A Legacy of Care and Respite
Todd Cuschieri has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by caregivers. His brother, Steven Cuschieri, passed away in his early 50s due to cancer, and was primarily cared for by their parents. Like many caregivers, they faced the risk of burnout, making respite care essential.
“Mom and dad couldn’t handle everything all the time. He went between the hospital system and the aged care system,” Todd said. “While he was in the aged care system, he was in a room with three other gentlemen that were in there in their 80s and 90s. I know at the time he sort of felt funny about being in there and it was difficult to see him that way.”
This experience inspired Todd’s mother, Yvonne Cuschieri OAM, to campaign for an age-appropriate respite facility in Queanbeyan. Her legacy continues through the efforts of others who are determined to bring this vision to life.
A Community Effort
A decade ago, Ms. Cuschieri and her friends collected over 2,000 signatures from the Queanbeyan community on a petition to build a local respite centre for people aged 18 to 60 with terminal or chronic illnesses. As the founder of Rise Above, formerly the ACT Eden Monaro Cancer Support Group, she enlisted the help of one of the group’s board members, Paul Walshe OAM.
Since Ms. Cuschieri passed away in 2021, Mr. Walshe has been determined to continue her legacy and open the respite centre. “If we didn’t have carers, the health system wouldn’t be able to cope with looking after these younger people,” he said.
Ms. Cuschieri and Mr. Walshe lobbied their local state and federal members, securing $750,000 from the federal government and $1.35 million from the New South Wales government for construction of the facility, along with other donations. “We’ve raised close to half a million dollars through community events, smaller grants that we’ve received, but mostly through fundraising through the local Queanbeyan community,” Mr. Walshe said.
The six-bedroom facility is expected to reach completion in the coming months. “We’re running on the smell of an oily rag at the moment because building costs have increased dramatically since post-COVID,” he said. “But we’re confident we’ll get there, and come June this year, Yvonne Cuschieri House will be completed.”
Funding Challenges Ahead
The charity created to campaign for Yvonne Cuschieri House — Respite Care for Queanbeyan — is prepared to donate the building to a service provider, but without ongoing funding, the board has not been able to secure an operator. “Prior to Christmas we went out to tender. We went to four organisations and asked them to put in a tender to own and operate Yvonne Cuschieri House,” Mr. Walshe said. “Each of those four came back prior to the end date of that tender closure and said they were unable to submit a tender because there was no government funding for the facility.”
The federal government committed $1 million in 2022 to support the initial operations of Yvonne Cuschieri House. However, according to Eden-Monaro MP Kristy McBain, the money was never meant to fully fund the facility’s services. “It was never intended to be an ongoing thing,” she said. “It was to make sure that they could secure an operator and come up with a proper operating model in the interim.”
Mr. Walshe has maintained that ongoing financial support is necessary for the facility to operate as intended. “It’s going to range from $1.4 to $1.6 million a year to fully fund Yvonne Cuschieri House. You’re not going to fundraise that in a year. So it’s got to be government funding, something that I’ve been saying to the government now for well over six to seven years.”
The Road to Sustainability
NSW Member for Monaro Steve Whan highlighted the lack of clear funding sources for a service like Yvonne Cuschieri House, especially since people with chronic or terminal illnesses are not always eligible for the NDIS. “The federal government obviously provides the funding for primary health care, for aged care accommodation, for disability through the NDIS in many cases. So if it was servicing those sorts of areas, you’d probably be able to find a revenue stream for this facility,” he said.
“The problem we’ve got is that there currently isn’t a government revenue stream that can be directed to that facility without people having to be on NDIS or other areas of benefit, which many of these people won’t be.”
Mr. Whan acknowledged that an operating model should have been considered when funding for the facility’s construction was handed out. “With the benefit of hindsight, 10 years ago it would have been good to have developed a sustainable operating model to go with the capital funding,” he said. “We’re now trying to chase our tails a bit and come up with something that might work, but we can’t turn back the clock and say, we should have done this or should have done that.”
A Persistent Fight for the Future
While the future of Yvonne Cuschieri House appears uncertain, Ms. McBain has not given up on the facility. “Obviously we need to secure that tenant or the group that will operate this facility long term, and I think that’s where the focus needs to be at the moment,” she said. “I know that myself and the state member Steve Whan have been talking to a range of organisations around this building, and what it could potentially do [to] make the lives of a lot of people much easier. And we’ll continue to have those conversations to make sure that the Yvonne Cuschieri house is up and running.”
For Mr. Cuschieri, getting the facility up and running is essential for families going through what his did. “Ever since this started, the amount of people that I’ve met with similar situations, what their families are going through,” he said. “It’s one of those things, until your family goes through it, you don’t realise how important something like this could actually be for your family.”
“[Yvonne would] be super proud of all the efforts of everyone and the community. I know somewhere up there she’s behind us all and she’ll be giving everyone a push, so it’s fantastic.”
