Report on proceedings

Report on proceedings

Report on proceedings

Report on proceedings

The 1700 day framework: Pathways to NDIS housing readiness for Moonee Valley

On 27th October 2014, the City of Moonee Valley held a community forum The future of housing for people with a disability.

The forum was the beginning of a conversation between specialists and the Moonee Valley disability and housing communities.

The conversation focused on possible transition pathways for the National Disability Insurance Scheme eligible clients and the benefits that might flow in the local community and economy as a result.

This report summarises the outcomes of the forum and projects a time limited way forward to ensure Council, residents and services in the Moonee Valley community are NDIS ready.

The audio file of the conversation can be downloaded and listened to at

Table of ContentsWhat could be achieved in 1700 days?5Who we heard from6What we heard8Tony Ball9Michael Deschepper12Joseph Connellan13Dennis Hogan19Gavin Dovey28Marija Groen,23Pauline Williams28Michael Lennon36Questions asked and solutions offered40The 1700 Day framework52

What could be achieved in 1700 days?

For years now, younger people with disability have had limited housing choice.

If sufficiently disabled, eligible and a vacancy exists, people with a disability have been offered group housing.

Residents In group housing have had little choice about the location of their housing, or who they lived with. The settings have looked relatively institutional.

Others have, perhaps inappropriately, been housed in Special Residential Services (SRSs), in rooming houses, or even nursing homes.

For years parents and carers of people with a disability have spoken of their frustration about a lack of appropriate, supported, accessible and adaptable housing choice for their children as they become adults and seek independence.

1700 days is enough time to change planning policies, amend planning schemes, build partnerships with commercial and community sector housing providers and even to build housing for people with a disability.

All that is missing is the collection of information facilitating this process, and the collective will to just do it.

Who we heard from

Facilitator

Michael Deschepper, Acting CEO, Wintringham,.

Wintringham is an organization based in Moonee Valley.

Wintringhams brief is to provide housing and support for people who are elderly and disadvantaged.

SpeakersJoseph Connellan Social Policy Consultant

Joseph is a social planning consultant who provides strategic development and governance advice to the housing and disability sectors. He has 25 years of experience having held both Board and CEO positions. Joseph consults to the not-for-profit and government sectors.

Dennis Hogan Victorian Building Authority and Liveable Housing Australia

Dennis is the Executive Regulatory Advisor at the Victorian Building Authority. Dennis ha a depth of experience in the building industry from working on building sites as a young lad in Mildura, coming to Melbourne and working on local government building control for 19 years. Since 2011 Deniss has been employed by the Victorian Building Commission which is now the Victorian Building Authority.

Panel Members

Marija Groen, Chairperson, Women with Disabilities Victoria

Marija is the chair of WDV, she has over 25 years of experience in working in the not-for-profit sector in housing, homelessness, family violence, refugees, newly arrived migrants and people with disabilities. She has also worked with Boards, on consumer involvement and on a range of Government and Ministerial Advisory Committees.

Gavin Dovey, Valley Carers

Gavin is from an organization called Valley Carers. Gavin is a sole parent with a daughter diagnosed with a mental illness. Valley Carers was established by like-minded parents whose sons and daughters suffer from a disability. Their aim is to advocate for their children in the area of future supported accommodation, work opportunities and general acceptance of them in the wider community.

Pauline Williams, AMIDA

Pauline is a disability advocate at Action for more Independence and Dignity in Accommodation (AMIDA). Pauline has been employed by that organization for 20 years. Her primary role is all about advocacy, both individual and self advocacy support for people with a disability.

Michael Lennon, Housing Choices Australia

MIcheal is the Managing Director of Housing Choices Australia. He has over 25 years international experience in housing planning and urban development. He was the CEO of Glasgow Housing Association when they undertook the largest housing transfer in Europe. He has been the CEO of Housing New Zealand Corporation. Since 2008 he joined Housing Choices Australia until 2012 and has just returned to that position.

What we heard

Tony BallDirector Community Services, City of Moonee Valley

Welcome everyone and thank you for attendance here today.

On behalf of Moonee Valley City Council, I respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, their spirits, ancestors, elders and community members past and present.

Moonee Valley is proud of its diverse community and acknowledges the contributions that all people make to this vibrant and inclusive municipality.

I would also like to acknowledge:

Todays facilitator Michael Deschepper

Our speaker Joseph Connellan and Dennis Hogan, and

Our panelists Gavin Dovey, Marija Groen, Michael Lennon and Pauline Williams

Council is proud to host this community forum between specialists and the Moonee Valley, disability and housing communities. Today we are here to discuss the future of housing for people with disability in Moonee Valley.

Todays conversation will focus on possible transition pathways for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) eligible clients. It will also provide insight into current NDIS and the State (DHS Office of Housing) negotiations including on future pathways for the redevelopment of and transfer of housing stock to the community housing sector for people with a disability.

There will be two keynote speakers including Joseph Connellan, a Social Policy Consultant, and Dennis Hogan from the Victorian Building Authority, and Liveable Housing Australia. There will also be diverse panel of experts joining our speakers to engage in discussion and answer any questions from the floor.

Todays forum is an action which comes under Theme 3 of Councils recently endorsed Disability Action Plan. That theme is Creating accessible places and spaces.

Through our Disability Action Plan, we have made a strong commitment to ensuring the voices of community members with a disability, their careers and families are heard.

Todays forum also precedes the development of Councils Housing Strategy. Feedback from this forum will be included as part of the consultation feeding into the development of the new Housing Strategy.

I hope you find todays forum a valuable and insightful one, and encourage you to ask as many questions as you like.

Everyone has the right to safe, accessible and adaptable housing. Council wants to ensure that all members of our community are able to live with dignity, and where possible, independently, with support where required.

Session Overview

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Michael DeschepperActing CEO, Wintringham

Wintringham are an organization based in Moonee Valley. Our brief is to provide housing and support for people who are elderly and disadvantaged. Its a privilege for us to be here today as facilitator of the event.

The future of housing for people with a disability is a topic that is very broad. If we have the time this afternoon we can have a far reaching discussion. It is also very important that we retain a local context. What do we as a community see as important? What are the local challenges and opportunities?

Some of the elements around this topic are national in nature especially introduction of the NDIA and the operating trial schemes that are currently operating and that it will be gearing up in the years to come. It has the ability to be a game changer, but will it? No doubt from the speakers this afternoon and from the panel discussion we will definitely get some opinion on this.

We cant forget that providing housing solutions for people with a disability is a local issue. It is one that is lived by personal experiences by many people every day. They include local men and women, girls and boys, who present with a disability, their families, friends formal and informal support arrangements and networks that provide care and support every day. We have some members of the panel who can provide that lived experience and it would be really good to get their opinions as well.

Todays forum has been organized by Moonee Valley City Council. This is a step in their path of delivery of their Disability Action Plan, launched in 2014 as a ten year plan. As part of this Plan Council plans to make a strong commitment to providing leadership to the delivery of accessible and adaptable housing options. Council are here and are here to listen. It is important we get your opinions, questions, concerns and ideas.

When I look at Moonee Valley and the statistics for housing Moonee Valley at face value looks healthy. When you count up the stock from DHS and community housing there are 4000 properties available, only surpassed by the Cities of Port Phillip, Yarra and Geelong in Victoria.

However when you drill down, of that stock, only 116 of 4000 units are managed or owned by community housing organisations. This places Moonee Valley in 28th position across the State for community housing stock. The question has to be asked, from a community housing perspective we think we can provide solutions..

So:

Why is there so little social housing in Moonee Valley?

What can council do to facilitate additional community housing in Moonee Valley?

Joseph Connellan Social Policy ConsultantIts good to be back in this part of the world.

One of the things I have done over in the past few years is chaired Doutta Galla Community Health as it went into the process of amalgamation to emerge as CoHealth. Part of the driver for amalgamation was to create an agency that could provide leadership around community health into the new world of the NDIS.

