SUBMISSION TO THE ENQUIRY INTO LONG-TERM DISABILITY CARE AND SUPPORT SCHEME                      BY MAUREEN CAELLI 

I want to be as brief as I can in listing the needs of any disability care program, as I see them.  We can often elaborate unnecessarily in these submissions, as I do not see my purpose as one of exactly defining of the system.  Rather I see my role as one of supply constructive ideas.  I will list these ideas below.

1.	Any disability support program must maintain the dignity of the person by funding adequate support, free of charge, if the person has no capacity to work or and/or no financial savings adequate to fund living costs.
2.	Entry to the scheme or program should be available with evident medical and physical disability or illness despite a lack of diagnosis or name for the disability or illness.
3.	The government, with a wide variety of health professionals and not just one service provider, should set up the people or system for this assessment and allocation of type and amount of help.
4.	The disabled consumer should be able to choose the service provider and be able to change them without repercussions.
5.	The funding for this program to the consumer needs constant updating, to cover degenerative conditions.
6.	The funding grant can be a lump sum to the consumer or money awarded at intervals of perhaps six to twelve months in the case of degenerative conditions.
7.	The funding and care should continue for life if the consumer has no ability to contribute to a reasonable level of Superannuation.
8.	There should also be a payment to the person who is born or becomes disabled, which enables them to live in dignity, supplying adequate day-to-day and overall needs.  This does not occur now.  I have charities supporting my life.  This is not acceptable for my dignity.
9.	All aids need to be supplied either free of charge or costed into any grants.
10.	Accommodation for people with a disability, either in assisted care or in their own home, should be free and adequately large for freedom of movement.  Too many of my friends and even myself have had to in the past and even now, live in totally unacceptable housing.  Ideally, there should also be a no wait policy and the ability to choose housing.
11.	Another idea would be to pay the person a wage equal to what his or her piers receive.  This way the person would only need the disabled equipment and care support supplied by the government.
12.	Another model of help would be a lump sum payout similar to an accident insurance payment through the courts.
13.	If the person is capable of working outside the home, then the person needs more assistance in finding work and helping maintain the day-to-day support for this.
14.	There is a great need for more flexibility in the whole system of care and support.
15.	If a person does not get a compensation lump sum payout, then there needs to be the ability to privately health insure oneself as a disabled person often needs much more then the public health system can provide.
16.	While being disabled I was also able to raise two children and also be very active in volunteer and lobbying work for environment and disability issues.  However my health was not adequate to work for any time, outside the home.  As a divorced woman, who was abandoned because of her disability, I need some financial help, which recognises the unpaid work I have done.

Overall, people with disabilities need adequate comfortable housing, adequate care, financial security, reasonable health care, enough aids to support their life and most importantly, dignity.