disability Archives - Queensland Advocacy Incorporated

Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry – Violence, Abuse, Neglect against People with Disability in Institutional and Residential Settings

Violence, abuse and neglect against people with disability in institutional
and residential settings, including the gender and age related
dimensions, and the particular situation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people with disability, and culturally and linguistically diverse
people with disability

Read the submission here15.05.14 Submission to Senate Community Affairs Committee – abuse (1)

National Disability Strategy – QAI Submission to DSS

Last month, the Department of Social Services commenced the second phase of consultations seeking feedback on a Position Paper to develop a new National Disability Strategy.

QAI made several recommendations:
QAI recommends: 1. The addition of the word ‘all’ before ‘people with disability’ in the proposed vision for the Strategy, so that it aims to achieve ‘An inclusive Australian society that enables all people with disability to fulfil their potential as equal members of the community’.

2. The inclusion of a person-centred approach to the ‘Involve and engage’ guiding principle, where policy processes engage with and listen to people with disability at all stages, people with disability are provided accessible information and opportunities for feedback and where implementation is person-centred and takes into account the needs and wishes of individuals.

3. The removal of ‘where possible’ in relation to the ‘Design universally’ guiding principle, removing any ambiguity and ensuring it is a minimum standard of practice.

4. The return to the previous Strategy’s order of outcome areas, with ‘economic security’ listed as the third not first policy domain.

5. Accept and adopt proposals for a federal Human Rights Act to extend the human rights protections now afforded to all Queenslanders to every single Australian, removing disparities in access to justice between state and territory jurisdictions and ensuring a coherent approach to implementation of the Strategy and Australia’s obligations under the CRPD.

6. Adoption of the Senate Committee’s recommendation that the government develop best practice guidelines for consultation with people with disability.

7. The development of a multi-layered plan to address community attitudes at the personal, organisation and government levels.

8. The development of mandatory disability action plans in all jurisdictions.
9. The creation of an Office of Disability Strategy to act as a coordinating agency for the Strategy under the auspice of the Disability Reform Council. Ensure the Office of Disability Strategy can integrate the key findings from the Disability Royal Commission into the Strategy over the coming years.

10. Further clarification regarding the interface between the NDIS and mainstream services. Update the current publicly available information to ensure the content is easy to understand, including the development of Easy Read versions.

11. Widening the scope of the Strategy to encompass non-government entities. For example, place greater emphasis on addressing media bias toward people with disability, seek to remove barriers to employment created by employers, continued and increased funding for individual disability advocacy services and community legal services, and working to ensure the dominance of the social model of disability and the supported decision-making model in the health setting. 12. Biannual, mandatory reporting by all levels of governments regarding progress against an outcomes framework to be developed in consultation with people with disability. QAI considers the International Day of People with Disability a suitable milestone on which to report progress. QAI further recommends that governments be required to issue ‘statements of compatibility’ when creating new policies, to signify compliance with the Strategy’s vision and guidance principles.

13. Consultation of people with disability on the development of all Targeted Action Plans, with clarification as to whether state and territory jurisdictions will have tailored targets under the outcomes framework to reflect varying levels of progress under the six domains. Regular program evaluations to become mandatory for states and territories. Collaboration with non-government entities to develop industry specific Targeted Action Plans is also recommended.

14. The employment of people with disability at all levels of government decision-making to ensure people with disability are actively involved in the delivery of the Strategy. A well-funded and

image of Senator Ann Ruston on tv screen — The current National Disability Strategy was the first ever commitment by all Australian governments

well-resourced disability advocacy sector is integral to this.

Read all the submission here

Disability Services Worker Screening – QAI Submission

QAI has made a submission on the Disability Services and Other Legislation (Worker Screening) Amendment Bill 2020 (QLD) to the Committee Secretary of the Health, Communities, Disability Services and Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Committee.

Below are the Recommendations QAI made to the Committee.

You can read the full submission here.

QAI recommends:

The proposed new section 14 of the Disability Services Act (as outlined in clause 9 of the Bill) be updated to change the definition of funded service provider to include the State.
The Queensland Government publish its framework for deciding whether a person poses an unacceptable risk of harm to people with disability which is more exhaustive than that provided in the proposed new Part 5, Division 4 Subdivision 3 of the Disability Services Act (as outlined in clause 11 of the Bill).
The Queensland Government work with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, plan or self-managed participants, and unregistered service providers to encourage optional workers to request a national worker screening clearance.

Australian Human Rights Scorecard Released Ahead of UN Review

QAI is one of over 200 organisations which have co-authored and endorsed the Australian Human Rights Scorecard, which was published today by the Human Rights Law Centre, Kingsford Legal Centre and Caxton Legal Centre.

The report was prepared ahead of a United Nations Human Rights Council review of Australia, and identifies 22 key areas of concern for the review. You can find the media release on the report here and the full report here.

Below is an extract from the report on People with Disability.

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY

The National Disability Strategy (NDS) is Australia’s policy framework to implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2019, the CRPD Committee raised serious concerns about the lack of implementation, funding and oversight of the NDS.

The new NDS must be properly resourced through a robust National Disability Agreement between all levels of Government. Transparent monitoring and evaluation of outcomes for people with disability must be linked to accountability measures across Governments, ensuring targets are met. People with disability, and their representative organisations, must also be positioned at the centre of the NDS’s development, implementation and monitoring.

Legislation regulating legal capacity remains problematic. Australia’s Interpretative Declarations to CRPD Articles 12, 17 and 18 prevent reform and allow human rights violations. No progress has been made towards a national Supported Decision-Making Framework. Despite persistent UN recommendations, behaviour management, involuntary treatments and restrictive practices occur across a range of settings.