Most of my work has been in housing and disability. Ive worked for about 25 years as an advocate and policy maker. I was CEO of Headway Victoria which supports people with an acquired brain injury and DHS in housing and disability. But in the last ten years I have begun to lose my hearing, so I have gone from an advocate, to policy maker to consumer which gives me a very different perspective.

What Im going to talk to you about today is my interpretation of where the world is going. I spend my time in my office in Abbotsford Convent writing, thinking and planning ahead. I tend to sit in the future. I provide strategic advice. I work for a couple of housing agencies. I work for people like Michael Lennon, CEO of Housing Choices Australia who you will talk to you a bit later. What you will hear from me is a strategic view.

I want to talk to you about what the NDIS is. It is so big in some ways I struggle to understand it and to explain it but Ill go through that in some detail. Ill talk to you about its role in housing Ill talk to you about where Victorians live and how these two things intersect.

NDIS & Scale

Let us talk about the NDIS. In some ways people are very comfortable with it. Everybody says we have its going well, an insurance scheme weve fixed the problem with disability, lets move onto something else.

But when you unpack it to understand exactly what it really is, I struggle like most people to comprehend what it really means. So Ive broken it down into some very simple numbers.

At scale, by 2019 at the end of the roll out, the NDIS will be:

providing direct services to 1:50 people in Australia, which is absolutely remarkable.

spending the equivalent of about $900 per head, not per head of people with a disability but per head of all Australians.

These are extraordinary amounts of money which makes it one of the biggest corporate entities in Australia.

The NDIS changes how we look at disability.

It changes how we look at disability. Rather than a rationed system the NDIS looks at whole of life and introduces consumer choice for the first time for the first time in disability.

Anyone of these changes would be quite profound. But what we are rolling a number of them up together. What we are doing is creating a national market, and moving away from having a number of smaller agencies, not for profits providing local services, to the capacity to have a national response having agencies with the potential for everybody to potentially operate everywhere.

So let me just go back over some of those changes. Under the NDIS we are moving away from:

a charitable response to a commercial response where we hear the language of market and consumer and purchaser which is very different

government managed catchments moving away from services at a local level to a national market, national players coming in and in some cases international providers. This represents a national opportunity of more than $100b dollars which puts it on all sorts of peoples agenda

It seems very strange to be in the room explaining this today. The best advice I can give you is that Nothing will change in one year but everything will change in five.

The changing face of delivery

We already see the migration of government staff. Most of the people working in the various government disability businesses (DHS in Victoria) will leave and go into the providers or the NDIA. We will disability providers develop new functions. We will see the emergence of marketing people in disability services which we havent seen before. We will see the reframing, the re-organisation of the not-for-profit sector. I expect most not-for-profits to cease in their current form within about six or seven years as this reform bites.

This is a profound change. The problem with public policy is that everyone who gets up and talks about the reform says exactly those things. The reason I believe this to be the case with the NDIS is that NDIA has funding agreements in place. It has signed seven year funding agreements between it and its funders, which are the State and the Commonwealth. In Victoria the state provides 54% of the NDIS. It has 7 year funding agreements signed. It has the money. It is on a pathway, we are just not quite sure where we are up to and where it will take us.

How far are we along the journey?

It is also worth taking a step back and thinking about people with a disability generally in Victoria as we often confuse the terms and think about people getting disability services as the only ones. But in reality there is about 1 million people in Victoria who have a disability. Most of them are over 65. Of those about 100,000 will get services out of the NDIS. About 70,000 will lesser needs who will get some sorts of services out of other places. NDIS represents a chunk but not every person with a disability.

I was trying to think about what it means and where we are up to, and in part this was my frustration, in having some conversations with people around the NDIS, and they werent concerned about some of this things Im concerned about. I went back and thought about where we are up to. And the reality is what the we have about 2 % of the plans done for the NDIS and only about half of them have consumer input. So we are at the very beginning of a journey.

So in some ways the focus of the agency itself, the NDIA, is almost simply getting the doors open and getting the plans done which is why they are not in a place to have the housing conversation yet. This is why there are not having enough of these conversations going on yet.

So to give you some absolute numbers today we will be 486 days into the scheme, 610 days before full, almost 2 years before full coverage and 1700 days from having full access to the scheme in every part of our State. We 1700 days might seem like a long time but from a housing point of view if we are organized and know what we are doing it takes us 1000 days when to put a property on the ground and get it open. Thats is to go through planning, funding, financing and establishment process. So from a housing point of view the clock is running down now.

Where do people with Disabilities live?

The next question is where do people with disabilities live? There is this classic diagram used in disabilities with the highest number at the top of the pyramid representing the people with the highest needs. (See Slide 6)

More and more people have lesser levels of need. So if you think about housing, this diagram represents 100,000 people who will be eligible under the NDIS. About:

1,000 of them will live in a secure facility, highly specialized

6,000 live in community residential units or group homes

3,000 live in private boarding houses

15,000 live in public / Office of Housing accommodation

5,000 live in community housing.

About 65,000 of 100,000 live in private housing market

And this is where it gets interesting for me anyway 65,000 housing or more will be in the private market, renting, living at home, or owning in their own private space. So housing for people with a disability even for those funded by the NDIS, is not about social or private housing, it is very much about a mixture of responses.

Housing and support nexus

What the NDIS has done has changed the language. In all of my working life in advocating for housing for people with a disabilities it has always been about support. We never had enough supports we used to talk about accommodation and combining the two.

What the NDIS does is break the nexus between housing + support apart and says at some point in the future, whether its 600 days, or 1000 days away, there will be enough support.

So suddenly for the first time we are looking at a demand for housing we have never seen before which in some ways explains why ware not very good at working or what we are doing as it is something we have never seen before.

This is extraordinarily hopeful and absolutely remarkable that we get to see this. Generally there will be opportunities happening at all sorts of levels there will be extraordinary diversity of opportunity but there will be confusion and misdirection, all those things will happen.

What we have to do is have these conversations, understand what we want and build this new system.

A National System

The other thing is important for me is that is NDIS a national system. Im sure there are some advantages but Im not sure what they are.

Im very Victorian in that sense. We lead a lot of social policy development in Victoria, and we have the NDIA headquartered in Victoria. We need to drive some of the developments down here and not allow the other States to influence them into practices we may have left behind years ago. So we have the expertise and capacity, it is about having the focus.

In Assessing Opportunities

In all of this I was trying to classify what we have got because we have had this extraordinary diversity.

What I wanted to do is leave you with a list to think about when people talk about new projects. The first one that I ask about a project

Who is it for? It could be people in this community with a disability, it could be autism, it could be autism +. We need to be clear about who is it for?

What is the tenure not how long they stay but how secure they feel in housing which is quite different. What we know about tenure is people stay on average 7 years. Its not about length of time but how secure people feel.

How specialized is the stock We will hear from Liveable Housing Australia about the forms of disability specialisation

Aggregation how many people live in a unit and how many people in one site. My own experience at the end of de-institutionalisation left me with a horror of aggregation but I have seen other projects which are very successful and aggregated

How much does it cost and who funds it? If it is government there is some sort of control

So today is a start of an extraordinary journey, an exciting journey. It is about questions and connections, its a new beginning and I hope it is one you enjoy.

Thank you.

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Dennis HoganExecutive Regulatory Advisor, Victorian Building Authority and Board Member Liveable Housing Australia

Thanks for the opportunity to talk to you today. My talk will be a bit different from the previous speaker. I work for the building regulator in Victoria and have for some time. Up until this Friday I will be a Board member of Liveable Housing Australia.

I am going to talk to you about how I would like Council to deal with, and the sort of policy Council might introduce to influence how buildings are built, and in particular how accommodation is designed and built for people with a disability. What sorts of things do we need in those buildings as a minimum, now and into the future as our needs change?

