West Australian organisations, including one supporting thousands of parents and their children with developmental disabilities, are in jeopardy with a lack of funding likely spelling the end of essential support services across the state.
The state government has stepped in to question why WA organisations have been mostly forgotten in the recent federal ILC Individual Capacity Building round through the Department of Social Services.
Square Peg Round Whole WA branch coordinator Symone Wheatley-Hey at the WA Parliament.Credit: Holly Thompson
Developmental Disability WA emailed its more than 5000 members on Wednesday afternoon, stating it had just lost most of its funding, with many services set to end on June 30 unless immediate funding came in from another source.
The service both directly supports and advocates for families with children living with developmental disabilities, including conditions impacting their ability to attend school – also known as school refusal.
The growing problem has been a highly debated topic over recent years, and was subject to a parliamentary inquiry.
“This will include our education advocacy service, which supports distressed families of children with disabilities in navigating the school system,” they wrote.
“People with developmental disabilities and their families in WA have been forgotten.”
Organisation chief-executive Mary Butterworth said collectively WA had only received around $5 million of the $90 million allocated over three years.
In a letter she plans to send to federal NDIS minister Bill Shorten and federal Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth, she wrote that she would have expected funds that were proportionate to the state’s population and possibly more, given the high cost of regional service provision.
Heidi Brandis, a parent who has used the services provided by Developmental Disability WA, said it had been life-changing for her and her family.
“To be given hope amidst all this enormous stress and chaos, school can’t/school refusal, behaviours of distress in our children, the hundreds upon hundreds of emails, endless school meetings and medical and therapy appointments; it is truly life-changing,” she wrote in her letter to ministers.
“I cannot bear to think of the impact on thousands of WA families and the subsequent and significant impact on the WA mental health system, already breaking under the strain, if families were to lose any further support and services.”
Advocacy group Square Peg Round Whole WA branch coordinator Symone Wheatley-Hey said she referred at least five people per week to the education advocacy program and had used it herself.
She said it was the only impartial service of its kind in the state, and it would leave a “massive gap” when it became unavailable.
“Without it, more families will experience school refusal and more will place their children in homeschooling,” she said.
“I am placing my children back in the school system next year as there has been some really positive changes in the education space, but I am worried about this decision with this service gone.”
A state government spokeswoman said it was extremely disappointing that WA organisations did not appear to have a fair share of the federal funding.
“It’s also disappointing to hear this news through communication from unsuccessful applicants and reports in the media. The state is yet to receive formal advice from the federal government,” she said.
“The Minister for Disability Services will be writing to the commonwealth to request further details and the state government hopes to be able to work with them to achieve a better outcome for Western Australians with disability.
“In the meantime, the Department of Communities is undertaking an urgent analysis of the successful and unsuccessful recipients in the latest ILC grant round, to assess what impact that will have on the sector in WA.”
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