CP Australia Conference 2007
Held 24-25 May 2007.
Jupiters Casino,
Gold Coast, Queensland.
Download presentations.
Stay in touch with news and events influencing people with cerebral palsy and the disability service sector in Australia.
The Cost of Cerebral Palsy
On 6 August 2008, Access Economics released a report on the cost of cerebral palsy in Australia. Launched by the Hon Bill Shorten, MP, the report found that, in 2007, the financial cost of cerebral palsy (CP) in Australia was $1.47 billion or 0.14% of GDP. When the value of lost wellbeing (disability and premature death) was added, the cost rose a further $2.4 billion.
Find out more....
Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement
CP Australia commends the Senate Committee report 'Funding and Operation of the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement' issued on 8 February 2007. The Senate Committee was representative of all sides of politics and has issued this report on an unanimous basis; significant because the report's recommendations are wide ranging and far-reaching. In particular, CP Australia commends those recommendations that support:
- Significant increased funding for services, in particular, accommodation support;
- A clear outline of jurisdictional areas of responsibility to avoid cost shifting and the 'blame game' between Governments;
- Improved indexation levels to reflect the cost pressures associated with delivering disability services;
- The development of a higher level of National Disability Strategy; and
- Support for specialist disability services.
CP Australia made a detailed written submission and appeared before the Senate Inquiry in October 2007. The issues raised in CP Australia's submission are discussed in chapter 4.88 - 4.92.
Read the full report Funding and Operation of the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement available on the Australian Parliamentary website.
Therapy & Equipment Needs
In an Australian first, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has issued a groundbreaking study into the therapy and equipment needs of Australians with cerebral palsy (CP).
There are over 33,000 people in Australia with CP or similar disabilities and the cost of meeting therapy and equipment needs of these much deserving Australians has been estimated to be as high as $59.2m.
“People with CP and their families see therapy and equipment as crucial in reducing the impact of disability thus improving the lives and health of infants, children and adults with CP”, said John Knowles, President of CP Australia.
"The Federal and State Governments across Australia must respond to this critical unmet need.
“A perfect opportunity exists to do this as the Federal and State Governments are sitting down now to renegotiate the Commonwealth State and Territory Disability Agreement. Without increased Government funding and support the future well-being of people with CP will continue to be jeopardised and the social cost to our community will only increase.
“The time for Government to act is now”.
Media release from CP Australia
Media release from AIHW
Full report on the AIHW website
Background and methodology
CP Register CP Australia is actively supporting the 2006 recruitment drive for the national CP Register. The register is a confidential database of information about people with cerebral palsy. Data from the register will support high quality research and inform the planning of services for people with cerebral palsy across Australia.
CP Australia is calling for all people with CP to record their details on the register. Families, clinicians and other service providers can play an important role to support this initiative. With a complete national dataset, Australia could play an leading role in determining some of the causal pathways to cerebral palsy to facilitate prevention research and new interventions and services for people living with cerebral palsy.
Find out more on the CP Register website.