Wagga MP Daryl Maguire collects the petition from IDEAS’ Jenelle Becker and Diana Palmer.

The Stand By Me Campaign for continued funding for advocacy, information and representation for people with a disability living in NSW has gained momentum with over 29,000 signatures signing the online petition. The NSW government is still intent on not renewing the funding for disability advocacy and information programs in NSW after 30 June 2018.

The NSW government needs to reconsider its decision to cease the program as people with disability make up 20% of the population and while the NDIS is the issue at the moment it does not cover everybody with a disability. Disability advocacy organisations ndertake both individual and systemic advocacy as well as information provision. IDEAS which is based in Tumut, is just one of these organisations.

Diana Palmer Executive Officer of IDEAS said, “People with disability, their families and carers simply must have the freedom to ask questions, research and compare services in their local area through an independent provider, “Taking away this right is unjust and unacceptable.” “How will the government protect the rights of Australians with disability, under the NDIS, when the NDIS does not include information and advocacy services?”

Facing a financial crisis, IDEAS has called on the state government to continue its funding for another two years, at which time the monumental transition to the NDIS will be complete. To that end, staff on Thursday handed a petition to local MP Daryl Maguire, urging premier Gladyis Berejiklian to continue the government’s support of IDEAS. But he also pointed out the state government had provided $1.2 billion to their federal counterparts to allocate to disability services as part of the NDIS agreement.

Mr Maguire acknowledged that information and advocacy services had been an area largely forgotten in the switch to the NDIS. “I’ve encouraged IDEAS to apply for various funding programs and I’m supporting those applications,” Mr Maguire said. “I have been a long-time supporter of IDEAS and recognize the important service they provide. “It’s not as though they don’t have sympathetic ears listening to their cause, but time is the enemy.”

He committed to delivering the petition to the Premier and the relevant State Minister, Ray Williams, while also promising to raise the issue in the Liberal Party room. But there was no commitment to reverse the funding cut that will occur in June. “The state has given our money to the federal government – $1.2 billion of it,” Mr Maguire said. An application for federal funding under the NDIS is scheduled to be determined in either March or April.

If you would like to support this campaign to the Premier, go to standbyme.org.au or email http:standbyme.org.au/about-us/ for a pack of ’Stand By Me postcards’ and get your friends to sign them and mail them off to the Premier. Meanwhile the NSW government appears to be focusing on putting money into stadiums in Sydney, which begs the question, ‘Are they necessary?’ Is this spending at the cost of cuts to the people in our state who are among the most vulnerable? The Premier recently refused to meet with the Stand By Me committee campaign representatives referring them instead to the Minister for Disability, Ray Williams, despite the petition, with 29,000 being addressed to her directly.