Disability services report urged
Posted
Updated
Report into disability services urged. (AFP: Denis Charlet)
Disability advocate Dr Paul Collier says the South Australian Government has not delivered on an election promise to table annual reports on the performance of disability services.
Dr Collier says the reports were to include waiting lists for unmet needs.
He says services cannot be improved if providers do not know what problems exist.
"We just have no idea what the range of unmet needs are out there," he said.
"There are thousands and thousands of disabled people and families in the community right this minute who are really, really having problems because of the lack of services, lack of equipment, lack of accommodation and so on."
The Opposition spokesman for disability services, Stephen Wade, says he believes an audit on disability services was done last year.
He says it showed that in June 2007 there were up to 1,000 people waiting for support accommodation, and 200 people classified as category one.
"Category one is in immediate danger of being rendered homeless, or actual harm to self or others," he said.
"So this is not a risk, you actually need to be experiencing harm to be on category one, and we've got a waiting list for people in that level of need."
The Minister for Disability, Jennifer Rankine, says an audit has been done, and the information will be released in the next annual report at the end of the 2008-09 financial year.
"As soon as the national measurements are agreed to and we rejig the figures accordingly," she said.
"We expect that this is going to mean better outcomes for people with disabilities, I would expect we'll have that in our next annual report."
