A South Kingsville family has welcomed the Napthine government’s
backdown on plans for a 50 per cent rent rise for people with a
disability in supported accommodation.
Peter Mountford and his wife Georgina said their son, Julian,
would have been $5000 short if forced to spend 75 per cent of his
disability pension on rent.
Representing more than 2000 residents with disabilities at an
initial hearing last week, Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service
was given the green light to begin legal action against the government.
Proceedings were set to start at the Victorian Civil and
Administrative Tribunal on September 13, but the government on Thursday
scrapped the planned fee hike.
The legal action was calling for a reversal of the controversial plan to increase board and lodging fees as of December 1.
Mr Mountford said it was “a terrific victory” in what was probably
“round one” of the fight.
“At the moment, we’re just over the moon
because it’s been a battle and involved us in a lot of angst. We’re just
delighted, from our point of view, from Julian’s point of view and for
all people with a disability who are in shared supported accommodation,
that the government’s been rolled on this.”
Stephen Lennon said his son
Declan would have been almost $6000 in the red after one year, factoring
in costs such as taxi fares from his Altona Meadows home to his
education program.
“This [the backdown] is going to mean that when my wife and I
aren’t there for him he is still going to be able to have a reasonable
life and be able to enjoy things everyone else in the country can
enjoy.”
Petitions that attracted more than 6500 signatures
were to be presented to parliament later this month. A spokesman for
Disability Services Minister Mary Wooldridge said the Department of
Human Services had withdrawn the notice of a fee increase.
“VCAT has indicated that it will expect each resident
to present their circumstances to the tribunal and the Victorian
government is not prepared to put people with disability and their
families through such a litigious process,” he said.
