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Home Care Services Need More Funds: Hall

Gippsland MP Peter Hall has called on the State Government to improve funding for community care services, some of which have not received upgraded Government support for more than a decade.

By Peter Hall - 15th October 2004 - Back to News

Mr Hall raised the matter in State Parliament this week (Wednesday 13 October) after receiving numerous calls from carers and local recipients of community care services complaining about increases in costs.

"It is the people who can least afford it who have been asked to bear the difference in cost between what is provided by the state and commonwealth governments and the cost of the services," Mr Hall told Parliament. "That is placing real financial hardships on those least able to afford to make those increased payments."

Mr Hall said that he had pursued the matter with both Latrobe City Council and Co Care Gippsland, which provide many of the services.

"Co Care responded in part by sending me a copy of its media release dated 9 September, in which it outlined the difficulties it faces as a service provider.

"It listed seven programs under which it delivers services, including Linkages, which is part of the home and community care program, and a range of others."

In its media release, which Mr Hall read in Parliament, Co Care stated that "…funding levels have not kept pace with demand. Increasingly the community are demanding complex and high-care needs, previously provided in residential care, to be provided in the home. The actual funding provided for packages has not kept pace with CPI or the real cost of delivering those services. For example, the Linkages program has had no additional funding provided and not received any CPI growth in 12 years, therefore over time the value of the package diminishes."

Latrobe City, in its reply to Mr Hall’s inquiries, mentioned that because of changes in the award under which its workers operate, it is required to increase the payments and the overtime rates, particularly for service providers, which have to be passed on to the recipients of community care services.

Mr Hall told the Parliament the problem is both a state and federal government one, and added he was not apportioning blame to Co Care Gippsland or the Latrobe City Council, which were under cost pressures to deliver the services.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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