severely disabled could be a step closer to fruition after the Coalition committed to building one if re-elected later this month.
Disability advocate Trevor Carroll kicked his advocacy efforts into gear for another respite service in March and lodged a submission with Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge in June.
“I finally received a personal call from Mary [Wooldridge] informing me of their election commitment,” Mr Carroll said with palpable relief last week.
Ms Wooldridge visited Whittlesea last Monday to promise $3.6 million for the construction of two five-bed respite facilities in Mitchell and Whittlesea, allowing for planned respite and emergency accommodation ranging from overnight to medium-term options.
She said the locations were based on projections of growth areas’ demand for respite and the capacity to meet that demand from existing facilities.
Mitchell Shire has no facility-based respite.
Aside from privately run operations, Whittlesea has just the one, in Epping.
Mr Carroll said another facility-based respite service was desperately needed because four beds at the Epping facility were permanently occupied by patients whose parents had relinquished them to state care. “This leaves just one emergency bed and one other bed for about 55 families who need the service.”
Mr Carroll was also instrumental in securing the Epping service, which was committed to by a Labor government in 2010 and opened last year.
He said the Department of Human Services northern division had just four respite services with 20 beds between them.
According to Mr Carroll, a report showed most parents who relinquished their children to state care were motivated by a lack of facility-based respite options.
“So this new facility-based respite centre in Whittlesea is because of the persistent problem of relinquishment,” he said.
After the Coalition’s announcement, Disability Justice Advocacy in Preston called on Labor to match the commitment.
Respite Alliance Whittlesea has organised a public meeting with candidates for the electorate of Yan Yean to discuss the need for facility-based respite at the Riverside Community Activity Centre on Tuesday, November 18, from 10-11.30am.