I dont want to talk about building regulations. But it is fair to say our building regulations do not deal with that the provision of access or facilities for people with a disability in single dwellings. Individual units in multi-story apartment buildings are not dealt with by building regulations nor are they built to a form where dwellings provide access to, within, around and inside the unit. Units in multi-story developments are not built in a form so as you can change them into the future. We dont have regulations around building our dwellings to be accessible.

Regulatory Change & Liveable Housing Australia

In Victoria In 2010 / 2011 the government of the day proposed regulations which would improve accessibility. The regulations were developed and put out for comment but they never actually got approved.

In the background there was an ongoing dialogue between people from across the country about what to do about our dwellings so that we can have better access to them. This dialogue became Liveable Housing Australia.

The dialogue was about how to deliver liveable housing, how to encourage people to build homes, get the developers and designers on board, to build demand and for people to demand this is what I want in my dwelling, When I build my home and I move in these are the features I require in my home. If you build demand, if people keep asking for these liveable design features, then thats what developers will have to build. LHA was commissioned from there.

What is a liveable housing design?

Liveable design is an approach to building our homes to ensure that our homes are:

easy to enter and easy to get into

easy to move around once you enter, and

easier and more cost effective to adapt later.

Cost is a key aspect. It is about good design and allowing for adaptation into the future. If you design for adaptability now, build now, and plan now for adaptation later it will cost you 22 times less to adapt an LHA guideline designed home than if you converted an older dwelling built, for instance one built in the 1970s or 1980s,. Adaptable of older housing stock would be far more expensive and really tough and difficult to do.

Adaptability is about meeting our changing needs, and about good design. Its about getting our designers developers, and builders to think about the design of our buildings over our lives and the life of the building, not just for today but into the future.

I can hear all those people saying But Dennis, its about affordability, how can we afford it? but if we design for adaptability in the first place, its far cheaper to develop and have the facilities and then adapt later, than if we dont.

At Liveable Housing we have a guideline which gives you sixteen liveable housing design elements of which there are seven core features.

On application to LHA you can achieve a quality mark, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels. If everyone built to one of these levels we would be in a better place. The 7 core features are:

Floor plan Qualities

1. Step free pathways to the front door

2. Level entry, no steps

3. Internal movement wider passageways and doors (820mm clear)

4. Toilet at ground level (Visitable with min size, key points of AS1428 but more affordable)

5. Hobless shower (Level entry)

6. Reinforcing in walls for grab rails later (measurements & positioning)

7. Handrail on stairs at least one side, (also in Australian Building Code)

Design is the key, to ensure the construction of homes that are adaptable. It makes common sense to plan to meet the needs for future generations with changing circumstances.

Policy Implications for Council

Ideally I would love to see Council:

have a strategic policy that applicants for Class 1 & 2 dwellings and all social housing has LHA silver quality mark so that we achieve a basic level of accessibility

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Marija GroenChairperson, Women with a Disability (WDV)

Welcome everyone. It is great to see such a big audience out there and with a real passion and interest in housing and disability housing.

Ive prepared a few slides. Im not going to bore you with all of them we will just flick through the content quickly. Im sure you can read them, and for those that cant ill just summarise them.

Im currently chairperson of Women with a Disability Victoria which is a statewide organization, our aim is to empower women with a disability and that is in any aspects of their lives; that might be education or employment or housing or addressing social needs. Ive been a member of the Board for the last 4 years and what is very evident is the need specifically for housing for women with a disability that meets their needs.

Taking a gender Lens to Housing design

That is an acknowledgement that women with a disability do have different needs to other people with a disability. What is happened in housing developments over the last few years is that the recognition of what we call a gender lens, or lens or focus on particular needs of the individual has been lost at the cost of building greater quantities of housing.

Im not going to spell out what these specific needs for women with disabilities. Im sure most of you know them as being women with disabilities yourselves, or being carers or supporters of women with disabilities,

There is lots of evidence that shows that housing is of key importance to the safety and security of housing for people with a disability. WDV recently released a wonderful report on the family violence experience of women with a disability in Victoria. And what cam e out is if you are a women with a disability in Victoria you are four times more likely to experience family violence. That is not a good statistic. It is something we want to work towards eradicating.

What is of most importance to us at WDV, housing is like it is for everyone else. Women with disabilities dont need specialist housing, We just need housing that is about choice and flexibility, it is about security, affordability and appropriateness. Most of us that are happily living in the homes we want to live in have all of that. Our position is why cant women with a disability have that too?

Buildings and Environments that disable

Dennis has summarised the brilliance of what we call universal design. The seven elements he has described are basic elements that all Australia should be implementing to ensure inclusion for all Victorians.

Our experience at WDV is that the physical environment often alienates people with a disability. Where you might try to participate in work often the steps to the entry of the building might make it much far more difficult, or make you lose confidence in applying for positions or in continuing in the work you are involved in, if you lose your work it alienates and isolates you even more. Ive given a small example of how an environment might discriminate against you

Personally, and as a member of WDV, we believe in the social model of disability, where it is society that disables people, and it not people having individual disabilities.

It is the structural environment the:

buildings

footpaths

roadways

public transport systems

as well as peoples attitudes and cultural values towards disability

These need to change and develop for better inclusion.

Universal design regulation

I wont go on about universal design as Dennis covered most of it except that I disagree a little bit. I was one of the naysayers on the 2002 Building Codes reviews. We are not convinced that market forces are going to make the changes. What we are after is that government regulate as they had to with the five star standards to ensure people built housing that met environmental sustainability standards. We think that accessible housing should be the same. We agree there is nothing better than Denniss lovely housing ideals we think it should be regulated and not just left to market forces. It is our experience that people on low incomes which are most people with a disability are the ones with the least choice when it comes to adapting and making a housing accessible.

Participation in the design process

I will go a little deeper in my passion for social housing need and the design of building and the environment. I know that there are very many architects and urban designers and planners that have a real passion about inclusion and universal design and accessibility but I dont think there is much meeting of the parties, between people with a disability or organisations that represent them and those design elements. We would consider there needs to be something in the NDIS about sharing the vision and knowledge and skills between those sectors.

People with a disability are often left out of the design process. Councils could easily have many mechanism that could easily include people with a disability to improve access and design.

Tenancy Reform

Joseph showed us earlier that many people with a disability that are struggling out in the private housing market. This is the only housing option available to them because of the long wait list in social and public housing and other group housing options that have not met their needs.

Because of the structure of tenancy laws that we have in Victoria at the moment, WDV believe they are quite discriminatory, it is time for Victoria to get modern. This is something that Councils and all of you out there could consider in the forthcoming election. What are election candidates position on tenancy reform?

What Ive put some things up there could bit radical in some terms. But if we dont start thinking outside the box we will just get stuck with the same old tenancy law that we currently have.

Group Housing

To touch on something Joseph touched on before at WDV we say no more group homes and cluster housing to be built. That is built without consultation with people with a disability because sometimes it does suit people with a disability, as it does suit or people who are ageing or younger students or people that want to live in closer neighbourhoods. It should be an option a choice but not simply the only option.

Housing evidence and data

I think there is a distinct lack of real evidence and data about what people with a disability really want and what their needs are and what their housing aspirations are. I think it is often been assumed rather than researched. I would hope the NDIS can go a bit deeper in those research areas to produce a more realistic and closer pictures for people with a disability and their housing requirements.

In summary

It is all about choice. That is what it is. Thats what housing and a home is for all of us out there and thats what it is about for people with a disability.

I would think that Moonee Valley Council is a progressive local government area. It has shown its commitment to social justice in many ways. I would hope that in furthering from events like today that they bite the bullet and start acting on the Disability Action Plan.

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Gavin DoveyValley Carers

First I must apologise about my voice. It has gone after a week of tending to special olympics matters. It was a fantastic week I must admit. Everybody enjoyed themselves immensely although it was difficult.

Im a member of Valley Carers, I am here as a representative of Valley Carers. It is a support group made up of parents and carers who are trying to get things happening for our children because we aint going to live forever. There is a mortality rate and we are need to put things into place for our kids which will allow them survive and live a normal existence.

