The National Centre for Disability Advocacy has revealed alarming trends in housing insecurity and the suspected overuse of guardianship orders, in its second annual systemic advocacy insight report.
Advocates in Victoria have flagged an increase in notices to vacate being issued to people living in group homes since the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
These notices are often attributed to “behaviours of concern”, but the report says the real reason appears to be that service providers prefer residents who require less support, as they are perceived to be easier and less costly to manage.
The report includes stories where:
● A person with disability while in hospital found out they’d been evicted from their home;
● Another person with disability was left waiting four hours for a wheelchair accessible taxi, missing a funeral they were due to speak at;
● Disability service providers in Queensland and Western Australia are increasingly applying for guardianship orders for people with disability, which gives them control over making decisions for people with disability.
The NSW government has already pre-announced spending on new schools – a total of $2.6bn this coming financial year – including new primary schools at Emerald Hills, Grantham Farm, West Dapto and a new high school at Wilton.
New primary schools will include co-located preschools. More details on the progress toward 100 new pre-schools is expected in the budget.
But the budget will also reveal the impact of two flood events in February and March on the state’s coffers, along with the pressures on the workers’ compensation scheme due to a rise in claims for psychological injury from public sector employees.
However, there is not expected to be any news on the government’s promised overhaul of tolls, which will likely result in lower tolls in Sydney’s west at the expense of users of the Harbour bridge and tunnel and the Eastern Distributor. The government is still locked in negotiations with Transurban and other concession holders.
The Minns government will boast that it has stabilised the NSW’s post-Covid debt and begin reining it in when it delivers the state budget for 2025-26 at midday.
The state debt will be $9.4bn lower in 2025-26 than had been forecast in the 2023 pre election budget update by Treasury. A similar figure was forecast last budget.
It shows government is still on track to cut debt from $188.2bn of gross debt to $178.8bn by June 2026, resulting in savings on interest expenses of $400m.
NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, will also be looking to burnish the Minns government’s credentials as an economic manager by highlighting an expected cash surplus in recurrent spending.
Most commentators are expecting little new spending on infrastructure, with the any new spending being directed to work to support the governments ambitious housing targets of 377,000 new homes by 2029.
Any infrastructure spending will likely be focused on water, power infrastructure and roads as well as hospitals and schools to support growth areas.
For example, the budget will include $250m to match the federal government funding announced during the federal election campaign for the widening of Mona Vale road. This project had been stalled mid way through due to a cut to funding.
The Productivity Commission says that a national agreement on mental health and suicide prevention has made little progress towards improving lives.
Commissioner Selwyn Button said the national mental health and suicide prevention agreement contains initiatives that “aren’t connected to each other or to an overarching strategy”. He said:
The consumers, carers and service providers we spoke with told us of ongoing challenges accessing and affording care and of uncoordinated services that do not respond to need.
Issues with the agreement were highlighted by its failure to deliver on a key commitment, Angela Jackson, another commissioner, said:
When the NDIS was introduced, governments withdrew much of the funding for psychosocial supports. This has left 500,000 people living with mental illness without support. Addressing this gap requires exactly the kind of national coordination that the current Agreement has proven unable to provide.
The PC is recommending that the current agreement be extended to 2027 to allow time for the new agreement to be co-designed with consumers, carers and service providers.
In Australia, the crisis support serviceLifelineis 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland,Samaritanscan be contacted on freephone 116 123, or emailjo@samaritans.orgorjo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineon 988, chat on988lifeline.org, ortext HOMEto 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. Other international helplines can be found atbefrienders.org
Former home affairs secretaryMike Pezzulloappeared on 7.30 last night, where he was asked what Australia should be worried about in terms of any potential Iranian retaliation.
He said the home affairs minister,Tony Burke, his secretary and the counter-terrorism coordinator in home affairs would be working overtime with border agencies, investigative agencies and others to ensure that Australia is completely “locked down” and any risk from sleeper cells, sabotage or assassination is “dealt with as best as they can”.
While he warned against sensationalising, he said there was also a risk “dirty bombs” could be constructed. He said:
If any of that enriched uranium at whatever grade of enrichment has been secreted out of those facilities, particularly Fordow … [if that] is made available for the construction of a dirty bomb.
In other words, a radiological dispersal device, that doesn’t explode with nuclear effect but can spread dangerous radiological harm over a wide area, that gives you cancer and you die a slow and painful death – I would be more worried if the regime starts to fracture, and a more militant sub-faction decides we’re not going to accommodate and do something, say, involving a dirty bomb.
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’mMartin Farrerwith the top overnight stories beforeNick Visserpicks up the reins.
Former home affairs bossMike Pezullohas warned about the risk of Iran using a “dirty bomb” against Australia after the Albanese government backed US strikes on its nuclear facilities. Pezullo also told the ABC’s 7.30 that the home affairs minister,Tony Burke, will be “working overtime” to ensure that Australia is completely “locked down”. We have more from Pezullo coming up, and there’s sure to be more reaction after the Iranian retaliation against the US overnight.
It’s a busy day in state politics, with budgets being handed down in NSW, Queensland and the ACT. In NSW, the Minns government will claim that it has stabilised the state’s post-Covid debt, while in Queensland the Crisafulli government is expected to promise that there will be no austerity despite concerns about the state’s finances. More details shortly.