The significant number of submissions and the large number of people who took the time to attend public consultations across the country are a strong indication of the depth of feeling among people with disabilities and their families, friends and carers. While desire for change ranged from impatience to desperation, all participants made it abundantly clear that much is expected from the National Disability Strategy. Piecemeal reform will not suffice. The message from all participants was that systemic reform is necessary and long overdue.
From its review of the submissions and consultation transcripts, the National People with Disabilities and Carer Council believes that the National Disability Strategy should serve as an overarching policy statement, setting the national view, establishing future directions and identifying priorities for people with disabilities and their families, friends and carers. It should address four strategic priorities:
- increasing the social, economic and cultural participation of people with disabilities and their families, friends and carers
- introducing measures that address discrimination and human rights violations
- improving disability support and services
- building in major reform to ensure the adequate financing of disability support over time.
While details varied, most submissions agreed that the strategy should consider the following key features:
- adoption of a coordinated national approach to enhance consistency across jurisdictions
- development of underlying principles that reflect the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Many submissions made it clear they expected the National Disability Strategy to realise the rights enshrined in the Convention. Without a strong strategy, many participants feared that the Convention would fail to change the lives of Australians with disabilities and become just another piece of meaningless rhetoric
- creation of an Office of Disability to coordinate efforts across portfolios and between levels of government
- implementation of policies under the strategy by each level of government and all government agencies, with clear outcomes and performance measures
- provision of funding increases to advocacy and other non-government agencies to participate in monitoring and evaluation of the strategy.
The National People with Disabilities and Carer Council believes that the National Disability Strategy represents the first time in this country that disability policy will be underpinned by a whole-of-government, whole-of-life approach. In outlining a high-level strategic vision, it will ensure that there is coordinated and comprehensive planning across all portfolios and between all levels of government. In developing the strategy, governments will consider how current disability and mainstream policies, programs and services operate, how they can work together more effectively and what new initiatives are needed.
Importantly, the strategy will recognise the complexity of people’s lives and the intersection and interdependence of many areas. The strategy will recognise, for example, that the effectiveness of reform in one area will be limited if issues in another area are left unaddressed. The strategy will also recognise that people with disabilities and their families, friends and carers are not a homogeneous group, and that different strategies may be required to address the specific needs of some groups. The challenge for the strategy is to also acknowledge and address sometimes conflicting perspectives and negotiate a path forward.
While adopting a national approach, the strategy will also ensure that each level of government retains the flexibility to respond to the sometimes unique characteristics, priorities and challenges of their individual jurisdictions.
It is also important to note that the National Disability Strategy will not and cannot be seen in isolation. The Government has also undertaken to analyse how the strategy will complement work being carried out as part of a number of other key government initiatives and reviews, including (but not limited to) the following:
- Disability Investment Group report
- National Disability Agreement
- National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy
- National Action Plan for Mental Health 2006–2011
- Harmer Pension Review
- nquiry into Australia’s Future Tax System
- Disability Standards for Education (2005)
- Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport (2002)
- House of Representatives draft Disability (Access to Premises—Buildings) Standards
- House of Representatives Inquiry into Better Support for Carers
- National Arts and Disability Strategy
- National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children
- National Homelessness Strategy
- Harmonisation of Disabled Persons Parking Scheme and Companion Card Scheme
- AusAID’s Disability Strategy: ‘Development for All’
- Government departments’ Disability Discrimination Act Action Plans
- Aviation Access Working Group
- Inquiry into Access to Electronic Media for the Hearing and Vision Impaired.
The findings contained in this report will now feed directly into the development of the National Disability Strategy. Throughout 2009-10 the Australian Government will continue to work in partnership with state and territory governments and the National People with Disabilities and Carer Council, and through discussions with government departments, agencies and other stakeholders. Critical thinkers and subject experts will be brought together to develop innovative strategies and actions to tackle identified priorities in each area along with appropriate outcomes and targets. And most importantly, an evaluation, monitoring and reporting process will be developed as a means of tracking the progress of the strategy to ensure real and meaningful change is achieved. Overseas experience suggests that the effectiveness of the strategy will be boosted by the creation of a strong monitoring and reporting framework. The Australian Government will develop an evaluation process in consultation with the state and territory governments, and this will contribute to the Government’s biannual reporting on progress against the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The strategy will be released mid-2010 and will have a ten-year life span, with review points after two and five years.
But it is also true that governments cannot work in isolation. Real long-lasting change will only be achieved in partnership with business and the community. Participants and submissions made it clear that people with disabilities and their families, friends and carers expect the government to bring everyone together to work towards a common vision. And they are hopeful. They want others to share their vision and recognise the benefits for all in building more inclusive communities. The challenge is for everyone—governments, businesses, communities and individuals—to think about and do things differently. But the process has already begun—the innovative ideas and solutions presented in this report are just one place to start. Now that the national conversation has started, there are bound to be many more.
There are many challenges on the road ahead. The complexity of the issues faced by people with disabilities and their families, friends and carers, and their long history of marginalisation and exclusion, means change cannot be achieved overnight. But the National Disability Strategy represents an important step in closing the gap between the lived experience of people with disabilities and the rest of the Australian community and ensuring that people with disabilities finally have every opportunity to fully participate in the social, cultural and economic life of the nation.