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STATE and federal government disabilities minister have stopped short of committing to a working group established to investigate the shortage of suitable accommodation for people with disabilities.
Victorian Disabilities Minister Martin Foley and federal Assistant Minister for Social Services Mitch Fifield both said they supported efforts to alleviate the housing crisis but didn't explicitly commit to joining the taskforce floated by Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters.
Mr Foley said he was happy to discuss with community members and groups how the National Disability Insurance Scheme could benefit projects.
"I am happy to talk to local members about how best to work with the community over partnering with the Commonwealth under the NDIS," he said.
"The Andrews Labor government has raised this issue of a lack of housing supply for people with disabilities with the federal government three times since coming to office," he said.
"We have called on Tony Abbott to honour the federal government's responsibility to provide housing for people with a disability.
"As it is clear Mr Abbott has walked away from this challenge, we now call on the federal government to at least ensure housing for people with disability is provided in the NDIS trial sites, and that innovative partnerships between community and government are encouraged to address housing needs for people with disabilities."
Mr Foley said some steps had been taken to alleviate the disability housing shortage in Bendigo.
"Locally, I recently visited Bendigo to announce that the Andrews Labor government is building five houses in the community for people with disability to address the need from the closure of Sandhurst Residential Services in 2016," he said.
"While this was a great first step, all levels of government need to do more to meet increasing demand."
A spokesperson for Mr Fifield said the assistant minister was open to hearing ideas.
“The Minister hasn’t received any approach from Senator McLucas or Ms Chesters, but is always happy to talk to his Parliamentary colleagues about issues affecting people with disability," the spokesperson said.