Nothing about us, without us
12/11/2014
Dignity for Disability MLC, Kelly Vincent has this afternoon introduced a motion to Parliament for Disability in All Policy (DiAP) to be adopted by the South Australian Government.
“The Government already has a Health in All Policy (HiAP) initiative in place because generally we as a society understand that health impacts many different areas of everyone’s lives. Given that there are some 320 000 people with disability in South Australia, and the many barriers we face can impact almost every aspect of our lives, the same need for holistic understanding and approach exists for the disability community too,” said Ms Vincent.
“Dignity for Disability believe that for the necessary paradigm shift in the thinking about disability to occur, we need to see the top bureaucrats take on the business of understanding the issues and enshrining thorough consideration of disability in all policies.
“The Premier is calling for the paperless office, another revolution that has not quite occurred yet; we support a move to reduce paper but only when the accessibility of SA government websites are sorted out. We hope DiAP will enact leadership from the top, and surely that’s what leadership is.
“The more we treat disability as though it is some kind of alien experience, or a specialist field, the more this ignorance pushes we people with disabilities further toward the sidelines of society, and the more society misses out on our opinions, skills, and contributions.
“The truth is we are all touched in some way by disability, and this involvement will only increase in the future. Ultimately – if I may put this across somewhat crudely for a moment – we are all paying for disability supports through our taxes, so we all deserve a holistic, effective, human approach.
“We are not only affected by services which have “disability” in their name. We need access to health services, electricity services, water services, the list goes on. However, often it is a particular department’s misunderstanding of disability needs which prevents us from accessing these.
“Dignity for Disability believes that we can cause the change that we need by including the lens of disability in the initial planning stages and review stages of all government policy,” said Ms Vincent
**The text of the motion is below**
NOTICE OF MOTION
Motion for Disability in All Policy
On Wednesday, the 12th of November 2014
The Hon. K.L. Vincent to move –
That:-
I give notice that on Wednesday, 12th of November 2014 I have leave to move:
This Council Notes that:
I. In responding to the everyday treatment of some South Australians living with disability and their family carers that equates to an existence as second-class citizens, that the government implement central leadership for Disability in All Policy (DiAP) through a leadership group of the Executive Committee of Cabinet Chief Executives Group (CEG).
II. This group will report to the Executive Committee of Cabinet, charged with overseeing the development, implementation and evaluation of DiAP across government.
III. A Memorandum of Understanding should be developed between Disability SA and the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) to describe the relationship, roles and functions in supporting CEG to oversee DiAP.
IV. Disability SA and DPC should undertake a priority setting process in the third quarter of each calendar year, for DiAP work into the following years. With a 3 year timeframe for implementation across all portfolio areas.
V. Priority targets should:
a) be policy focused
b) have an evidence base linking target to Disability;
c) have current strategic political relevance for example Council of Australian Governments (COAG);
d) consolidate/leverage/build on existing Disability SA projects;
e) have opportunity to link early in policy development/planning processes;
f) address the existing capacity available within Disability SA, other relevant agencies and South Australian universities;
g) address issues of equity and access for people with disabilities.
VI. An extensive cross-government consultation process is undertaken, with input from policy experts from numerous government agencies, plus DPC and Disability SA more broadly.
