dear Sir/madam

I would very much like to make the following points to the 
Disability care and support inquiry

I have read the preliminary report and I’m still very concerned that the matter of services available to the AMPUTEE section of the Australian community is still not being addressed as it should be.

•	I wholeheartedly support the comprehensive submission from Limbs4Life of August 2010.
•	Funding for NSW amputees is woefully inadequate and doesn’t take into account current technologies or mobility/safety requirements of amputees.
•	Funding should follow individual amputees to enable prescription, supply or maintenance of artificial limbs if the amputee is not in their local area.  eg. If interstate at time of required service. 
•	The Association of which I am a member (Amputee Association of Sydney Inc.) is purely a voluntary organization which assists members and others with information, peer support visiting of amputees (pre and post amputation) in hospitals or homes as requested, publishes a very informative quarterly magazine (mailed to members) which is distributed widely throughout Australia, New Zealand and U.K.  The Association is not funded by governments but relies on membership fees and donations.  
•	I believe amputees deserve better funding to enable themselves to return to their communities as independent members.  Safety is a big concern and later technologies take this into account.  If an amputee is protected from falls by better technology then the Government will save the expense of hospitalisations.  This should be expounded to Government departments involved in funding for amputees.
•	Prior to 1998, the Federal Government through Veterans Affairs, funded prosthetics for amputees throughout Australia.  This would seem more appropriate, allowing for equality of Australian amputees. 
•	The gap between compensable and public amputee services has widened to a point now where publicly funded amputees have become second class citizens.  It is time to right the wrongs!

Regards.
Janice Harrison