Commonwealth, State and Territory Disability Ministers Agreement

Commonwealth, State and Territory Disability Ministers agreed on a new era of cooperation on disability services at a meeting held on 1 February 2008, which was chaired by the Federal Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin.

It marked the start of talks on the fourth Commonwealth State and Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA 4).

The Ministers formally agreed to the key priority areas which will guide the development of the Agreement.
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The National Disability Strategy agreed on is an historic opportunity for the commonwealth, states and territories to work together with the community to ensure the needs of people with disabilities and their families are addressed through coordinated and comprehensive policy planning – across all government departments and services.

The National Disability Strategy and the CSTDA 4 are also vehicles through which Ministers can work together on the eight key priority areas identified by Labor at the election:

· Better measurement of current and future need for disability services;
· Moving toward national population benchmarks for key disability service types;
· Making older carers a priority for all disability services under the CSTDA;
· Quality improvement systems based on the National Disability Service Standards for all Agreement services;
· Improved service planning and strategies to simplify access to services under the CSTDA;
· Focusing on early intervention, lifelong planning and increasing the independence and social participation of people with a disability;
· Improved workforce capacities; and
· Access to services by Indigenous people with disabilities.

The Disability Ministers have agreed to meet again in March to continue work on the new Agreement.