Tara Murray
Exhausted local disability carers are calling for big changes to the Brimbank council’s disability action plan.
With consultation for the council’s plan for 2021-2025 opening next week, local carers and advocates are saying more action is needed over the next four years.
Despina Havelas and Sangeeta Sharma both have children with disabilities and have been big advocates in the community for more support.
“We had a discussion group [with council] two years ago before the introduction of NDIS [National Disability Insurance Scheme] and we were asking what is the increased support for carers, we’re not just talking about a voucher,” Ms Havelas said.
“The NDIS focuses on the person with the disability. The NDIS expects the family to do more work, leading to carer exhaustion.
“Brimbank isn’t worried about the health of carers, the exercise and the mental wellbeing. A lot of us are unpaid in this role.”
At a recent council meeting, Ms Havelas asked how many carers the council was supporting. The answer was it is directly supporting 163 carers through the Support for Carers Program, while it provides some support to others through the community connector program and vouchers.
She said that there were a lot more carers in the municipality, many of whom had fallen through the cracks.
Ms Havelas and Ms Sharma are calling for the council to offer more support via carer support workers.
The Brimbank Disability Network Group also shares some of their concerns. Minutes from recent meeting of a group raised a number of concerns including that there could be better connections in council to help people.
Council community wellbeing director Lynley Dumble said the council is committed to supporting people in the community who assist others with daily activities.
“Brimbank provides individual support to these valued members of our community to make their caring responsibilities easier.”
