AHA was initially contracted to develop and produce the first two (2002/03 and 2003/04) Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) Annual Public Reports, for 2002/03 and 2003/04.  Based on the success of the first two reports, AHA was subsequently contracted to produce the 2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07 reports.

The reports showcase the achievements of the Australian, State and Territory Governments delivering quality services and supports to people with disabilities under the cooperative CSTDA arrangement.

Background

The Commonwealth State Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) is a multilateral agreement between the Australian and the State/Territory governments.  The aim of the agreement is to strengthen and improve services for people with disabilities.

Under the agreement, governments have a shared responsibility to provide specialised services to people with disabilities.  The respective funding and administrative responsibilities of each government are laid down in the agreement.  There have been three such agreements – the current five year agreement covers the years 2002-2007.

These annual reports are written and produced by AHA for the Disability Policy and Research Working Group (previously the National Disability Administrators) on behalf of the Community and Disability Services Ministers’ Advisory Council.  The project was overseen by the Australian Government.

The Annual Public Report

The purpose of these annual reports is to highlight the progress and achievements of jurisdictions, regarding the provision of specialised services to people with a disability in Australia.  The target audience is the public – specifically those with an interest and/or involvement in the provision of specialist disability services.

The reports are developed in close collaboration with all governments and approved by the relevant minister of each government.  The reports include details of:

• strategies and action taken by each government to strengthen and improve services for people with disabilities.
• the number and characteristics of the people who received CSTDA funded services and the types of services they received.
• funding committed by Australian and State/Territory governments, totalling $16.2 billion over five years, for specialist disability services in Australia
• national project developments, and expected policy and service directions over the coming year.