Litigation Has Had a Very Negative Effect on Society and Is Not Good for Families Either

Our Institute (Telethon Institute for Child Health Research) has done research on perinatal and paediatric epidemiology with a special interest in cerebral palsy, birth defects, intellectual disabilities and other developmental disorders for many years. We research the causes and prevention of disabilities and of course our interests also cover the kinds of problems that families with disabilities face as the child is diagnosed, treated, supported and cared for and how these needs change over the whole life span. Professor Helen Leonard has conducted surveys on the needs of families with a range of intellectual and other disabilities (eg Down Syndrome, Rett Syndrome) and may well be submitting in addition to this letter. However all of the researchers in this Institute who are conducting research here strongly support the concept of a national insurance for disability as has been proposed by Bruce Bonyhady. In fact, as you can see from the list of attached papers it is something that both Professor Eve Blair and I have been suggesting for many years.