A woman who went on a hunger strike outside the ACT legislative assembly last week over her need for disability support services has been offered conciliation by the government.
A letter dated March 28 was personally delivered to Anita Gordon from the ACT Department of Disability and Housing which said it may refer her case to an independent conciliatior.
"I am considering your request for an immediate confirmation of a recurrent support package to an independent conciliation organisation such as the Human Rights Commission," the department's chief executive wrote in the letter.
Mrs Gordon began the hunger and medication strike after failing to get a guarantee for disability support services in the ACT once after the package agreed by Queensland Disability Services expires later this year.
Shadow health minister Jacqui Burke said the letter was the latest in a long line of bungles in Mrs Gordon's case.
"It beggars belief that in nearly a year of contact with the DHCS since arriving from Queensland, the issue has not been resolved," Ms Burke said.
"The health minister seems to have been blissfully unaware of Mrs Gordon's extreme need until her protest last week."
"Mrs Gordon has been trying to get an answer from the department since May 2007 when her husband accepted a job with the AFP in Canberra. Queensland Disability Services and the organisation providing Mrs Gordon's care in Queensland have told me the response or lack thereof by Disability ACT has been diabolical."
Mrs Burke said the letter showed the system was bogged down in process for process' sake.
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