Disability Policy Launch
27/02/2014
Good afternoon everybody! This event is a testament to the persistence of all those who have been campaigning to get disability rights onto the mainstream policy agenda for decades, and I feel privileged to be a part of it.
I’m Kelly Vincent – the leader of Dignity for the Disability Party and I’m here today to outline my party’s disability policy. Of course, Dignity for Disability has a lot of ideas in this area, but we have put together an eight-point disability action plan that will make it possible to reach our ultimate goal of fully realising the human rights of every South Australian.
Our first policy point is simple. Dignity for the Disability vows to apply unrelenting pressure until the critical category of the unmet needs list is cleared. The people on this list are defined as being “homeless and in immediate and high risk of harm to self or others”. They are waiting for basic services like housing and equipment. They can’t wait the five years it will take to establish the National Disability Insurance Scheme – if they are forced to wait, many will face homelessness or harm themselves or others, and some will die. This urgency is especially pressing in the APY Lands – where rates of disability are double that of urban areas, but resources and provisions are a tiny fraction of what is offered in Adelaide. Dignity for the Disability will do everything in our power to change this shameful situation by doggedly insisting that investment is made to clear the unmet needs list.
Our policy’s second action point sets out a plan to redress another of the state’s most shameful inequalities. In South Australia not all people are equal before the law. From the training of our police, to the way a person with a different communication method is perceived by a judge – much needs to change so that people with disabilities have an equal chance of seeing justice here. Dignity for the Disability has been pursuing legislation to make these changes and we won’t stop until a fair justice system a reality.
The third point in our plan is good news for everyone – we’re going to save taxpayers money and improve the lives of people with disabilities with our early childhood education strategy. We propose investing sensibly and thoroughly in early childhood education so that our young people with disabilities can become productive adults. That means looking at ways to provide an education that caters to individual needs like they do at the specialist AEIOU schools for autism we can see working so well in Queensland, and it also means supporting the Treetop Autism Specific School that is set to open here in 2015 and working for a more inclusive and accessible curriculum across the state’s public schools.
Next in our policy is taking steps to end the ridiculous situation where government departments don’t talk to each other – resulting in South Australians getting stuck in hospital when they are healthy enough to go home. The health department and disability department seem to be in a constant cost shifting war, which means instead of getting the $200 per day worth of support they need to go home, people with disabilities are stuck – away from their families and their jobs – in hospital at a cost of $1500 per day to the taxpayer. This is an absurd situation, and we will continue to work to see people supported to live in their own homes.
Dignity for the Disability will also tackle the high levels of unemployment experienced by people with disabilities. There are complex reasons for the employment gap, but it is within the state Government’s power to make a difference by setting an example. It is a sad fact that proportionally less people with disabilities work in the public sector than did four years ago. Dignity for the Disability will give the government ideas, research and the motivation to turn this statistic around.
Implementing our plan to create enough quality housing places for people with disabilities forms the sixth point in our plan. By improving the accessibility provisions in public housing stock, and by reviewing and amending the legislation that governs privately-owned, for-profit Supported Residential Facilities we can significantly improve the standard of living for hundreds of people with disabilities in this state. Dignity for the Disability promises to pursue these dual solutions to the housing problem.
The seventh cornerstone of our disability policy goes beyond looking at the basic rights and needs of people with disabilities and recognises them as individuals who want to contribute to the community as much as anyone else. The Weatherill Government has been particularly strident in its advocacy for a “vibrant Adelaide” and the Marshall Opposition has been talking about creating opportunities for young people in Adelaide through their “start-up city” platform. But do people with a disability get a second thought in any of this? Dignity for the Disability will make sure that initiatives like these are inclusive of people with disabilities by promoting measures to ensure our city’s future is accessible.
Finally we promise to get South Australians with a disability moving. A lack of access to transport is one of the major barriers stopping people with disabilities from engaging in a full and rich life. We have a comprehensive plan to make transport accessible for people with a range of disabilities. This is vital to ensuring the disability community have the same opportunities as everyone else.
That is a quick summation of our disability policy – it is a rights-based approach that is formulated not just by opposing government actions, but by also proposing solutions to problems. Thank you all for your kind attention
