Bendigo’s Sandhurst Centre will close within three years.
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The state government will commit $7.9 million in next week’s budget to build new accommodation homes for the centre’s 29 residents.
Minister for Disability Services and Reform Mary Wooldridge said the Sandhurst Centre was one of two remaining government-run disability institutions in Victoria.
“Residents of Sandhurst will move into new accommodation to be developed in line with the Coalition government’s approach of ensuring accommodation is flexible and innovative to meet residents’ individual needs,’’ Ms Wooldridge said.
“We want the residents of Sandhurst and their families to have real choice and control over how they live, while continuing to receive the support and care they need.”
Ms Wooldridge said up to five new supported accommodation homes would be built in residential neighbourhoods, close to services and amenities.
The services will be managed by community sector providers.
“This investment will also be an employment boost for the Bendigo area, with approximately 30 fixed-term jobs created over two years in the construction and allied industries,” Ms Wooldridge said.
She said Sandhurst Centre residents and their families would play a key role in planning the new homes.
Community Visitors will continue to visit residents in the new homes to monitor their treatment and care.
Public advocate Colleen Pearce said the closure was one of the most significant decisions in the disability sector in many years.
“Research here and abroad consistently shows that, while the changes can be unsettling for some residents, overall they have better lives in small-scale homes dispersed in the community, living just like their fellow citizens,” Ms Pearce said.
“This is a real win for both the residents, their families and carers, and the whole community of Bendigo, which I’m sure will welcome them and include them in the life of their great city.” Office of the Public Advocate and volunteer Community Visitors have advocated to close institutions for people with a disability for more than 25 years.
Ms Pearce said that small-scale group homes better met the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which calls for the inclusion and full participation of people with a disability in society.
She said it was important the closure was done carefully and included a well-conceived plan that supported the residents, many of whom had complex needs.