Valley Carers

The group started in 2006/2007. We had our inaugural Meeting in 2007. We have had various people come and speak to us. Bill Shorten has been to speak to us at least twice and various other people and groups from around Melbourne have also come to speak to us. We were incorporated in 2010. We have developed a brochure to hand out to people and we have some cards for anyone interested in taking one today

I guess we have been pretty lucky. I think its fair to say we have been well supported by Moonee Valley Council. Moonee Valley Council does a lot of things for our kids. There are opportunities to go to an end of term disco for our kids. They run functions for our kids. They provide, in my case, some support during the week, they come to our homes and take our kids out. It is fair to say that for many of the members of our group, our kids live at home.

We have run various things over this period of time. In 2011/12 on the International Day for People with a Disability we had an information stall at Moonee Ponds Central as part of the MVCC celebrations on the day.

A number of people have been involved in researching what is available out in the general public for our kids by way of accommodation. We have visited the following organizations seeking guidance:

Haven in South Yarra

Hastings model down on the Frankston Peninsula

There is Diago, a Canadian model in Ontario. There are various other projects around Victoria

We have written letters to politicians. We have written to as many people as we can think of to get something off the ground.

In 2012 we sent out a survey to all our members to see what they wanted. This was quite successful. But unfortunately there are not enough people who have given some thought to the matter.

Investing in our childrens futures

We have many conversations with organisations that are running housing facilities around the state. Unfortunately the biggest problem we have is finding sufficient funding. I think the parents could probably support and provide finances for the building of the facilities but, particularly in Moonee Valley area, it is very difficult to get that initial investment to buy a block of land which could be used to establish such a facility . We are probably looking at more $1m just to purchase the land!

Expertise

We draw on a lot of people around the place.

There is a number of organisations who help support and provide help for our kids once they move into facilities, if they are lucky enough. We have spoken to a lot of organisations, if we provide the infrastructure could they provide ongoing support for our kids.

Weve got to be realistic. Most of our young adults can survive and do certain aspects of normal everyday living. They certainly cant do everything that is required. They will need support when they get into accommodation. There is plenty of support out there but not the money to start the building process.

Housing Options

We have looked at a number of options. We have looked at cluster living where you have a number of single bedroom units, perhaps with a kitchenette, a community lounge and community kitchen facilities, etc.

Weve looked at individual housing. But once again not one situation fits of all of our children. A number of our children might fit in one, a number of our children might prefer individual accommodation but we think our children would be far better off with a community type facility.The benefit of Collaboration

One of our biggest problems is we are a very small organization. It can be very taxing on people trying to work their way through these very difficult issues. You can go around in circles and come back to where you started from and have made no progress at all.

Fortunately most of our children are employed. So that is one less thing to worry about. But if that need arose we would have to look at it again and take it under our wing and work through providing that sort of help.

As I indicated already we have a problem with a diversity of views but we are trying to work our way through that now so that we get some common ground as to what might suit most of our children.

Local Housing

Our vision of affordable housing - the skys the limit. But I guess covering some of those things we require, like everyone else, we need to know our kids are safe.

We also need housing to be local in general as our kids have local jobs. It doesnt make a lot of sense to build in somewhere like Craigieburn when all out kids live and work in this area. They would find it difficult to get to work. If they cant work that would breakdown some of their networks this would cause more problems than it is worth.

Our kids do various things during the day, they could be at school doing courses, they could be employed, in paid employment, they could be doing volunteer work. We need to build into whatever we can get, features that suit their personal and individual requirements.

Mobility.

We need to have mobility as we are not sure who in the end will use our facility. We are not saying if we manage to get a facility it is going to be there for one type of person with a disability. It will be open for whoever might be able to get into it. It will need to have various aspects of mobility built into it.

Involving stakeholders

The stakeholders are key participants.

We have approached a few builders and developers around the local area. When we hear of vacant blocks of land which might be up for sale, we try to contact these people to see if they might be interested in building a facility that we can use. At this stage not a lot has happened.

In summary

We are here helping our kids in every aspect they require. We are focusing at the moment on accommodation and housing. Our biggest drawback is the lack of funding to establish and purchase a block to establish a facility.

Thanks very much for the invitation to speak.

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Pauline WilliamsPolicy and Advocacy Officer, AMIDA

Thank you for having me here today.

At AMIDA we aim to advocate for a number of things:

A wider range of appropriate housing option for people with a disability in the community. People have talked today about the lack of options and choice. Choice is really important. The Human Rights Convention for Persons with a Disability, which Australia is a signatory to, says that all people should have a choice about where they live and who they live. But predominantly the funded accommodation for people with a disability here is group housing, and none of the people who live in that housing have a choice about who they lived with and often not where they live as well.

We also advocate for:

an increase in affordable and accessible housing generally

tenancy rights in all forms of housing, and in particular at the moment in the supported residential services (SRSs). SRSs are privately run for profit rooming houses for people with a disability, and in that the tenure of housing, there is actually no individual tenancy rights. They are regulated by the State Government to a certain minimum standard but there are often lots and lots of deficits and problems in that form of housing. Unfortunately thats the sort of housing you get when the market decides where you are going to live.

So we advocate for a better form of housing and support for people, where they are respected, where they have dignity and where there is fairness. These are is the types of aims and goals that AMIDA has. Our advocacy is about peoples rights being recognised in:

law

policy, and

action.

We provide individual, self-advocacy, family advocacy and systemic advocacy. The systemic advocacy we find is really essential as we really cant solve the problems one issue at a time. Indeed most the problems we find have a systemic basis. It is really important that we get regulations in place, laws and policies in place, or we cant resolve the individual problems, Although we do go into bat quite often to try and try and get the compensation started around fairness and giving people a fair go.

But I think todays topic is a really good example of this, that if, as we said earlier, if we build to begin with to ensure properties are accessible, or can be made accessible its a lot cheaper, so if the regulations was in place so if we did that and systemic change as a community we could actually be saving money. These are the sorts of examples for why systemic advocacy is important.

AMIDAs interest in accessible housing

And why we are interested in particular around this issue?

If we look at some of the numbers:

4,200 people are currently on the DHS waiting list, the Disability Support Register, and those are people who are waiting for accommodation and support in group homes. So it is no wonder, going from at that, that if you are finding it difficult you arent the only ones in that position

Those 4,200 people are the ones with needs for immediate need, so if you dont have immediate need DHS doesnt put you on their waiting list. We know the number is a lot bigger than that.

There are 35,000 people on the public housing waiting list and we know that public housing has been in decline. The Victorian Council of Social Services have said that in 1996 and 2008 the Australian public housing sector diminished from about 4.1% to about 3.7% of our total housing stock. If we compare ourselves to other countries, for instance Canada has about 6% of total housing is public, New Zealand 7%, France 17%, United Kingdom 20%. Our big sector is private rental. We have 22% private rental and unfortunately not very much of accessible private rental. IN fact I would defy anyone to find me an accessible private rental. I have people constantly calling me asking where can they go to find a place that is accessible and in fact there is no central point that registers that sort of stock.

We know there is about 20,000- 30,000 with a disability, with the NDIS coming in who will need housing. That is people who will receive NDIS who will receive the support but dont get the housing.

The community housing waiting list is a big unknown. We just dont know. That information is not publicly available but we assume that they have people ringing them all the time too, and that there is a huge demand that is untapped in that sector as well.

And as we said minimal accessible private rental. In fact that would be a fantastic reform, if we have in place that landlords had to agree to people making modifications.

At this point in time, a landlord doesnt even have to agree to you paying for your self-modifications in their property. They can say no. So it is a big area where systemic reform is needed to provide the door to be open to more accessible housing, even where people can pay, and with the NDIS coming in I guess people may well have the money but they may be renting privately and landlords may simply refuse modify stock or allow stock to be modified.

