Investing in positive futures - response to the Carter Report
During the next four years the Queensland Government will invest additional funding of $113 million to implement a reform package to meet the needs of people with a disability who exhibit severely challenging behaviours.
Disability Services Minister Warren Pitt says the four-year funding includes an allocation for a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence to lead new practice in positive behaviour support - bringing together local and international expertise in this area.
"We will also design and construct purpose-built accommodation to provide the right environments to support positive behaviour change," Mr Pitt says.
As part of this funding, Disability Services Queensland will employ an additional 188 frontline staff in teams across the state to provide direct support to adults with intellectual or cognitive disability and challenging behaviours.
These innovations are expected to significantly benefit individuals, their families and the community and have been developed based on the advice provided by the Honourable WJ Carter QC, whose report Challenging Behaviour and Disability: A Targeted Response was released in May this year.
The report has 24 recommendations for promoting quality of life for people with a disability who exhibit severely challenging behaviours. One high- need area that presents ongoing challenges is trying to improve the capacity of adults within this client group who are at risk of harming themselves or others.
In addition, Mr Carter provided recommendations for early intervention and prevention for the client group from early childhood to adulthood; guidelines for accommodation and facilities; advice for staffing, implementation and legislation; and recommendations for dual diagnosis.
As Mr Carter noted in his report, "Service delivery needs to be driven by innovative thinking, best practice, critical analysis and the drive for continual improvement", and this is how the department intends to proceed.
Read the full account of Disability Services Queensland's response to the Carter Report.
Last updated July 2008