The article below appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 31 July 1999. Don't forget the Public Rally against the privatisation of group homes, at HYDE PARK, Sydney (near St James Station) at 11.30 am, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 and NOON march to PARLIAMENT HOUSE. More info at WWW: http://psa.labor.net.au/unions/psa/news/bulletin Parents of disabled vow sit-in By ADELE HORIN Parents have threatened to occupy group residences for intellectually disabled people in a bid to block Government plans to privatise the homes. The Government intends to let tenders in October for 41 group homes, run by the Department of Community Services. It is part of a three-year plan to divest itself of about 190, or 75 per cent, of its group homes. But its plans have met fierce resistance at parent meetings in the past 10 days. A major public meeting will be held today at the Penrith Panthers Club, in the heart of the electorate of the Minister for Disability Services, Mrs Lo Po. Mr Brian Wilder, of Mosman - whose 29-year-old daughter, Anna, has lived in the same DOCS home in Narrabeen for 15 years - said he and two other parents would "sit in", if necessary, to maintain the present arrangement: "We have fought hard to get this home where it is today. It would devastate my daughter to lose the staff she regards as family." Mr Frank Dowd, of Harbord, told a public meeting on July 20 that he would "chain himself to the door" to prevent a change to his son's service. Executive officer of People With Disabilities NSW, Mr Phillip French, said parents were concerned about the lack of security for their children, and the poor standard of some non-government providers. In a bid to frustrate the tender, some parents had refused to allow the Ageing and Disability Department (ADD) to assess their children's needs, he said. The assessments were necessary for the tender documents. As well, the Public Service Association, with 4,000 members affected by the plan, has banned staff from participating in the assessments. However, acting director-general of ADD, Ms Marianne Hammerton, said phone calls to the parent hotline had fallen since the public information meetings began. "People begin to understand that this is not new, 63 per cent of group homes are run by non-government providers," she said. In another development, the NSW Council for Intellectual Disability lodged a formal complaint with the Community Services Commission yesterday about the actions of Ms Hammerton and the director-general of DOCS, Ms Carmel Niland, in disseminating addresses of group homes in newsletters to DOCS staff and in letters to family members. The council alleges a gross breach of privacy that could possibly endanger residents, and a breach of the Disability Services Act. Ms Hammerton said parents needed to know whether their particular homes "were in or out", and Ms Niland said the newsletter was part of DOCS' commitment to communicate openly with staff. ____________________________________________________ This posting is made without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
