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Submission on the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on People with Disability in QLD

QAI made a submission to the Senate Select Committee on the impact restrictions put in place to minimise the spread of COVID-19 have had and continue to have on people with disability in Queensland.

You can read the full submission that details QAI’s significant concerns here.

Below is a short excerpt from the submission:

Background

The federal and state governments have implemented never seen before measures to slow the spread of COVID19 (Coronavirus) through the community. These restrictions, whilst necessary, have significant impact on people with disability and cause further disruption and disadvantage to our lives.

QAI and other disability advocacy organisations believe that people with disability have not been properly considered by government decision makers during this process and that more immediate consultation needs to be held with our community so that appropriate support measures can be put in place before further trauma is caused. Systems and processes also need to be clarified so that people with disability also can feedback their experiences during this time.

QAI Concerned for People with Disability in Congregate Care Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Updates:

On 14 April the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission sent a letter and a factsheet on restrictive practices in response to our letters.

You can view their response here, and the fact sheet here.

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On 27 March 2020 QAI sent a follow up letter on the below, adding several recipients including the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and the Public Advocate.

You can read the full follow up letter here.

On 4 March 2020 QAI Director, Michelle O’Flynn, sent a letter to a number of relevant officials regarding QAI’s concerns for people with disability living in congregate care arrangements in light of the potential for transmission of COVID-19.

At this stage QAI is yet to receive a response from any of the officials who received the letter, which included several government ministers and officials within the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), National Disability Services (NDS) and the Public Guardian.

QAI will persist in our efforts to gain answers and action on this, as our concerns have only increased over the last few weeks with the rapid escalation of the pandemic and our government’s lack of appropriate response to safeguard those most vulnerable.

You can read the full letter here.

QAI Commits to Continuing Advocacy Services Throughout COVID-19 Pandemic

QAI Management and Staff are, like everyone, trying to do our best to understand and respond to the best of our abilities to the unique risks presented by COVID-19.

We are a creative and dynamic organisation and prioritise our commitment to support, defend, protect and promote the needs, rights and lives of the people we serve.

The QAI Response Team are Michelle O’Flynn (Director), Emma Phillips (Deputy Director & Principal Solicitor) and Carly Dennis (Principal Solicitor).

While many of our staff have moved to working from home and we are working hard to ensure that our technology and structure will support new ways of working, we will continue to provide our service.

Our creative staff already have experience working via email, phone and video link to outreach people and this will continue. Face-to-face service delivery is suspended at present, although we will find ways and means to ensure that critical moments are dealt with appropriately. We remain open for business and are available via our usual telephone, email, website and social media contacts.

We care about you and will check in with you about any advocacy actions undertaken and work with you just as we always do. As a caring organisation we are also doing all we can to ensure the safety and well-being of our own staff.

Just as every person is learning to improve on everyday things like hygiene and cleaning, we too will find new and innovative ways to ensure that we meet the needs of clients, stakeholders and allies.

However, as we build a new approach to advocacy support, there may be delays in response, or different ways of responding. Please keep an eye on our website, Facebook and Twitter as these may be the best means of communicating should there be any technical glitches.

We will also need to hear from you if you are required to self-isolate. We welcome information from you in whichever form you can communicate with us.

On behalf of QAI’s Management Committee and staff, I wish you all the best during this challenging time. I firmly believe that we will all emerge from these difficult times with new ways to support and advocate and will continue to deliver excellent outcomes for clients, allies and the disability sector. We will update you if the advice from government causes us to make any further changes to our service delivery. We urge you to keep safe and follow the advice from the Queensland and Australian Governments.

Michelle O’Flynn, Director

25 Mar, 2020
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Latest news, Media releases, Newsletters

Submission on the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on People with Disability in QLD

Background

QAI Concerned for People with Disability in Congregate Care Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

QAI Commits to Continuing Advocacy Services Throughout COVID-19 Pandemic

Changes to QAI’s Service Delivery due to COVID-19