Ms Carol Grogan:

I thank the Senator for his questions about the closure of congregated settings. The overview report and the residents' forum report highlight that people living in community settings experience better quality of life. We are supportive of the policy to transition people into the community. As part of that, we require the provider to have a plan. We would never close a centre and leave the residents with nowhere to which to move. As part of the transition to the community, the provider must have a plan and we will then register a new house or houses. In many cases, people in congregated settings will be moving to more than one house. As the Senator knows, a congregated setting includes ten or more people, and when they are moved to the community, they could be moving to an individual house or moving in with three or four friends.

I do not have the information as to where congregated settings have closed and community houses have opened but I can get it and submit it to the committee after the meeting, if that would be agreeable.