Extract from NSW Legislative Assembly Hansard and Papers Tuesday, 9 November 2004 (Proof).

ALLAWAH HOUSE

Mr PETER DRAPER (Tamworth) [6.12 p.m.]: Today I draw attention to the pressing need in my electorate of Tamworth for respite services for families of people with physical and mental disabilities. There is currently a desperate need for planned and emergency respite for families and carers in communities across the north-west area, particularly in the centres of Tamworth and Gunnedah. The major provider in the area is Challenge Disability Services, which was established in Tamworth in 1958 and today supplies a wide range of disability services including emergency, overnight and holiday respite to families and carers of over 100 clients with intellectual and physical disabilities. Covering an area including Tamworth, Barraba, Nundle, Gunnedah, Narrabri, Manilla, Quirindi and Werris Creek, Challenge not only provides respite for people linked to its direct services, but for all community members with disabilities. The service caters to many single parent families and families who do not have outside support and who are in dire need of a reprieve from the demands of caring.

People seek respite for many reasons, from attendance at a function through to the basic need of a good night's sleep uninterrupted by the constancy of 24-hour care. A carer I was in contact with recently vividly conveyed her sense of despair as she detailed her life in Werris Creek, 76 kilometres from Tamworth, caring for her 14-year-old grandson who has a genetic disease and needs a high level of support. This wonderful woman is also raising her 13-year-old granddaughter, is caring for her husband who has a heart condition, and is subsequently suffering poor health herself. Besides limited respite accessed through special funding, she is able to access Challenge's respite service just one weekend every three months. The ideal would be one to two weekends per month. As she explained:

Otherwise I've got to grin and bear it, it does get very frustrating, when it all gets too much me I just have to go outside take a deep breath.

This is a situation understood and appreciated in full by those who live it, and I can only imagine how wearing the role of a full-time carer must be. Every day Challenge receives applications for respite services and, unfortunately, management is forced to select the most needy of many worthy applicants. This is because their facilities are inadequate to cope with the high demand. As I mentioned earlier in the case of the Werris Creek client, the lack of a venue designed specifically for people with disabilities means Challenge can only offer respite on a rotational basis for one weekend every three months for each client. Alternatively, there is a private respite service in Tamworth, which recently opened, and another facility in Armidale, which is not practical for families due to the travel involved. Gunnedah does have a day program and, through a bequest, respite is available for one weekend a month, but this is limited due to inadequate staffing levels.

Challenge accommodates clients in respite care from Friday night to Sunday afternoon at a facility called Patterson House, which was built 35 years ago. The difficulty with Patterson House is that it can only accommodate three people for a weekend with an extra bed left open for emergency respite. Bedrooms at present are partitioned only with curtains due to the facility being a temporary stopgap for respite, which is not at all satisfactory for the clients or staff. In my opinion, the bathrooms at Patterson House are well below standard, being in need of renovation, lighting and heating. The women's bathroom was only recently heated with a bar heater, due to the generosity of a community member's donation. The shower recesses are dark, cold and narrow, and there is insufficient room for staff to help high-support clients bathe. Challenge also offers a school holiday program where children spend time at Bullimbal School next door to Patterson House, but this is an onerous arrangement for staff as equipment has to be transported there and back, and children are not able to use the play equipment due to insurance issues.

Challenge would also like to be able to offer after-school care but cannot due to the non-availability of a venue. The good news is that Challenge Disability Services has put a plan in motion to build a new purpose-built respite facility for children anal adults. Named Allawah House—the Aboriginal word for "come in, sit down and rest"—this facility has been costed at about $400,000. The centre will be constructed on a block Challenge already owns right next door to the current facility and Bullimbal School, placing it in an ideal position to provide after-school care for students with disabilities. The plans reveal a homely-looking facility of five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, living room and quiet room, as well as a staff bedroom, ensuite and office. A large cost saving is the fact that the land is secured, while Challenge itself has already raised $100,000 with support from its fundraising arm, Friends of Challenge. Celebrating their 100th year of Rotary, the Combined Rotary Clubs of Tamworth have selected the respite centre as their major fund raising project for their centennial year this year and they aim to raise another $100,000.

Publicity for the project has also received strong support from country music star Adam Brand, local media outlets and the McDonald's restaurant chain's McHappy Time fundraiser. This is truly a community project with its sense of urgency and worthiness clearly motivating organisations such as Rotary to commit support. I believe Allawah House to be a project the Department of Ageing Disability and Home Care should consider supporting financially, given the level of community initiative and financial commitment. Earlier this year Challenge provided respite to a woman whose son spent his first time away from her in 12 years. Allawah House is clearly a project long overdue and it is a project the department would do well to see fit to expedite.