More Government Assistance for the Severely Disabled

Some of you may have watched Channel 7's 'Sunday Night' program on 21 February 2010 detailing stories of young people with brain injuries in aged care facilities. For those who didn't, a link to the story is below:

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunday-night/blogs/article/-/article/6832981/young-mate-in-aged-care/

For those of you who do not know us, we have a young son, Jake, who was born with a very severe brain injury. Jake does not sit, roll, crawl or walk. He does not talk and he has most of his meals fed to him through a tube in his stomach. Jake cannot play with his toys and when he is awake, he is either doing therapy, being fed or being entertained. He is 100% dependent on others.

Jake's needs are very intensive and only become greater as he gets older. We are now confronting the reality that Jake will rely on someone for his essential needs (mobility, eating, communicating) for the rest of his life.

The Australian Government does very little to assist us in terms of the additional cost of caring for a severely disabled person or providing therapists to assist with therapy that will improve their quality of life. In fact, the Australian Government treats all people with a disability equally when it comes to financial assistance; we receive $106.70 per fortnight as a carers allowance. The carers allowance is the same whether you are caring for a severely disabled person (such as Jake) or for a person with a relatively minor disability. We think this is wrong.

For Jake's therapy needs, Disability Services Queensland provides very limited support from their therapists. On average, we would see a therapist once a month. This is insufficient for Jake's needs, so we see many therapists privately. Again, we think this is wrong, the Government needs to do more to assist.

Please support us in lobbying the Australian Government to provide additional support to people who are living with a severe disability. These people are literally unable to speak for themselves and it is up to us to speak for them to get the message heard.