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Department of Human Services, Victoria, Australia
Disability Services
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Priority 1

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The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring that disability supports focus on assisting people with a disability to live in the community and participate in activities of their choice, in ways that are meaningful to them.

This means changing the way that the disability support system operates as a whole. It means developing a framework that enables disability supports to be more flexible, to work with people with a disability as partners, to respond to people's individual needs, and to support them to pursue a lifestyle of choice.

These changes will ensure that disability supports are in a better position to respond to people’s needs at different ages and stages in their lives – such as children, young people and adults who have a disability, parents who have a disability, people with a disability who are ageing, and people's families and carers (including ageing carers).

Disability supports will also be better placed to respond to the needs of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who have a disability, as well as to people with complex communication needs, and people who have complex support needs.

Individualised planning and support

The Government believes that people's individual decision-making about their needs and the choices that they make about their lives, should be the most important considerations when planning with and supporting people with a disability.

The Government will therefore introduce an individualised planning and support framework. This framework will enable disability supports to be tailored to people's individual needs.

Individualised planning and support will enable people with a disability to live in the community and receive the support they need within the ordinary structures of education, health, employment, and community services. It will focus on supporting people with a disability to develop and maintain their informal and formal networks.

This approach recognises the importance of earlier planning and support to achieve the best possible outcomes at all ages and stages of a person's life – as children, young people, adults, and as people with a disability age.

Perhaps most importantly, this approach will put people with a disability at the centre of support delivery, working together with people with a disability and their families as equal partners to enable people to exercise choice in getting the support they need to pursue their own lifestyles.

Having more choice about housing

The Government believes that, as much as possible, people with a disability should be able to choose where they live, with whom and in what type of housing - just like most other members of the Victorian community.

The Government will develop more housing options, so that people with a disability can exercise more choice. This will involve more emphasis on public housing, private rentals, supported accommodation, and support to enable people with a disability to live independently in the community, if they choose to do so.

The Government is also committed to supporting people with a disability to live in settings that are best suited to their individual needs and wishes.

The Government will also continue work to close Kew Residential Services (Kew Cottages), and will develop plans to close other older, large-scale institutions in Victoria.

In closing these institutions, the Government recognises that people with a disability need to be supported when they move to other accommodation settings. This will be achieved by working with the people currently living in these institutions, and their families and carers, as well as with local communities across Victoria.

Strengthening partnerships

The Government will assist disability support providers to work together with their local communities and to build stronger linkages with generic services.

This will enable people with a disability to access a range of different activities in their local communities, together with any supports and services that they may need. This will include building stronger linkages with local governments, a range of local arts, cultural, sport, and leisure organisations, community services provided by the non-government sector and other health and community services funded by the State and Commonwealth Governments.

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Targeting Disability supports

The Victorian Government is committed to maintaining a strong and secure financial base as the foundation for Victoria's long-term economic, social and environmental wellbeing. Therefore, the use of government resources will always need to be considered carefully.

Disability supports will be targeted to people with a disability based on their assessed needs. Disability supports will provide support beyond the services that are generally available in the community, so that people with a disability can live in their local communities. Disability supports will also be targeted to those who are most in need.

What the Government will do

  • Develop stronger links between disability supports and generic services in local communities
  • Introduce an individualised planning and support model that is based on people's needs and the choices that they make about their lives
  • Provide earlier planning and support to people with a disability, paying particular attention to people at different life stages and transition times. This will include children, young people and adults with a disability, as well as people with a disability who are ageing
  • Improve supports for parents, families and carers
  • Provide more housing options for people with a disability, to give people greater choice and enable them to participate in their local communities
  • Continue work to close Kew Residential Services, and develop plans to close other older, large-scale institutions
  • Develop more effective strategies to address the demand for disability support in the future
  • Enhance support for people with a disability from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

What the Government has already achieved

  • Increased funding for disability supports and services by $194.4 million (or 34 per cent) to $766.6 million over the last three years
  • Improved support for more than 350 people with a disability by providing individualised support to enable them to live more independently in the community
  • Provided additional respite breaks for more than 900 people with a disability and their families and carers over the last two years
  • Provided funding of $12.1 million over four years to promote the inclusion of children with special needs in preschool settings;
  • Begun work to close Kew Residential Services and to build new homes for residents
  • Enabled children with a disability aged 5 to 15 years to access continence supports, by providing an additional $2 million over the last two years
  • Increased funding for the Victorian Aids and Equipment Program by $1 million over the last two years to enable people with a disability to live more independently in the community
  • Increased support for people who have an acquired brain injury by improving rehabilitation and case management support through the Slow-to-Recover program.

Demonstrating future progress

  • The proportion of people with an individualised planning and support package will increase
  • Support for families and carers through flexible respite options will improve
  • The number of people with a disability living in institutional settings (of 30 beds or more) will reduce

The number of people with a disability accessing support from flexible community options will increase.

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