Thats I guess why at AMIDA we think this is a really important area. We do believe there is a need for regulation and we would agree that if accessible housing was something the State had chosen to go ahead with regulating it would have been much much better and today, five or six years later we might have found ourselves in a very different position. However it is never too late.

Opportunities for Moonee Valley

Taking the Sliver Star Challenge

We could, and Moonee Valley certainly could, take up the challenge and encourage Council to get the silver star on every new house that is developed. I guess we are saying what opportunities are there are the moment.

an aspirational Target & Redeveloping stock

We could for instance encourage a percentage of affordable and accessible stock in developments. There is an example I could give you, for instance the Boyd building which Melbourne City Council is developing.

That building which is in South Melbourne. Council is developing it as a community hub. So there will be whole lot of activities there. There are social activities, there are community activities, shopping etc, retail but also within it there are 42 affordable units and 17 of those are accessible.

This is something that Council initiated. They also bought the Munroe building near Victoria Market and are planning to do something similar there. They may well not own the building once it is done, they may put a caveat on it and just sell it on. It is the sort of things Councils do do.

Moreland Council has a target of 20% affordable housing, again, with the housing strategy being developed here, it might be something that Council wants to adopt, a target which says it is something we are actually going to try to achieve.

Adopt proactive policies about stock retention

But also adopt a policy that with any redevelopment of public housing in Moonee Valley that it should be that there is always an increase in the available affordable housing and an increase in the available accessible housing.

In some other areas, Carlton is one I can think of, where there was a public/private redevelopment of public housing estate, and the net result wasnt any increase at all. In fact there was a net decrease in public housing on that site. So if Council adopts a policy where any redevelopment that goes on, for instance on the Ascot Vales Estate, should have as its starting point that there must be an increase in affordable and accessible housing on that site rather than a sell off to the private sector. Those are the sorts of things that Council could advocate for as well.

Rates Discount for Silver Star Ratings

Im not sure whether this is possible, but just thinking outside the box, is it possible to have a rate discount for a property that is accessible. I dont know? I know that you work out rates based on the value of the property but perhaps it could be a reverse value as if it was accessible and it would be more valuable because it is accessible, and you would get a discount.

But those are the sorts of things I guess, regulation is possible but if we had a few carrots to dangle as well to encourage developers whether they are not for profit developers or private developers to have a go at bringing in more accessible housing.

Lobby

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And finally I guess what Council could do, like AMIDA and other lobby groups is lobby both State and Federal Government that they need to continue to fund social housing and to set regulations in place to plan for our future so we can all continue to live in this community.

Thank you

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Michael LennonCEO, Housing Choices Australia

Thank you Michael and good afternoon everyone.

Firstly I would like to commend the Council for having the forum today. This is a hugely important time in the provision of housing for people with disabilities and I think that the more active debate we have the better for everyone including NDIA.

In the short time I have available I thought I would give you some of the examples of recent projects we have done and thereby trying to convey some of the philosophy of the organization.

We are a general housing provider, like Michael, like Wintringham, and in the same way Wintringham has a very specific emphasis on older and ageing vulnerable people, we have a specific interest in catering for people with disabilities. We try to do so in ways in which disability accommodation is integrated within a whole range of other accommodation types, whether they be buildings or streets or neighbourhoods. Hence we tend to be a general provider with a Very particular commitment.

So I thought I would just show you some very quick examples to illustrate the concept.

This is a building called the Drill Hall in the city opposite the Victoria Markets. The base of this building is a heritage listed marching hall from the 1930s. What occurred was the Council allowed us to develop on top of that building on the basis that we firstly upgraded the heritage building to heritage standards so that building is now a community facility for a whole range of people. Part of it has been used over the past three years by Doutta Galla health service and there is also a multicultural hub on the ground floor.

This is a fabulous location: next to the markets, next to the university, trams in every direction out the front and around a third of apartments are made available for people with a disability on a rental basis.

What is interesting with this is large numbers of people who occupy this building were previously either totally dependent on their families or in a number of cases were in congregate settings where they were getting supervised care. So yet again demonstrating I guess the ongoing maxim that people have untested levels of independent capacity if given the opportunity.

We also, in this building, have quite remarkable stories about relationships between a variety of people living there, so we have high levels of informal support and are being provided by people who are just good neighbours. In other language we might talk about social capital but here it is just about people getting on together and living and working together well.

Our second building is in Daylesford. In regional areas and this was an initiative of a council, in this circumstance, offering up land on a competitive basis to organisations which were prepared to build accommodation for people with disabilities. There are six units on this site, right near the centre of town and dealing with people in a variety of circumstances.

Not all Councils have the resources or at any time can provide land especially in the inner city but airspace in a sense in the inner city fullfills the same requirement as land is around a third of total project costs.

The next one we opened a few weeks ago. This in Marshalltown Road at Williamstown. What is interesting about this building is it provides twenty four hour care for some people within it. There are four independent units for people and three with twenty dour hour care and support.

The comments of all the neighbours, the neighbours on either side and across the road, all made the observation at the opening that the building had in fact improved the street and improved property values.

So the planning dilemmas which Councils often faced and uninformed commentary when buildings are being put forward can certainly be overcome attention to good quality design and finish. So that is just a sample of the kinds of projects which can be worked through with local authorities looking to lead, and guide and support their community.

I thought I might just finish by making some commentary on some of the themes which are emanating from the NDIS NDIA debate. Clearly we are all waiting for the housing paper which was to have been release earlier in the year, but with Josephs help here, this gives you a set of themes which are emerging from the contemporary debate.

The first of those is really that the NDIA sees itself as a catalyst for scalable affordable housing. Scalable in the sense that underneath the ambition of NDIA must be the intention to expand the supply of stock for people with disabilities. That is it is not enough to rehouse or give new priority. We actually have to be about producing an increase in supply in a method that allows supply to be rolled out at scale, given to scale given the size of the problem, and it has to be affordable, given the users.

The supply problem is not confined to people with disabilities. It is across a large number of segments especially the more than 25% of the income curve in Australia. And certainly any measures that did not increase supply I think would disappoint everybody.

Secoundly people with disabilities having the same opportunities and responsibilities as the rest of the community is an important principle in all of the speeches and documents that have been put out so far. So people with disabilities are leaving home at the same age as their peers which is now around 25 years old. If they can participate in the housing market whether in private rental, properly regulated, or home ownership surely they should and housing so much as possible should be integrated and as far as possible seek to avoid concentrations.

The third theme coming forward is about funding for housing augmenting not replacing existing funding obligations. Weve been through a process in recent years where the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement has been replaced with a new agreement with the States. Under the old arrangement the States where required to match the $1.2b provided by the Commonwealth. There is now no matching arrangement and weve seen the housing effort fall in almost every state. It would therefore be a great disappointment if the new money that is available or housing was seen to allow some form of substitution of effort.

The fourth theme is about promoting independence, we are looking for housing which provides a foundation for quality of life. Technology, design standards, urban design, the use of technology used inside the building should all be used to promote independence for residents.

Partnerships with participants, families, carers and other sectors are essential. The NDIA will not own housing stock in its own right and wont be borrowing funds but they will use funds that they provide in order to leverage others to contribute into the space. In our own organisation we provide for example a shared equity scheme where families as well as providers can share the cost of providing.

Sixthly control and choice. Housing choice is named because of the importance, as other panelists have stressed. The importance power and control over where they live, how they live and what circumstances and crucially who they live with, which sounds every time I think about it such a basic breach of human individual rights.

And lastly is this intriguing concept of an insurance approach that the housing which is provided through investment, will over time repay the cost of capital. That is by these interventions we will be able to calculate and demonstrate that that investment has produced a set of quantifiable outcomes.

So Michael, some suggested themes which will useful in guiding our effort, but all of which are dependent on new funding, so we await the explanations of that in the forthcoming year.

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Questions asked & solutions offered

We need lots more of a discussion about the NDIA and the impact.

At a grass roots level, we need to know how we access it what sort of challenges are there going to be?

