Protesters want NSW privatisation plan for home care service dumped

0
63

By state political reporters Nick Dole and Lucy McNally

Hundreds of carers and nurses are rallying outside the New South Wales Parliament, angry about the Government’s plan to privatise services for the elderly and people with disabilities.

Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) currently falls under the NSW Department of Family and Community Services.

But the State Government is set to privatise it within the next 12 months.

ADHC organises a carer to come to the home of an elderly or disabled person to help shower and dress them, as well as clean their homes, to ease the pressure on families.

More than 200 people are rallying outside State Parliament, urging Premier Mike Baird to reverse the decision.

Protester Cayt Weir is a carer from Newcastle.

“This is about saving money, shirking their responsibilities to vulnerable people,” she said.

Ingrid Pickering’s son Michael has a severe intellectual disability, which causes him to lash out at his parents.

“It’s heartbreaking to be frightened of your own child,” Ms Pickering said.

“I had a broken nose and a broken front tooth. (I was) head-butted quite frequently.”

Michael, 30, now lives in a Government-operated home after three private providers said his behaviour was too severe.

Ms Pickering said she believed that when her son’s home was privatised, the new operator would also put her son in the “too hard” basket.

“The Government cannot guarantee that a private provider will be a provider of last resort,” she said.

“I’m very worried that if a private provider takes over my son’s house, they could ask us to bring him back home.”

The family home has several holes in the walls, broken mirrors and damaged doors, which are still being patched up.

Ms Pickering said she and her husband could no longer take the strain of full-time care.

“When he lived at home, there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t consider suicide,” she said.

Ms Pickering has started an online petition, calling on the Government to halt the privatisation of disability services.

Two potential buyers have already expressed interest – health giant BUPA and the detention centre operator Serco.