Richard Boyd Barrett: 54 Parents to Sleep Out Over School Supports
Richard Boyd Barrett warned that 54 parents of children with special needs will protest outside the Department of Education to demand guaranteed school places and special education supports. He condemned the government's failure to vindicate those children's rights and called for urgent action.
A group of 54 parents will gather outside the Department of Education at one o'clock this Friday to press for school places and the special education resources their children require. The parents will also stage a 24-hour sleep out around the clock next Friday as a demonstration of their frustration.
The parents seek guarantees that their children will receive school placements and the specialist supports and resources needed for their education. Richard Boyd Barrett said the protest is a direct response to the absence of clear assurances from the Department and other relevant agencies.
He described the failure of government agencies to vindicate children's rights as an "absolute disgrace," saying that parents have been forced into direct action by the lack of official response. He urged the government to forestall the protest by guaranteeing supports and places now.
Richard Boyd Barrett also raised the plight of staff in section 39 organisations who deliver services for people with special needs and disability. He said it is unacceptable that workers outsourced to charities face lower pay, poorer conditions, sometimes years without increases, and a lack of pay parity with the wider public service, and called for urgent resolution of those issues.
Parents to protest outside Department of Education
A group of 54 parents will gather outside the Department of Education at one o'clock this Friday to press for school places and the special education resources their children require. The parents will also stage a 24-hour sleep out around the clock next Friday as a demonstration of their frustration.
Demands for school places and supports
The parents seek guarantees that their children will receive school placements and the specialist supports and resources needed for their education. Richard Boyd Barrett said the protest is a direct response to the absence of clear assurances from the Department and other relevant agencies.
Criticism of government response
He described the failure of government agencies to vindicate children's rights as an "absolute disgrace," saying that parents have been forced into direct action by the lack of official response. He urged the government to forestall the protest by guaranteeing supports and places now.
Concerns about pay and conditions for service providers
Richard Boyd Barrett also raised the plight of staff in section 39 organisations who deliver services for people with special needs and disability. He said it is unacceptable that workers outsourced to charities face lower pay, poorer conditions, sometimes years without increases, and a lack of pay parity with the wider public service, and called for urgent resolution of those issues.
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Transcript
A group of 54 parents of children with special needs will be outside the Department of Education at one o'clock this Friday to fight for their children's rights which the government is failing to vindicate to have a school place with the special education resources and supports that they need. It's bad enough having to fight for the rights of your children which the government are failing to vindicate to have a school place and all the additional stresses that are on parents fighting for children with special needs that they are now going to be doing a 24-hour sleep out around the clock outside the Department of Education next Friday. That's what you force them to and what such is their frustration such is the failure of the government agency and departments who are supposed to vindicate the rights of children their failure to respond to these parents they are forced to take that step. It's an absolute disgrace and even now the government should be forestalling the need of those parents to have to take that action this Friday by actually guaranteeing them their children the supports and school places that they need. The second issue I just want to raise in the brief time that is available to me is those who work in providing supports and services for people with special needs or disability in section 39 organisations. It is an absolute disgrace that people who are providing these vital supports and services simply because they happen to work for a charity organisation to whom the government have outsourced what is a public service that they get paid less or worse paying conditions don't get pay increases in some cases for years or don't have pay parity with others in the public service. That issue has to be addressed as a matter of absolute urgency.