An elected Liberal Nationals Government will make sure families and carers have access to respite services – no matter where they live.

There’s currently a shortage of disability respite services in Victoria, leaving a critical gap in support for families caring for loved ones.

Almost one in five Australians are living with disability and those who care for them also need a high level of support.

An elected Liberal Nationals Government will provide $5 million in matched funding over four years to help disability respite services with set-up costs or to expand, helping to grow the sector to meet demand. This will enable $10 million to be invested in the sector.

We’ll partner with service providers to assist them with building costs, which have been a barrier to many services setting up.

There’s growing demand for disability respite services in suburban growth areas and Regional Victoria, with some locations having long waitlists to access the service, while other communities have no access at all to respite.

Placement in respite centres has traditionally been funded out of Individual Support Packages which currently are being transitioned to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The lack of facilities causes enormous stress and pressure on family members who just want to be able to take a break knowing their loved one is being cared for appropriately.

More needs to be done to change this and make sure carers are also getting the support they need.

Only a Liberal Nationals Government will make sure Victorian families and their loved ones are getting the support they deserve by funding better disability respite services.

Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Disability Tim Bull

Carers provide critical support for Victorians with a disability and they deserve our support too.

Many disability service providers struggle to afford the capital costs of building new facilities or expanding existing centres, this fund will break down these barriers to grow the number of respite services.

Only the Liberal Nationals will care for our carers.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018