Supported residential services
Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:04): (491) My question is to the Minister for Children and Minister for Disability. Minister, Echuca-based Community Living & Respite Services provide residential services to 41 people living with a disability. At the time of the 2022 floods they supported 29 of their residents to evacuate. During the Echuca hearing for the flood inquiry CEO Leah Taaffe gave evidence that they received no support from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing or the state government. CLRS had to determine who needed to leave, secure safe accommodation for the clients and supply all equipment, including hoists, wheelchairs, shower stools et cetera, that would be needed at the temporary accommodation. Minister, the state is the legal guardian for six of their clients – three adults and three children – and yet no-one from government or the department contacted CLRS to assist or even inquire about their welfare. Minister, why did the government fail to ensure vulnerable residents entrusted to the state’s care were being provided for during the emergency evacuation?
Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:05): I thank Ms Lovell for her question and for her commitment to and passion for people with disabilities, which is something I am very pleased to discuss with her here in the house today. I was actually very pleased last night to have a discussion with Leah Taaffe, from the very organisation that you are referring to, in relation to the disability services that are provided here and indeed in the context of the NDIS review, the disability royal commission and many of the other changes in this certainly very unpredictable time for the disability sector and people with disabilities more generally.
I absolutely reject the premise of the question, and as has been outlined, I think, both in the contributions on the motion this morning and certainly in many of the contributions indeed in this very question time –
Wendy Lovell interjected.
Lizzie BLANDTHORN: Ms Lovell, would you like to hear the answer to the question? As has been outlined both this morning in contributions to the motion and also in people’s contributions to question time today, the government has in many ways provided for many of the Victorian communities who have been impacted by the devastating natural disasters, including the floods. Certainly when it comes to vulnerable people, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, in line with other relevant departments, including the Department of Health and DEECA, have very specific protocols that are followed in relation to vulnerable clients, so I reject the premise of the question that vulnerable people and indeed people with disabilities were left behind in any way in addressing the situation that arose as a result of the floods.
Certainly since October 2022, in addition to funding social recovery programs, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing has also provided for the personal hardship assistance program, emergency relief and re-establishment for vulnerable Victorians. We have processed more than $38.5 million in relation to the hardship assistance program payments. As an example of this, households in the Campaspe shire received almost $12 million in those payments. Also, in terms of going specifically to assisting those who might have particular vulnerabilities in relation to evacuation or housing post the disaster, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing does continue to work with local government in the delivery of those services.
Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:08): Minister, six of those people were entrusted to your care, and neither the government nor the department even bothered to inquire, let alone provide any assistance. It would be reasonable to expect that there would be vulnerable residents for whom the state is the responsible guardian in nearly all communities affected by disasters requiring evacuation, such as floods and bushfires. So, Minister, since the floods and the government’s neglect becoming public in evidence given to the flood inquiry in August last year, what action have you taken to ensure protocols are in place to guarantee adequate assistance is provided by the department to all vulnerable residents, particularly those for whom the state is the responsible guardian, during an emergency evacuation and relocation?
Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:08): Perhaps if Ms Lovell had not been talking over me while I was attempting to give the first answer, she may well not have needed to ask the supplementary. As I indicated at the outset, there is indeed a very specific protocol in dealing with vulnerable clients, particularly those who might be reliant on equipment, during a natural disaster, whatever that natural disaster may be. Those protocols were followed in that disaster, and they were followed in previous and subsequent disasters as well. The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing is one part in that protocol. They very capably complete their part in that protocol, and I am very pleased that that is the case, because it ensures that vulnerable people in a disaster are indeed looked after. I absolutely rejected the premise of the question in the first instance, and the supplementary was based on the same premise and I also reject that. The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing in a disaster does implement a number of programs and protocols in order to ensure that vulnerable people are looked after.