3 August, 2011
GOVERNMENT BACK DOWN A WIN FOR PARENT POWER
A campaign by families to convince the Government to reinstate the Carer Allowance (child) for parents of children with Type 1 Diabetes has proven successful.
The Government has announced today that parents of children up to the age of 16 with Type 1 Diabetes will automatically receive the Carer Allowance (child).
The campaign was sparked last year when some parents had their Carer Allowance (child) axed when their child reached ten years of age following a change to eligibility assessment.
In July 2010, the Government’s introduced a new assessment tool for carer payments (the Child Disability Assessment Tool), based on the level of care required. Unfortunately, the Government failed to realise that the new Tool would remove eligibility for some carers who still provided significant care.
Amongst those who no longer qualified were a number of parents of children with Type 1 Diabetes.
In response to the campaign, Minister Jenny Macklin commissioned a report into the situation, but parents were left waiting for more than a month for the Minister to make a decision after the report was handed to her.
“After months of waiting and uncertainty, Minister Macklin has finally relented.”
“The Government’s back down is a huge win for parents of children with Type 1 Diabetes,” Senator Mitch Fifield said.
“This about face by the Government is a tribute to the ceaseless dedication of these parents, and is an excellent demonstration of how everyday people can influence government policy.”
“It is a pity that it took this massive campaign for the Government to recognise and rectify a policy error,” Senator Fifield said.
“Nonetheless, I congratulate all the parents who have been involved in this campaign for change, as well as the Leader newspaper group, whose Save the Children articles formed the bedrock of the campaign,” Senator Fifield said.
“This just goes to show that families who refuse to back down on what they believe in are a force to be reckoned with. The Gillard Government should take note.”