On Friday 22nd March Youngcare co-hosted the inaugural Get Building SDA conference in partnership with the Summer Foundation.
The Get Building SDA National Conference provided a platform for organisations across the disability sector to hear about opportunities to increase the supply of Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) for NDIS participants.
The Conference united industry, government, investors, developers and participants in a bid to maximise funding and increase access to more – and better – housing options for people with disability .
Keynote speakers on the day were Minister for Families and Social Services Paul Fletcher and CEO for National Disability Insurance Agency Robert De Luca.
Using these conversations as a platform, The Hon Paul Fletcher MP unveiled the Federal Government’s plan to reduce the number of younger people living in aged care facilities.
Under this, the Morrison Government is committing to:
- support those already living in aged care aged under 45 to find alternative, age-appropriate housing and supports by 2022, if this is their goal;
- support those already living in aged care aged under 65 to find alternative, age-appropriate housing and supports by 2025, if this is their goal; and
- halve the number of younger people aged under 65 entering aged care by 2025.
Youngcare CEO Anthony Ryan has welcomed this announcement as a positive step forward for young people with high care needs living in unsuitable housing.
“The Get Building SDA National Conference and launch of the action plan is a step forward to bring independence, choice and dignity to young people with high care needs. They want to be able to choose where they live, which is a right every Australian deserves. The action plan is a huge step forward to make that happen. The aged care system is not a place where young people can thrive, so we welcome this action plan today,” he said.
Youngcare beneficiary and Grant Administrator Todd Winther also commended the release of the SDA action plan.
“Today’s announcement is one of liberation. It gives people with significant physical disabilities power that is so often denied to us. Choosing a place to live allows people to create an identity, and allows us to create an environment that is both comfortable and safe,” he said.
“For people with disabilities, our individual identity has been dictated to us, while our comfort and safety has often been conditional. Today the government is helping to remove those conditions to ensure that we get to decide what is both comfortable and safe — something that everyone deserves.”
Luke Bo’sher, Summer Foundation CEO said “I’ve never felt more confident than I do now that the NDIA has the people, processes and resources to be able to deliver SDA, the mood in the room today reflects that SDA providers feel much more confident in SDA than they have been in a long time.”
For more information on the Minister’s Action Plan, visit http://bit.ly/SDAMediaRelease