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Now is not the time for political games

Kevin Stone AM, our CEO, appeared on ABC News last night. He was asked what the biggest concerns for the sector are during coronavirus. Here is what Kevin had to say:

“The biggest concern is the alarm bells are ringing and we are hoping that the right people are hearing, but it just doesn’t seem to be the case.

“The Commonwealth not coming to the party on the rapid response group was unforgivable.

“They must take responsibility. They can’t walk away from this. The numbers may be low still in Victoria at disability homes, but all the signs are there, all the same conditions that prevailed in aged care facilities exist within our group home system with people with disabilities.

“[What we need is] a joint planning committee to actually respond in a collaborative, cooperative way. I am completely over the buckpassing that exists in this system. Now is not the time for political games.

“Aren’t people with disability good enough? Don’t they deserve to be Australians? This idea that they are just Victorians and the Victorian Government should carry it all is just outrageous.”

He added: “You know, people with disability, like the rest of the population, are unique individuals and they all have varying levels of support, but the fact is that around 6,500 people with disability who live in around 800 group homes in this state, they are there because they need support and many of them need support for the various sorts of things that we are talking about here, support for hygiene, support for social distancing.
“They need that support. And their staff, they need support, they need to be recognised for the work that they do.”
Mr Stone concluded: “The numbers are quite low but we have certainly been looking at the experience overseas and people with disability living in these types of situations and group homes have been highly susceptible to this terrible disease and we need to heed those lessons before it’s too late.”

You can watch the full interview here

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