Australia must withdraw CRPD Interpretative Declarations before 2026 and modify, repeal or nullify laws, policies and practices which deny or diminish equal recognition before the law. Australia must eliminate restrictive practices, involuntary treatment, forced sterilisation and medically unnecessary interventions of people with disability.

People with disability, particularly women, experience significant violence and abuse.

The Disability Royal Commission must address the systemic drivers of this violence and establish national mechanisms for redress, complaint and oversight.

Emma Phillips at lectern giving presentation

Emma Phillips Gave a Presentation on the Human Rights Act Qld and Disability

Emma Phillips, QAI’s Deputy director and Principal Solicitor, gave a presentation on February 7^th to the Australian Lawyer’s Alliance called “Righting inhuman wrongs – How the new Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) can assist clients with disability and mental illness”.

You can view the slides from Emma’s presentation here.

Criminal Code (Child Sexual Offences Reform) Submission

QAI made a submission in regards to the Criminal Code (Child Sexual Offences Reform) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill.

Here is an excerpt from the submission of our recommendations:

Recommendations

QAI supports the measures in the Bill.
The State Government must do more to ensure that people with intellectual disability who have committed very minor sexual offences get better support in the community rather than detention.
Take steps to improve the supports, particularly behaviour supports, available to people with intellectual disability who have been convicted of child sexual offences.

You can read the full submission here.

Inquiry into Adequacy of Newstart Submission

QAI made a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs on the Inquiry into the Adequacy of Newstart.

Here is an excerpt from the submission of our recommendations:

Key Recommendations

Many Australians, including many Australians with disability, have inadequate financial means to support an acceptable standard of living. This has significant ill effects on their physical and mental health, ability to engage in socially, in education and work, and for some, their ability to raise and nurture children. This is an important issue that requires redress.
Budget standards, such as those developed by the Social Policy Research Centre of the University of New South Wales, should be used to inform the minimum levels of income support payments.
An individual approach should be taken to determining housing support for people with disability, to support independent living in the community.
Urgent measures are required to address unemployment and under-employment of people with disability. The Government should implement measures to assist people living in poverty, to ensure poverty ceases to be a barrier to entry to the workforce.
All workers, including workers with disability, should be paid at a rate equal or greater to the minimum award wage for the particular industry in which the worker is engaged. The supported wage system, and specialist disability employment enterprises, must be abolished.
The current Disability Employment Services (DES) model should be replaced by appropriate, individually-tailored, continuing support for people with disability within the workplace.
No one should be penalised for fluctuations in their income. The interface between income support and payment of wages must be transparent and easily understood to ensure that there are no financial disincentives for working, whether actual or perceived.
The government should maintain the distinction between pensions and allowances. Persons with disability should not be transitioned to Newstart Allowance as a budget-saving measure. The rates of pensions and allowances should be increased in accordance with current research and international best practice.
Students with disability must be provided with improved inclusive educational supports.
Independent expert evidence should inform decision-making around income support payments.

You can read the full submission here.

Register for Jobs at the Disability Royal Commission’s Engagement Branch in Brisbane

Applications received will be directed to the appropriate area of the Commission. The Engagement branch (based in Bris) will be looking to fill roles that are non-legal, but people with legal backgrounds are often well suited. If that is of interest, applicants can select Engagement as one of the work areas of interest.

https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/about/Pages/Employment.aspx

https://recruitment.ag.gov.au/jobs/vacancies/2914895647464098~1/edit

https://recruitment.ag.gov.au/jobs/vacancies/2914895404334499~1/edit

Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation within the Disability Sector

The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has announced a three-year $527 million royal commission that will examine violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation within the disability sector. Former Federal Court Judge Ronald Sackville AO QC will lead the Royal Commission. The supporting Commissioners will be –

Barbara Bennett PSM
Dr Rhonda Galbally AC
Andrea Mason OAM
Honourable John Ryan AM, and
Alistair McEwin

The Commission will be based in Brisbane.

Former Federal Court judge Ronald Sackville AO, QC will lead the commission, supported by five commissioners.

Easy to read fact sheet about the Royal Commission

Easy to read Terms of Reference of the Royal Commission.

The Terms of Reference say what, why and how the Royal Commission will investigate.

Election sweetener short-changes people with disability

4 April 2019

Media Release

The disability advocacy sector has welcomed the commitment of funding for the Disability Royal Commission in the federal budget. QAI commends Greens Senators Rachel Siewert and Jordan Steele-Johns, and the many, many other disability advocates who convinced the Federal Government to commit to a Disability Royal Commission. We also commend Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenburg for allocating $527 billion towards it, the biggest allocation ever to a royal commission in this country.
It needs to be big because of the scale of abuse and the enormous number of victims in a country where 18.5% of the population has a disability, and more than 1.2 million people have severe or profound activity limitations.
While welcoming news of funding for the Royal Commission, QAI is appalled that the ‘surplus’ behind the Treasurer’s vote-buying tax cuts comes almost entirely from people with disability. That money has been earmarked for the NDIS. It was quarantined, ready and available, we thought, to pay for supports for the hundreds of thousands of Australians who have disabilities – people who have for years gone without basic personal care, without employment, or access to public transport, and without so many other things that the rest of us take for granted.
“Scott Morrison boasts about a surplus, but $1.6 billion of that surplus comes from the short-changing of people with disability through the NDIS underspend. The government is trying to sweeten its image off the backs of people with disability,” said QAI Director Michelle O’Flynn.

Media contact: Michelle O’Flynn 0481 381 528;
Office: 38444200

Information provided in this release is not intended to constitute legal advice and should not be construed as such. You should obtain your own legal advice before applying any information provided in this release to specific issues or situations.