Mr. Owen Collumb:

I am not sure whether this applies directly to the Senator's question, but we see true independent living as the individual managing his or her own service and having the ability to manage the hours. Life is not one-dimensional; it changes from day to day, as the PAS does. When a person has a personalised budget, he or she can change that budget accordingly. He or she can pay for five hours in the morning one day and may not need all the additional time. The budget can be maximised accordingly.

I visited Sweden around 2000 to see its model in operation. It seems to have something similar to the way the AT network is set up. People can bundle hours and store them up for special occasions. They can spend the budget on that occasion if they are going out to socialise, for example. A large number of hours are given to people who just hold on to them because they are afraid they will lose them in certain circumstances, which does not make for an efficient service. It all comes down to money and hours at the end of the day, and we need to maximise those hours to live independently.

Furthermore, people need additional hours to live a full life in the community. Many people get hours just to get them out of bed in the morning and be put back into bed at night. That is not independent living; it is just surviving. It has been sold as independent living because there is a budget or hourly allocation for that. Direct payments are something we have to take on board. We have to get the demonstration projects up and running and test this model as soon as possible.