Joseph Connellan

Questions & Answers

Michael Deschepper, Moderator: This afternoon you have all been very patient, you have listened to a number of thought provoking discussions. It is probably now time to open up the meeting to the floor and any questions you may have to the panel members.

Berndt Bartl, Audience Member: As I listen to the two main speakers and panelists my heart sank more and more and more. In Joseph Connellans presentation he made it clear that two thirds of people who were going to get support from the NDIA are going to require housing which is not specialist housing, so private rental housing which has not been specially modified and 100% of people which require NDIS scheme support will be wanting to visit their friends and family and go to other peoples houses for meetings and book clubs and so on. And then my heart sank further

We know that I think Pauline and others alluded to this if we didnt know already, that the vast majority of housing stock is, to varying degrees, inaccessible. And then my heart sank when I heard Dennis Hogan say that he want going to bore us with building regulations. Well building regulations have made a vast difference in shopping centres, with public spaces, public places they have made no difference in relation to housing.

I was on a committee which met at Dennis Hogans workplace, what was then the Building Commission which started back in 2001 to discuss accessible and visitable housing. As Dennis explained regulations were ready to go in 2010 and four years or more later they still have not been put in place. So my question is, there is a huge demand, there seems to be very little action to actually get access for people with disabilities in houses. When and how are things going to start changing for the better?

Joseph Connellan, Panelist: Thanks for that. A bit like you I have been hanging around this space for a long time. But I am optimistic and not because I think there will be a groundswell of goodwill amongst developers and builders, or a great deal of activity by regulators, but I think the thing that has changed for me is the impact of the NDIS,. Simply that it has the scale of funds that it has, it has an interest in the numbers of people with a disability that it has, and it has the stated intent in being a major player around standards. So I dont think anybody arguing it shouldnt be done, We have an opportunity to re-engage in the battle again, so I am optimistic of starting the battle again.

Dennis Hogan, Panelist: From a building regulation point of view, we have our state regulations, which as you have quite rightly said Berndt, we had proposed back in 2010. Of course we are at the whim of the government of the day with policy around providing access to dwellings, and whether the government wants to go down that track and develop regulations for Victoria, or not.

The other opportunity is through the National Building Code of Australia, or the National Construction Code as it is now known, which is developed in Canberra by the Australian Buildings Codes Board. Again, it is a demand thing as well, and they need to consider a whole range of different things.

I know from Liveable Housing Australias perspective, if the Australian Buildings Codes Board took up the mantle for what LHA is doing, LHA could shut up shop, job done, once we got it into the Building Code right across the country wed be home, Liveable Housing Australia wouldnt need to exist,. But that is a long way off unfortunately. At this stage it is not a policy of the Commonwealth or of COAG. Certainly at this point, as has just been said, we need to make that fight along the way to try and get them to seriously consider it.

As a community housing organization we think we can provide housing solutions.

Why is there so little social housing in Moonee Valley?

What can council do to facilitate community housing in Moonee Valley?

Michael Deschepper

Marija Groen, Panelist: Id just like to respond to that too. It is a battle and it is one well worth entering into. We have left it to market forces and nothing has changed, except I might say at the top end. I think we need to recognize this thing about the market forces argument and that is that people with a disability are probably the ones least likely to be able to afford a new build. At the greatest capacity they might be buying older run down properties that they are hoping to upgrade. So the market is never going to reflect the real need of people with disabilities.

But its a little bit more than reflecting the needs of people with disabilities. It is actually more than its a societal change that I would be suggesting. And that is that we all acknowledge as you are referring to Berndt that we all like being able to access a shopping centre that we know is accessible for people with prams, elderly people, people with disabilities so what is wrong with making all their homes that accessible as well.

Im sorry Berndt that it is taking so long. Im as sorry as you.

Catherine van Wilgenburg, President Valley Carers: Youve heard from our member Gavin Dovey about all our efforts for developing a housing project. We would like be part of a working group as a result of this meeting to develop a site of multi-age, multi-abilities in partnership with Council , parents, Housing Choices or other agencies, young adults and carers in Melbournes West. Lets make it happen in two or three years.

Todays forum has been organized by Moonee Valley City Council.

This is a step in their path of delivery of their Disability Action Plan, launched in 2014 as a ten year plan.

As part of this Plan Council plans to make a strong commitment to providing leadership to the delivery of accessible and adaptable housing options.

Michael Deschepper

Michael Deschepper, Moderator: On that point the Council is hear to listen, they have their 10 year strategy document, what Council do have, they have the ability to organise forums like we have today. So from Councils perspective, if they could continue the push, of bringing people together, of bringing partners together, that has to be a good sign.

Tony Kyne, Valley Carers: Im the father of a 28 year old daughter who has an intellectual disability. I have a comment and a question:

The comment is that, from my perspective, 80% of all of todays discussion has been in the context of physical disability. There has been a lot of discussion about the person with a disability making choices, managing themselves. People with intellectual disability struggle with even making the right choices of clothes to wear, let alone choosing housing etc. This attitude dominates all support for a person with disability.

Look at transport at all intersections we have ramped gutters for those with physically disability, tactile tiles for the visually impaired, beeping signals for the hearing impaired.

Where are the 24/7 helpers for the people with intellectual disability to make sure they make the correct decision on when and where to cross. And, at railway stations, where are the assistants for myki, and to make sure a person with an intellectual disability gets the correct train in the correct direction?

And as for the proposed housing standard we heard about today, where is the provision for a room to be designed and built so that it can be set aside for a live-in carer, for either one person with an intellectual disability, or a group of people with intellectual disability, and has the DHS standards for group homes?

And my question is to Joseph Connellan you speak positively of the ending of the not for profit in the provision of services under the NDIA.

Where has the privatisation of servicers proved to be beneficial over government or not for profit provision of services? It has not worked in electricity or gas or water or trams or trains or even rented housing under negative gearing?

Joseph Connellan, Panelist: It is fair enough, in my mind the precedent around the NDIS is the TAC and its major injuries division, which is used as that insurance model so it is, I suppose, privatised in a way. That has produced quite good outcomes. I dont think generally it is as efficient, it costs more, But I suspect it is more effective, over the whole of life we get better outcomes at a better cost.

The thing about NDIS is the market nature is at its premise and we have already committed to it. So we can debate about it but the reality is it is going to define disability services for the next two decades.

Michael Lennon, Panelist: I take your point about the priority for people with intellectual disability, I wanted to make the point that when we talk about housing for people with a disabilities there is a broad spectrum.

In all of the developments that I showed you before, the third one, for example was mostly for people with autism. In the Drill Hall example more than a third of the people living there have an intellectual disabilities. I take your point that people with an intellectual disability are not given a sufficiently big profile. Hopefully NDIS is intended to fund a spectrum of needs.

Pauline Williams, Panelist: If I could just add one more thing. The figures that I was quoting with the 4,200 people on the waiting list with DHS. That is predominantly a waiting list with an intellectual disability waiting for housing and support.

Taking the point that Joseph made, what NDIS will bring in is the support side of that. But what is disconcerting is that the State Government seems to be wanting to use the NDIA as an opportunity to have a bit of a walk sideways and step away from the responsibility for building the accommodation part of that, which to date they have actually taken the responsibility of funding.

So there is a real need to keep advocating really strongly for State Government to not to walk away from responsibility for housing funding and Federal as well.

The NDIS is really just about support, predominantly. It is not about the housing, it is not going to provide group homes for people. It is an opportunity to keep talking about it, but certainly we have to keep fight for housing as well.

Marija Groen, Panelist: The issue of segregating people with disabilities into specific disabilities can get quite dangerous really if we start competing about ones groups needs against another.

I think all the panelist are in agreement that it is about the choice and range of housing. I take your point and interpret it as previously there hasnt been a really good range in housing. In public housing and social housing providers are really good a building two bedroom and one bedroom units and apartment blocks which is great. It is a certain type of housing that suits certain types of people. But we need a range, sometimes it is for large families that need four bedrooms because one of their children has a disability. Sometimes it is group housing

The point is the voices of people with disabilities, and their carers and families, they need to be heard. I think Council here is a great opportunity to get those voices up.

