Evidence given in budget estimates on August 30 revealed the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission is so underfunded, it may not be viable beyond the current financial year.  

The Ageing and Disability Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald, revealed his initial $29 million budget over four years was cut by 60 per cent just before the commission’s doors opened in 2019.

Jodie Harrison MP, Shadow Minister for Seniors, said it was a shocking revelation that the NSW Government has not seen fit to adequately fund the Commission’s important work.

“The government and the minister should hang their heads in shame for the position they have put the Ageing and Disability Commissioner in,” Ms Harrison said.  

“He should not have to publicly beg for funding just to deliver what the government expects of him.”

The Commissioner told the hearing there have been seven ministers jointly administering the Act in the last three years.

“I’ve indicated to the government very clearly that, in relation to the Commission’s core budget, the Commission will be unable to fulfill its statutory functions to the extent that is expected by Parliament unless the budget is fixed,” he said.

“The issue of resourcing the Commission’s intended activities is of serious issue.

“Fundamentally, there is a deficit. The deficit has been coming, and there’s a financial cliff at the end of this financial year.

“Because the original budget was cut, there is actually no fat left in the organisation because it was taken out before we opened, with a 60 per cent reduction in the anticipated budget. There’s nothing left.

“I believe the government, and the Parliament through its unanimous support, were very, very, very wise in the establishment of the Commission. The Commission is lauded amongst the rest of the states as being a very good model. There isn’t a single criticism of the Commission to date.

“I think DCJ (Department of Communities and Justice) was absolutely right in the indicative budget they put forward, and the government was very imprudent to cut it back by 60 per cent before the doors opened.”

NSW Shadow Minister for Disability Inclusion, Kate Washington, said the NSW Government needed to act now to ensure there was no risk to seniors and people living with a disability.

“The Liberal-National Government secretly cut the Ageing and Disability Commission’s budget by 60 per cent before it even opened its doors,” Ms Washington said.

“Now we know that Commissioner Fitzgerald has spent the last three years patching things together and begging the government to restore his funding before it all falls over. But three years and seven ministers later, the government hasn’t delivered.

“Unless this funding shortfall is fixed, people with disability and seniors will be exposed to greater risk of abuse and neglect."