Whitehorse City Council
Paul HAMER (Box Hill) (15:55): Last year Whitehorse City Council voted behind closed doors to cease delivery of council-run in-home care services and outsource these services to a range of alternate service providers. Up to now, Whitehorse home and community services have delivered a range of support to residents through the Commonwealth government’s home support program and home care program. Whitehorse’s decision to step away from that arrangement from 1 July this year will affect around 2500 local residents. Services impacted include the real essentials – daily meal delivery, shopping assistance, housekeeping, maintenance, transport and respite. Affected residents were not consulted about this change and were only notified by mail after the decision had been made. Many people in the Box Hill community have contacted my office in a state of shock and anger. Many worry about what this outsourcing means for them. Some are saddened at losing contact with the people who have provided these services to them over the years. These residents are our most vulnerable – the elderly, those with disability, those with chronic health issues and the housebound.
Council’s cut to in-home services is just one of a number of frontline services that it is removing from its responsibility: outsourcing of the Aqualink swimming pools at Box Hill and Nunawading, closure of Aqualink’s childcare service and the planned closure of the service centre at Box Hill town hall. Residents expect our local governments to be service providers to their communities, so it is disappointing that Whitehorse council has chosen to see these services as a burden rather than an investment in the health and welfare of our community.