Appendix B - Summary of Consultation Activities
Introduction
The Taskforce recommended a public submission process to be held in conjunction with focus groups and targeted consultations.
The target group for the consultation process included:
- the general public;
- parents and other carers of children with severe disability or medical conditions;
- organisations that represent or assist children with severe disability or medical conditions and/or their parents and carers; and
- professionals who provide services to children with severe disability or medical conditions and their representative bodies.
On 25 May 2007 the public submission process commenced. In order to ensure wide coverage, the review and the public consultation process were advertised in around 450 metropolitan, regional, rural, Indigenous and community newspapers across Australia from 26 May 2007.
Information and enquiries
A freecall number and dedicated email address were established to support the work of the review.
A link to the Carer Payment (child) Review webpage was established from the FaCSIA website. The webpage provided information regarding:
- background of the review
- terms of reference
- public submission process
- focus groups
- contact information
- fact sheets
- the discussion paper for the review
- template for submissions to the review.
These played a significant role in disseminating information, booking participants into focus groups and answering general queries. During the consultation phase, between May and August, more than 2,500 hits were recorded on the website, over 600 emails were received and phone calls exceeded 1,000.
Discussion paper and public submission template
A discussion paper was developed and widely distributed to provide an introduction to the review, an overview of the issues and a template for submissions. The discussion paper was disseminated by mail directly to more than 350 stakeholder organisations, distributed at all focus groups, available electronically on FaCSIA’s website, mailed to all members of parliament and distributed to all interested parties who contacted the free-call number or review email address.
In addition, the Chair of the Taskforce wrote to current Carer Payment (child) and Carer Allowance (child) recipients informing them of the review and the opportunity to participate in a focus group, and enclosed the template for submissions and a reply-paid envelope. This proved to be a successful mechanism for getting input directly from carers and resulted in a large number of submissions.
Public submission process
The public submission process was open for eight weeks and closed on 27 July 2007. Submissions sent via post and emailed after the closing date were accepted.
The Taskforce received 4,086 submissions, the majority of which were from individual carers. Organisations provided 23 submissions.
In many cases, the submissions included very personal accounts of families caring for children with a disability or medical condition. All of the submissions were read and analysed carefully, and they informed the Taskforce’s deliberations.
In conjunction with this report, a publication that focuses on the stories of some of the carers and their children who participated in the review has been developed. This is to honour the role of carers and develop understanding of carer circumstances and experiences in the wider community.
Focus groups
The Taskforce convened a series of focus groups around the country which were open to carers, organisations and any interested stakeholders. Participants were asked a series of questions formed from the discussion paper that drew out the issues surrounding Carer Payment (child) in addition to broader carer issues.
An independent consultant, Jenny Pearson of Jenny Pearson and Associates Pty Ltd, was engaged to conduct the focus groups.
Focus groups took place in the following locations:
| Melbourne | 4 held |
| Canberra | 1 held |
| Wagga Wagga | 1 held |
| Brisbane | 3 held |
| Adelaide | 3 held |
| Sydney | 3 held |
| Hobart | 1 held |
| Darwin | 1 held |
| Perth | 2 held |
| Townsville | 1 held |
Focus groups were organised for the following location; however, no participants attended:
- Alice Springs
As some interested participants were unable to attend a focus group, the following telephone interviews and teleconference were conducted:
| Telephone interviews with individual carers | 3 held |
| Teleconference with individual carers | 1 held |
Copies of the discussion paper and fact sheets relating to Carer Payment (child), Carer Allowance (child), Carer Adjustment Payment and the Carer Payment (child) Review, and a template for submissions to the review were made available to all participants at the focus groups.
Targeted consultation
A number of targeted consultations were also conducted to complement the public focus groups. The structure of the targeted consultation was varied to suit the audience.
The following targeted consultations were conducted:
- Indigenous specific—NPY Women’s Council and Disability Advocacy Service, Alice Springs
- Ethnic specific—Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association, Parramatta
- Centrelink Processing Centre, Wagga Wagga
- Staff from Centrelink National Office and FaCSIA National Office—Staff from FaCSIA and Centrelink, Canberra
- Paediatric Focus Group, Sydney
- Occupational Therapist, Sydney.
The following targeted consultations did not proceed due to lack of interest:
- General Practitioners Focus Group, Bundaberg and Melbourne.
The following teleconferences were conducted as targeted consultations:
- Teleconference with the National Disability and Carer Ministerial Advisory Council
- General Practitioner Teleconference, Bundaberg, Queensland.
Staff from FaCSIA were in attendance at all focus group and targeted consultation sessions as observers. Participants were not paid for their involvement. In total, 150 participants attended 19 focus groups and 8 targeted consultations.