Wesley provides hope for people with disabilities

angela.goodwin — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:13:54 +0000

Today, Wesley Mission Victoria has officially opened its second purpose-built residential facility for people with an acquired brain injury and other neurological disorders who have lived in or are at risk of living in residential aged care.

Wesley’s CEO, Mr Rob Evers, and Mrs Andrea Coote, MLC, Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Community Services, opened the facility in Cranbourne this morning. Also in attendance was Councillor Amanda Stapledon, representing the Mayor of Casey and other members of the local council.

The house was built under the ‘my future my choice’ joint State and Federal Government initiative which aims to reduce the number of younger people with a disability living in residential aged care facilities. This new centre provides residents with the opportunity to remain connected to the community while developing their independent living skills in a secure and supported environment, as much like being at home as possible.

Wesley CEO, Rob Evers explains what makes the ‘my future my choice’ home in Cranbourne so unique.

“For a person with a disability, living in residential aged care can be a socially isolating experience but within the ‘my future my choice’ home, residents have the opportunity to socialise, stay connected to their families, and develop life skills,” he said.

“Wesley is proud to open this facility, which will provide new opportunities for the residents,” he said.

Residents of the facility participate in the running of the household, prepare their own meals and develop their own daily routines including linking into community programs and services, in a supported, home-like environment.

Mrs Andrea Coote, MLC, said “The my future my choice joint initiative between the Victorian Coalition Government and the Commonwealth is an important step in reducing the number of younger people with disabilities living in Residential Aged Care services.”

“I commend Wesley Mission Victoria for its collaborative and understanding approach to making residents feel safe and in turn, to create a sense of ‘home’. Residents can enjoy their own space and entertain family and friends in a home that has been tailored to their individual needs and style,” she said.

For Valerie*, this new home has changed her life, for the better, after she was forced to live in residential aged care for almost six years.

“Living here is like a dream come true. I’ve got freedom now,” she smiles. “I can come and go as I please, cook my own dinner and see my friends. And I can paint again.”

This is the second house opened by Wesley and the Department of Human Services as part of the ‘my future my choice’ initiative.
* Name has been changed to protect privacy.

Half of Australia’s Homeless are Under 25

angela.goodwin — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:02:21 +0000

Half of Australians seeking help for homelessness are under 25 and almost twenty per cent are under 10, according to new research by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

The report, Specialist Homelessness Services Collection: first results, also reveals that over 90,000 people were assisted by specialist homelessness agencies in the July to September quarter last year. Of those, 59 per cent were female and 41 per cent were male.

Charles Gibson, Director of UnitingCare Victoria and Tasmania says “This report is extremely timely and its findings are reflected by the young people in this situation who are seen by our UnitingCare agencies across Victoria and Tasmania. They may not come to us talking about their homelessness – they may seek assistance with income support, food or material aid; wanting to talk about family or relationship issues; seeking help re employment or schooling, or struggling with alcohol and drug or mental health issues.

However insecure, transitory or indeed having no accommodation is often a basic need which is related to what they are dealing with. UnitingCare agencies are very supportive of government initiatives to make a difference to homelessness and have embraced exciting new models of service delivery such as the Youth Foyer Model now operating in Ballarat.”

According to the report domestic and family violence is the most common reason for seeking assistance overall, and the most common reason for seeking assistance among females.

Among males the most common reason for seeking assistance was ‘housing crisis’.

The AIHW says that the survey aims to provide a clearer picture of homelessness based on people’s experiences, rather than the number of services provided, and for the first time counts children as individual clients.

“Of these clients, 18 per cent were aged under 10 and 50 per cent were aged under 25,” AIHW spokesperson Geoff Neideck said.

“At least one-third of people presenting to specialist homelessness agencies were with children or were children themselves, while the remaining two-thirds presented alone.”

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were significantly over-represented, with 19 per cent of those seeking homelessness assistance of Indigenous origin.

Homelessness Australia’s policy and research officer, Travis Gilbert, said that the high number of young people supported by homelessness agencies in such a short space of time was “disturbing”.

“The results of the research confirm that youth homelessness is a significant issue in Australia,” Gilbert said.

The Federal Government says it has committed to halving the rate of homelessness by 2020 investing $20 billion in housing and homelessness programs.

Addressing the ACOSS conference in Sydney last week, the Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Brendan O’Connor, said: “We know that there is much more work to be done by all levels of government to make the housing market more efficient and responsive”.

Geoff Neideck said that some “modest improvements” in the housing situations of Australians were observed over the last quarter.

“For those support periods that were closed over the quarter, there was a 3 per cent drop in the number of clients who had no dwelling, were living in a car or in an improvised dwelling,” Neideck said.

“There was also an increase in the proportion of clients renting in social housing from 14 per cent at the beginning of support to 17 per cent at the end of support.”

Poker Machine Losses – It Matters Where You Live

angela.goodwin — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 04:11:22 +0000

UnitingCare Australia has called for tighter consumer protection measures on poker machine gambling in light of their new research released today.

UnitingCare Australia commissioned Monash University to investigate the level of poker machine losses and the community benefit claims in 41 Federal electorates in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT.

National director, Lin Hatfield Dodds said the findings reveal that people living in disadvantaged areas lost a much greater percentage of their income on poker machines compared to their more affluent neighbours.

In Blaxland in Sydney’s southwest, poker machine losses average more than a third of the electorate’s median income for that proportion of the population estimated to use the machines.

User losses were also expected to exceed 20 per cent of median individual income in five other electorates – Marybyrnong (Vic), Banks (NSW), Bruce (Vic), Richmond (NSW), and Hotham (Vic) – and 10 per cent in almost half the electorates examined.

Report author, Dr Charles Livingstone, said the impact of this level of expenditure on individuals, families, communities and the local economy is likely to be extreme, and to be damaging to social and community infrastructure and social capital.

“Blaxland has a median individual income of just over $390 a week or $20,000 a year, but annual poker machine losses amount to around $7,000 each for those people who use the machines,” Dr Livingstone said.

“The 2,240 machines in Blaxland collect an average of more than $79,000 a year. This disadvantaged population of just over 104,000 lost over $177 million on poker machines in 2010-11.

“The community benefit in Blaxland as reported by the poker machine industry looks generous at $2.5 million, but this is only 1.4 per cent of the money lost on the machines.

“The community benefits claimed by poker machine operators do not offset the social and economic impact to any serious degree, if at all,” Dr Livingstone said.

“Resources are being diverted away from other financial and commercial activities towards poker machine gambling at a significant rate, with a concentration of this process amongst the most disadvantaged communities.

“The public health and community welfare implications of this are significant, not simply for current users, but for their family, children, neighbours, employers and the community generally,” Dr Livingstone said.

Click here to download a copy of the report.

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Wesley provides hope for people with disabilities

Half of Australia’s Homeless are Under 25

Poker Machine Losses – It Matters Where You Live