Vetaffairs / Department of Veterans' Affairs, [1984]-

Call Number
Nef 362.86840994 VET
Created/Published
[Canberra] : [Dept. of Veterans' Affairs]
Issue
(November 1984)
Images
4
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Text

Vetaffairs  

Mantilla Uoutruzl  

AJovemliet 1984  

Little Miss 'Peg-leg'  

now dancing girl  

Six-year-old Liana Casagrande,  

of Bunbury, W.A., is proven  

ballroom dancer, loves to play at  

gymnastics and has learned to  

skip.  

Not bad going for six-year-  

old with just one leg. But she also  

gets lot of help from an artificial  

leg fitted with knee joint by the  

Repatriation Artificial Limb and  

Appliance Centre (RALAC) in  

Perth.  

She was born with congenital  

defect which required her right  

leg to be amputated when she  

was 13 months old. At 15 months  

she tried desperately to walk,  

prompting her mother to take her  

to RALAC in Perth.  

"They fitted Liana with 'peg  

leg' first," she said. "Within  

about two weeks she was walking  

all over the place."  

These days Liana needs new  

artificial leg almost every six  

months because she grows so  

fast. She is one of about 30  

children being treated by RALAC  

under the Commonwealth Free  

• Liana Casagrande, pictured above  

getting ready to begin dancing sess  

ion. Photo courtesy Western Mail,  

Perth.  

Limbs Scheme which now helps  

more than 1600 amputees in  

W.A.  

Minister backs RALAC P. 2.  

200 submissions to  

RGH Review team  

The Review of the Repatriation  

Hospital System has received  

more than 200 submissions from  

organisations and individuals  

proposing improvements to the  

system.  

Under the chairmanship of Dr  

lan Brand, the Review has visited  

all Repatriation general hospitals  

as provided in its terms of  

reference.  

It has also prepared  

comprehensive position papers  

which will be widely circulated  

early next month.  

Dr Brand said the purpose of  

the position papers was to  

provide interested persons and  

organisations with the  

opportunity to comment on the  

conclusions so far reached by the  

Review.  

Comment was also invited on  

the options that were available for  

improving the quality of the  

services provided by the  

Repatriation hospitals.  

The Review will submit its final  

report to the Minister for  

Veterans' Affairs, Senator Arthur  

Gietzelt in May next year.  

Announcing the Review's terms  

of reference last March, Senator  

Gietzelt said they were wide  

enough to identify deficiencies in  

resources at Repatriation  

hospitals and to recommend ways  

of meeting future needs.  

This would include identifying  

hospital and related services re-  

quirements to meet the needs of  

an ageing Veteran population to  

the end of the next decade.  

He said the Review would be  

constructive, and ex-servicemen  

and women would be given the  

maximum opportunity to submit  

their views.  

The Review's chairman Dr  

Brand is Chief Executive Officer  

of the Preston and Northcote  

Community Hospital in Victoria.  

Other members of the Review  

are: Dr Michael Price, Geriatri-  

cian, Department of Community  

Medicine, Westmead Hospital,  

Sydney; Mrs Phyllis Newnnam,  

Principal Director of Nursing,  

Prince Henry and Prince of Wales  

Hospitals in Sydney; Mr Wal  

Newington, NSW Branch of the  

Returned Service League.  

Bu ins'  

hel| P.  

• Three-day policy talks  

GAUs MOVE TO  

WIDEN SCOPE  

Policy initiatives for the Department's Geriatric  

Assessment Units (GAUs) are to be recommended to the  

Repatriation Commission.  

This was decided at three-day  

conference of 18 GAU repre-  

sentatives from all States  

Branches and Central Office in  

Canberra from 16 to 18 October.  

Those attending included med-  

ical, administrative and allied  

health officers involved in provid-  

ing services to the aged.  

The central agenda item was  

comprehensive policy document  

on hospital-based in-patient and  

community services for the aged  

which is to be submitted to the  

Repatriation Commission.  

The conference also discussed  

in detail new procedures for  

assessment of applications for  

nursing home admission. It was  

agreed that there was need to  

ensure that all beneficiaries re-  

ceived thorough assessment so  

that this option was taken only  

where it is in their best interests.  

The consensus among GAU re-  

presentatives was that the con-  

ference allowed an exchange of  

views to provide better under-  

standing of problems in the vari-  

ous States.  

The conference was organised  

jointly by the Medical Division  

and the Community Health  

Branch and chaired in rotation by  

Dr Janet Mould, Acting Chief Di-  

rector, Medical Services; Mr Noel  

Trabinger, First Assistant Secre-  

tary, Treatment Services; Mr Barry  

O'Shannassy, Assistant Secretary,  

Community Health; Dr Philip  

Henschke, Consultant (Geriatric  

Medicine). Representatives of the  

Departments of Health and Social  

Security also addressed the con-  

ference.  

An opening address by the Min-  

ister for Veterans' Affairs, Senator  

Arthur Gietzelt, was read by the  

Department's Secretary, Mr De-  

rek Volker.  

Senator Gietzelt said:  

"Geriatric assessment units are  

not only visible and exciting in-  

itiatives, they are also the leading  

edge of movement that prom-  

ises to revolutionise health care  

throughout Australia.  

"You are the pioneers of this  

movement. hope your efforts  

will ensure our Repatriation hos-  

pitals become centres of ex-  

cellence in the care of the aged".  

He said that people were living  

longer and those aged 75 ana  

older were the most rapidly in-  

creasing segment of society in  

Australia and overseas.  

As result, the Department's  

hospitals were as dedicated to  

caring as they were to curing.  

"Each elderly patient is con-  

sidered whole person, taking  

into account any social and psy-  

chological, as well as the physical  

difficulties the Veteran or his de-  

pendant may have", he said.  

"In time the social value placed  

on the lives of aged people will  

change. And with this change will  

come better services throughout  

the community for old people."  

• Pictured above are some of the GAU representatives listening to Mr Volker  

(extreme right) reading the opening address. They are, from left: Dr Henchke;  

Mr Ron Gallacher, Director, Treatment and Community Services, Victorian  

Branch; Mrs Elizabeth Johnson, Director, Social Work, Victorian Branch; Mr  

David Fonda, Specialist, Geriatric Medicine, Victorian Branch; Mr Barry  

O'Shannassy and Dr Janet Mould.  

Cite

Citation options:
Work identifier

http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1066038026

APA citation

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. (). Vetaffairs / Department of Veterans' Affairs, Retrieved August 7, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1066038026

MLA citation

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. Vetaffairs / Department of Veterans' Affairs, [Canberra]: [Dept. of Veterans' Affairs], . Web. 7 August 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1066038026>

Harvard/Australian citation

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. , Vetaffairs / Department of Veterans' Affairs, [Dept. of Veterans' Affairs], [Canberra] viewed 7 August 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1066038026

Wikipedia citation

{{Citation
  | author1=Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs.
  | title=Vetaffairs / Department of Veterans' Affairs
  | year=
  | section=v. : ill. ; 35-40 cm.
  | issn=0819-8934
  | issue=(November 1984)
  | location=[Canberra]
  | publisher=[Dept. of Veterans' Affairs]
  | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1066038026
  | id=nla.obj-1066038026
  | access-date=7 August 2025
  | via=Trove
}}

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