Maybe developing a Moonee Valley disability housing working group as part of your Disability Reference Group or part of your plan would be a really easy first step.

I think it could be done. I think your voice is really important.

The issue of segregating people with disabilities into specific disabilities can get quite dangerous really if we start competing about ones groups needs against another.

I think all the panelist are in agreement that it is about the choice and range of housing. I take your point and interpret it as previously there hasnt been a really good range in housing.

Marija Groen

Michael Deschepper, Moderator: Gavin, you mentioned that you receive support from Moonee Valley Council now. With the introduction of the NDIA, what do you expect from Moonee Valley Council in the transition? Do you expect this support to continue?

Gavin Dovey, Panelist: The advice we have so far is that Council hasnt seen the provision of housing as its responsibility. That is my summary of Moonee Valley Councils position. It is probably fair to say most Councils look at it that way. It hasnt been one of their functions. It has been State Government, Federal Government.

I guess its from ground floor up with the City of Moonee Valley. I think everyone needs to get their heads together and work together within this area.

I think one of the failings of the disability sector in general is that there are so many people out there doing exactly the same thing, there is lots of money that goes down the gurgler in administering these same things they all offer and who gets anything out of it, no one. That is one of my fears with the NDIA, that so much of the money will get swallowed up by administration costs, as happens now, and we will get zilch and most of our kids will still need to be supported at home and when support at home dries up what happens next.

As I said, Im not going to live past 2050. What happens to my daughter then? It is not an expectation of mine that some distant relative along the family chain should be forced to look after my daughter because there is no one else there to help her.

She and all the kids I came across in Special Olympics last week, they all deserve to have a normal life just like normal kids do, whatever normal means. They need to be provided with facilities in which they can live an active life, where they can participate in the community.

And my personal feelings at the moment is all the money will disappear in administration costs and our kids wont get what they require.

We also need housing to be local in general as our kids have local jobs. It doesnt make a lot of sense to build in somewhere like Craigieburn when all out kids live and work in this area. They would find it difficult to get to work. If they cant work that would breakdown some of their networks.

Gavin Dovey

Michael Deschepper, Moderator: Dennis, a question for you. Weve heard a lot of the importance of built form, quality built for, adaptable built form. There is a carrot and a stick. It appears the carrot isnt working, the stick is required How should local groups advocate and who should they advocate to try and change government policy?

Dennis Hogan Panelist: Youre right. Certainly our building regulations deal with the built form so they dont deal with a lot of things we have been talking about today, about how you manage housing, and who does the caring etc. It is about the built form.

Obviously government policy creates new regulations. The government of the day will make policy about a whole range of different things, whether that then creates building regulations, they certainly look at different ways it can be done.

When they first started the dialogue way back in 2009 the idea then was if you are not going to put it into regulation, lets go down the voluntary path and see how that goes. If we dont get traction on that then we might look at how we regulate for it. I think we are getting close to that point now, nationally not just Victoria. Liveable Housing Australia are dealing nationally generally. The governments of the day..,

David Brandt, Audience Member: Interjected questioning whether voluntary compliance was a resounding failure and whether there were any targets for new builds to be accessible?

Dennis Hogan Panelist: Obviously we would prefer to be a lot better off than we are at the present time. The awareness campaign that we are running at the moment, we are getting our website is up and running. We have a whole lot of new sponsors including big developers, for instance Grocon are on board and supporting the program.

But I would agree with you sir we are certainly not where we would like to be and unfortunately it has been baby steps along the way, and we are getting people to support us along the way.

David Brandt, Audience Member: Liveable Housing set targets to influence outcomes including that 25% of new builds are accessible by the end of 2013. However the actual outcome was less than 1%.

Dennis Hogan Panelist: I cant disagree with you about the percentages. You are quite right about the percentages. Thats where we are at the moment. Thats fact.

Michael Deschepper, Moderator: Dennis, who do you recommend that groups advocate to? Is it local members, is it the Planning Minister, is it all of the above.

Dennis Hogan Panelist: I think it is all of the above. Certainly local members and the Planning Minister certainly, the person that looks at building and planning controls.

Marija Groen, Panelist: Could I add also to that. People, grass roots people, have a voices to in the planning that is happening in their streets and in their neighbourhoods where Council will put up a sign or people will be letter dropped about any developments. You can ask for an assurance that those buildings will be of a silver star rating. Although I agree, Liveable Housing Association has not been as successful as it would have liked in achieving its number of targets, which was the number of houses made accessible, it has been very effective in articulating what is a really great base standard for access for everyone. Their website has got all that information in a really great format and it is no big deal for you to push that to developers and developments that are in your street and demand that this is what should be happening.

Audience member: I have a daughter who is 37. I have gone to many, many meetings over all her life. And I dont feel, in relation to her housing needs, that I have made any progress.

And all this advocating, the local politicians, the council, organisations that you think could come up with some answers, there arent any. No one can is interested n providing housing for people with intellectual disabilities. I am trying to come up with a solution which is a share house. It costs thousands, Im told by my local member it costs $480,000 to run a CRU with four residents. Where would I find, and three other families, where would we find that sort of money?

And no matter where I can never find an answer. I hear a lot of talking, both from built form, from developers, but I dont think anybody is there really thinking how am I going to help families who are ageing parents, when they are no longer around.

I have friends in their 80s. I dont want to be in my 88, like Im 68 now, and still looking after my daughter. But no one is listening. The politicians arent interested.

Myself and Carolyn Vimpani, we advocate, we go to many meetings, we come out of those meetings disillusioned. I dont believe the politicians actually care. There has been no policy announcements in the area. I know there is only 33 days to the elections. No policy announcements, no finding for increased respite in my area, no funding for any more CRUs to be built, so you tell me, as the baby boomers like me and my husband who kept our children home, there will be a spike in the request for assistance for housing that will be unmanageable. It is not manageable now, so it is not going to be manageable when we all go to the grave. I dont think it is fair to think that an 80 year old should still be looking after their child with special needs. And there are plenty around.

Michael Lennon, Panel Member. I just wanted to say I dont have your life experience. I dont have a child with a disability and therefore the frustration that you faced.

I have built a lot of disability accommodation in the last few years. I think the most difficult thing for people like Michael from Wintringham and myself is that there has never been a funding model that enables us to provide supply. It is always about scratching this from here, and that from there, borrowing some money and maybe getting some money from a Council. It has been a whole series of one off ventures, all of which have been very good in themselves but none of them has provided us with a systemic response. My hope is that NDIS for the first time ever presents an opportunity for a stable funding stream for people like your daughter.

I do think it is immensely important at this time to keep the pressure on everyone to carry through the promises they have made about bringing this scheme into effect.

Both major political parties have said they support the scheme and will see it through budget but we are still waiting, If indeed the funding is confirmed, Josephs point that it takes a while to crank up supply is true, but for the first time ever we will have stable funding to plan the supply over a period of time. I hope that occurs.

Audience member: I too am a mother of a young son who is now 19. I am working with a group of parents. There is five of us. All the young adults want to live together. We are having a lot of trouble getting some housing. All five of them have different levels of disability.

We have been up to Yong Care in Queensland who happen to have a very good model. They told me they came down to Victoria and the Victorian Government are not interested in supporting their model, and their model is fantastic, we have been up to have a look.

Weve talked to the Department of Human Services and they said that if there is 100 people in the area they might build a CRU for a group of children probably 5 or 6 people maximum. Well that is just scratching the surface.

I am really very concerned, as all of us are. We have done absolutely everything, like this women here has as well. We are the younger group and we are really working on it as we are watching parents like yourself who are getting a bit older. If they are not getting anywhere we have no hope. Any suggestions?

