Since the AGM, the principal work in this area has related to welfare reform, and specifically Centrelink. NAPWA has attended consultations, mainly to do with new processes that Centrelink will undertake in working with clients, letters they will use, etc. PLWHA NSW participated in a training session at the end of March with NSW Centrelink staffers.

John Rule attended the Centrelink Reference Group in March, it continues to be mainly a one way info flow, more an opportunity for them to tell us what they are doing.

The NAPWA/AFAO Care and Support Taskforce has met twice by teleconference, terms of reference and advice to members about the project have been developed and distributed, and the surveying across the NAPWA and AFAO membership is commencing now.

Pete Canavan has developed invitations for the NAPWA Care and Support Survey Reference group for the HIV Living project, and NAPWA SGM delegates will be given an update of this work to date at the April face to face meeting.

The NAPWA Care and Support Working group held three teleconferences since the AGM. We still need reps from SA, NT and Tasmania to become involved. Our second face to face is scheduled for August 2006.

Graham Douglas-Meyer’s role on the Australian Federation of Disability Organisation’s Board (AFDO) provides valuable opportunities for input, though also sometimes a sense of drowning, as the AFDO covers such a broad scope of work across all aspects of the disability agenda. A copy of the AFDO report will be available in hard copy at the NAPWA SGM..

The NSW Housing Review is nearing completion, but it’s questionable how much value it will provide to other states, given its focus on the specialist HIV accommodation services and better coordination and integration between them, which isn’t really the case elsewhere.

Insurance continues to be a difficult issue to get going. I have discussed with PLWHA (NSW) whether it might be possible to approach the issue in a similar way to Centrelink, first developing a fact sheet to identify and raise issues.

A representative from HALC attended a Forum on the DDA changes recently, and while haven’t received a lot of information to date on how it went, we do know our request re insurance and migration exemptions was rejected by government.

I have approached David Wallace about developing a joint paper for the “Welfare to Work” conference in Brisbane in July 2006.

Thanks to Scott, Peter, John, Michael and Jo for support from the Secretariat, David Menadue, Graham Douglas-Meyer and members of the Care and Support Network.

Rob Lake
Co-Convenor, Care and Support Portfolio
April 2006