Hey Victoria, Don't let Scope sell our buses!

"A CRUEL CUT IN THE MIDDLE OF A CRISIS”: HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES UNION CONDEMNS SCOPE BUS REMOVAL AMID VICTORIA’S SIL EMERGENCY 

VICTORIA — The Health and Community Services Union (HACSU), disability support workers, families and advocates has condemned Scope’s reported decision to remove dedicated house buses from Supported Independent Living (SIL) homes, calling it “a disgraceful retreat from dignity, independence and basic care” at a time when Victoria’s disability sector is already buckling under crisis. 

The union says the decision exposes the devastating reality of Victoria’s SIL system: providers squeezed financially, disabled residents paying the price, and the Victorian State government stepping back while vulnerable people lose essential supports. 

Families and disability support workers argue that removing the buses, which were provided to residents by the State Government during the transfer of state-run group homes to five not-for-profit providers, including Scope, will significantly reduce residents’ access to community participation, healthcare, seeing their family, independence, and overall quality of life.   

Branch Secretary of HACSU said today, "This is not a luxury service. It is not a perk. It is critical infrastructure for daily life. In the middle of a statewide SIL crisis where providers are under pressure and disabled Victorians are increasingly becoming prisoners in their own homes, Scope's answer cannot be to cut and sell the very supports that allow residents to live dignified lives"  

Hepburn Springs woman Donna Gibson whose sister Debra lives in a Scope House in in the Western Metropolitan region of Victoria and has raised significant concerns about the company's plan to remove the bus.   "The bus is extremely important to our family as it enables Debra to maintain contact with her family – many of whom do not live locally. Without the bus Debra simply will not be able to visit our family who are spread across Hepburn Springs, Daylesford, Bendigo, Welshman's Reef and Werribee because a taxi allowance is completely insufficient"

HACSU note that Ms Gibson, along with hundreds of other families were assured that buses would remain tied to the transferred group homes until the very last resident passed away.  

Preston woman Alice Leczycki whose sister Barbara lives in a Scope house in the Inner-North suburbs of Melbourne also raised concerns.   

"My sister will be turning 80 in June and because of the bus, she along with the other residents are able to take part in activities, access healthcare and visit their families. If Scope take the bus they will be confined to their house which is simply unacceptable and not what we were promised by the State government"  

Sharon Jacobson, whose 60-year old sister has lived in her inner-west group home for more than 40 years has also raised the alarm about what the removal of the bus will mean for her sister and her housemates.  

 "These people have disabilities and deserve the same opportunities and respect as every other member the community. My sister depends on the house vehicle to maintain contact with our 82-year-old father, who can no longer travel from Wodonga to Melbourne to see her. Her amazing carers bring Michelle half way to meet him. A taxi is not a realistic substitute for a family visit that is a 400 kilometer round trip. Removing this vehicle will cut residents off from their loved ones and leave some of our most vulnerable people increasingly isolated."  

HACSU note that most participants funding for transport is woefully inadequate that will result in participants becoming prisoners in their own home. The union says replacing dedicated transport with taxis is an inadequate and dehumanizing substitute. 

“You cannot replace trusted staff transport with a transactional taxi booking and pretend nothing changes,” Mr Healey said. 

The union says Ms Gibson, Ms Leczycki and Ms Jacobson's concerns go to the heart of what disability advocates have warned for years: austerity measures in disability services inevitably result in disabled people being cut off from the community and now amidst so much uncertainty in the sector demonstrates once again why the Victorian State government must intervene.  

The union is calling on the Victorian Government and disability regulators to urgently intervene to ensure Scope SIL residents are not stripped of transport, community participation supports, access to their families and medical care under the guise of financial necessity. 

Mr Healey said, “These residents are citizens and their support workers are professionals - not costs to be managed.” 

Media contact: Stephanie Thuesen  0436363612  stephaniet@hacsu.asn   Sign the petition here: https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/don-t-sell-off-disability-buses