Disability providers says more money needed to avert crisis

An organisation representing disability providers says the government needs to take immediate action and inject half a billion dollars a year to stave off a crisis in the sector. The Disability Support Network, which represents 160 providers of disability services, has released its sector briefing which paints a grim picture of the state of disability services. The Network says its analysis shows new pilot programmes in the Manawatu, Waikato and Christchurch, designed to make services more accessible for disabled people and their families, has revealed huge demand from people who have never used services before. The Network's chief executive Garth Bennie says that's led to a 25 percent increase in demand, with 15 thousand new people needing help around the country. He spoke to our reporter, Catherine Hutton and started by explaining why the current system is in crisis.