22 July 2016
Policy update
As our Policy Team continues to advocate for young people with high care needs we’ve been focusing on influencing housing, health and disability policy throughout the country.
The National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS) was introduced in Queensland from 1 July 2016, which means our home state is now in line with the rest of the country offering a no fault insurance scheme that will cover a person’s lifetime care and support needs if they are catastrophically injured in a car accident. As a member of the NIIS Queensland Stakeholder group, Youngcare will assist in operationalising the scheme which includes developing processes and procedures, identifying solutions to issues, drafting guidelines and reviewing the first six months of operation.
We also lodged a submission to the Queensland Government Department of Housing and Public Works’ consultation paper ‘Working Together for Better Housing’ to promote the benefits of relevant and appropriate supported housing for young people with high care needs and their families.
Figures show that in Queensland there are currently 1,340 young people under the age of 65, living in aged care and hundreds of thousands of young people are being cared for at home by family and friends, often with limited support. As these people mature and the capacity for aging family carers to deliver that care decreases, the risk of being moved into aged care becomes more of a reality.
Our national information and referral service, Youngcare Connect is receiving more and more calls from people in crisis, ageing parents, and families with a young loved one with a new diagnosis or acquired injury, facing little or no prospect of accessing funding through the current State funded disability system. These people are frequently being told that the only option they have is to consider placing their young loved one into aged care.
The volume of unmet supported housing need across Queensland is immense and requires the delivery of an enormous number of well-designed and appropriate new housing products in a very short period of time in order to adequately address the issue.
Youngcare continues to demonstrate the benefits of relevant and appropriate supported housing to young people with high care needs, their families, and ultimately to the Queensland community on a project-by-project basis.
What does suitable supported housing look like:
- Wide range of housing model options to cater for the large variety of preferences and requirements of young people with high care needs
- Integration of supported housing with mainstream housing to ensure increased community engagement and higher quality of life
- Co-location for increased cost efficiency and quality of care support
Youngcare’s Design Philosophy Summary is now on our website. This short report gives an insight into Youngcare’s views and philosophy on housing design for people with high care needs.
To read the full report visit: www.youngcare.com.au/our-work/resources-publications