Joseph Connellan, Panelist: I am sitting here thinking Im incredible optimistic about the NDIS. In some ways what we need to do is deliver something of substance, a promise, which is some years off.

We dont know how the funding model will work around housing and the NDIS. But the reason I am optimistic is simply the quantum of funds. The amount of money that is there. That we have doubled the amount of money to people with disabilities. Now that will take until 2019 to roll out which is a long time. I understand that.

The only thing I can say to you as someone who has been around this space for 25 years, this is the most optimistic Ive been that we can achieve real change. This doesnt help you today but the only other thing I can say is to encourage you on your journey to discover what the good models are and to advocate for them and be part of broader networks.

We cant forget that providing housing solutions for people with a disability is a local issue.

It is one that is lived by personal experiences by many people every day.

Michael Deschepper

Gavin Dovey, Panelist: Could I just perhaps put in a plug for Valley Carers. I think for five people to do anything, forget it, You might just as well sit on the chair and watch the grass grow, whereas if everybody pulls together - it is possible to get the politicians to actually listen to you.

Politicians make decisions based on whether they are going to get elected at the next election. Five people approaching a politician, and as good as Bill Shorten is, Ive got a lot of respect for Bill Shorten, but as he said when he came and spoke to us at a meeting, he is not going to do the work. Fair comment. A rational comment, he cant do the work. Whereas if there are 160,000 people across Victoria there is a much better chance to get something done with that sort of voice than if there are five in Moonee Valley, six Sunshine etcetera. They are not going to listen

So the only way I think to get anything done is everyone has got to pull in the same direction and become a voice. If you dont want to become a voice put up with what we have got.

Because at the moment the NDIS does sound great. But what makes me a little bit frustrated about it is no-one knows how it is going to work. No-one can tell us yes we have got 100,000 units. Yes we can support 200,000 kids. No-one knows. Until we know, we are no better off than we are now. It doesnt matter how many billions they throw at us we are no better off until we know.

These are the two options as I see it - Weve got to find out what NDIS is really going to offer our kids and everyone has got to work together.

Michael Deschepper, Moderator: Gavin, thank you for those statements. Its probably a good way to draw a conclusion to todays event. When I hear the voices from the floor there is a huge vested interest in change. There is potential for a period of great change with the NDIA however advocacy, advocacy, advocacy, voice, voice, voice is what is required.

It is being tenacious and not giving up. Some of the stories that we have heard today, there is potential for change but it wont be done just by the folk that are here (on the panel) It is actually everyone on the floor who have a vested interest who can make that change.

Thank you for coming. Thank you for being a part of this today.

Council have recorded this event so it is going to be available through their social media and the website. Dont forget to keep pressure on Council Leverage off Council where possible, where they can help you use that resource. Leverage off agencies be they support agencies or housing agencies where possible.

Keep up the good work.

Thank you to the speakers and panel members.

The 1700 Day framework

Moonee Valley recognizes the important role the provision of appropriate housing plays in underpinning the wellbeing of residents. Our Disability Action Plan, 2014-2023 Moonee Valley addresses housing issues for people with a disability.

For many people with a disability, accessible or adaptable housing provides the most dignified and appropriate housing option. Accessible or adaptable housing enables affordable independent living and allows for support where required. The qualities of accessible and adaptable housing are defined in Australian Standards, Adaptable Housing, AS 4299 1995.

Supported housing is generally configured as small group homes in suburban streets with a level of care provided on site and provided by the State Government or by registered disability service providers. Only five of 93 group homes in the western region of Melbourne are located in the relatively better appointed and more accessible City of Moonee Valley.

Supported housing is appropriate where the housing and care provided is affordable and consistent with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006.

Rights in supported housing are to:

high quality health outcomes and personal care

home-like environment

freedom from abuse, neglect and violence

safety

activities provided

(Office of the Public Advocate 2013)

Although standards offering dignified and integrated housing for people with a disability have been agreed to for the past 30 years, only a limited range of public and private housing stock in Moonee Valley currently meet this standard. As a result, people with a disability are effectively excluded from making Moonee Valley a location of choice.

In Moonee Valleys Disability Action Plan, 2014-2023 Moonee Valley Council has committed to:

3.1.1 Develop a strategic approach to the inclusion of the Adaptable Housing Standard (AS 4299) into the Moonee Valley Planning Scheme

3.1.2 Continue to advocate for funding for a respite care facility and service within Moonee Valley, to support people with a disability, their families and carers, to maintain ongoing and long-term care in a home like environment

3.1.3 Partner with the Department of Human Services, disability service providers and social and affordable housing providers to develop a strategy for the timely delivery of accommodation options

3.1.4 Partner with the Office of Housing and local social and affordable housing providers to develop an Accessible Housing Register

3.1.5 Explore opportunities to partner with developers and social housing providers to expand affordable and accessible housing within Moonee Valley

What is a Framework?

A framework is a:

broad overview, outline, or skeleton of interlinked items which supports a particular approach to a specific objective, and serves as

guide that can be modified as required by adding or deleting items.

skeletal structure designed to support or enclose something.

frame or structure composed of parts fitted and joined together.

This framework has been designed to provide \ additional guidance as to:

the steps Council will take

the opportunities for participation, and

the timeframes in which we expect the actions already outlined in the Disability Action Plan to be undertaken in.

Moonee Valley Community Forum

Draft community forum summary released to participants with audio

MVCC participation in Affordable Housing forum with Community Housing federation and Planning Institute of Australia

October 14November 14December 14

Advertising and establishment of a Disability Reference Group Housing Sub-Committee

Review of Council Reference Groups Purpose and Structures

January 15February1 15March 15

Participation in consultation on the MVCC Housing Strategy

Finalise This Draft

Draft an Agenda for 1700 days of Action

Report on Agenda for 1700 days of Action to Council for endorsement

Publish Disability Reference Group Housing Sub-Committees work plan developed from Agenda for 1700 days of Action for 2015/6

April 15May 15June 15

Annual report on Progress

Annual report on Progress

Annual report on Progress

Annual report on Progress

Annual report on Progress

Annual report on Progress

Annual report on Progress

Annual report on Progress

June 16June 17June 18 June 19June 20June 21June 22June 23

1700 Days

A special thanks to participants:

Jon Adams, Metro Access, Manningham

Kelly Armstrong, Metro Access, Port Phillip

Tony Ball, Director, Community Services, Moonee Valley

Colin Bartlett

Helen Berry, Moonee Valley Carers

Henry Berry, Moonee Valley Carers

Berndt Bartl

Bert Boere

Belinda Boerkamp

Carmel Boyce, Aged and Disability Services, Moonee Valley

Jan Black, Municipal Association of Victoria

Zoe Cresborn

Mike Collins, City of Moreland

Joseph Connellan, Director, MC Two Pty, Ltd

Ross Coverdale

Blake Denton

Michael Deschepper, Acting CEO, Wintringham

Gavin Dovey

Janet Dowling

Karyn Down, Creative Counselling

David Drew

Judy Drew

Vincenza Fazzalori

Joan Gains

Rebecca Gardner, Community Planning, Moonee Valley

Clem Gillings, General Manager, Nillimbik Shire

Vivianna Gerbiz

David Glazebrook

Tracy Grist, Starthmore Childrens Centre, Moonee Valley

Marija Groen, Chair Women with Disabilities, Victoria

Paul Guiton

Leo Healey

Robyn Hillier, Homeshare Coordinator, Care Connect

Dianne Holbery

Ken Holmes

Ian Holowko

Carolyn Hunter, Secretary, Mixed Nuts Media Inc.

Dennis Hogan, Executive Regulatory Advisor, Victorian Building Authority

Christos Iliopoulos

Chris Ioannou

Soula Ioannou

Clive Jackson, Planning Institute of Australia, Social Planning Group

Mary Ann Jackson, Architect, Visionary Design Development

Stewart Johnson, Accessible Homes

Tony Johnson

Jim Karabinis, Manager Aged and Disability Services, Moonee Valley