Disability Inclusion (Review Recommendations) Amendment Bill

Final Stages

The Legislative Council agreed to the bill with the amendments indicated by the following schedule, to which amendments the Legislative Council desires the concurrence of the House of Assembly:

No. 1. Clause 4, page 3, line 1 [clause 4, heading]—delete 'section 7A' and substitute 'sections 7A and 7B'

No. 2. Clause 4, page 3, line 12 [clause 4, inserted section 7A(2)]—Delete 'may' and substitute 'must'

No. 3. Clause 4, page 3, after line 23—After inserted section 7A insert:

7B—Minister to establish committee

(1) Without limiting section 7A(2), the Minister must establish a committee to—

(a) advise the Minister, taking into account the principles of co-design, in relation to the preparation and review of the State Disability Inclusion Plan; and

(b) perform such other functions as may be assigned to the committee under this or any other Act or by the Minister.

(2) The membership of the committee will be determined by the Minister but should, as far as is reasonably practical, include a diverse range of people with lived experience of disability.

(3) The procedures of the committee will be—

(a) as determined by the Minister; or

(b) insofar as a procedure is not determined under paragraph (a)—as determined by the committee.

No. 4. Clause 6, page 4, lines 2 to 4 [clause 6(2), inserted paragraph (p)]—Delete paragraph (p) and substitute:

(p) people living with disability from a range of lived experiences, and their families and representatives, have a right to participate in the design and delivery of inclusive policies and programs including, as appropriate, through co-design, consultation or other processes;

No. 5. Clause 6, page 4, after line 10—After inserted paragraph (q) insert:

(r) people with disability, and their families and representatives as appropriate, have a right to access and benefit from independent individual and systemic advocacy that assists in accessing services and addressing problems with services.

No. 6. Clause 6, page 4, after line 25—After inserted subsection (5a) insert:

(5b) In addition to the principles set out in any other provision of this section, the following risks and principles are to be acknowledged and addressed in the operation, administration and enforcement of this Act as it relates to people with disability who identify as LGBTQIA+:

(a) cultural and other differences create barriers to providing supports and services to people with disability who identify as LGBTQIA+;

(b) the provision of mainstream supports and services to people with disability who identify as LGBTQIA+ should recognise and seek to address those barriers and should be informed by working in partnership with people with disability who identify as LGBTQIA+ and in consultation with their communities, to enhance their lives.

(5c) In addition to the principles set out in any other provision of this section, the following risks and principles are to be acknowledged and addressed in the operation, administration and enforcement of this Act as it relates to people with disability who live in regional communities:

(a) distance from metropolitan regions reduces the availability of supports and services to people with disability who live in regional communities;

(b) the provision of mainstream supports and services to people with disability who live in regional communities should recognise and seek to address this availability shortage, and should be informed by working in partnership with people with disability who live in regional communities and in consultation with their communities, to enhance their lives.

No. 7. Clause 8, page 4, after line 30—Before subclause (1) insert:

(a1) Section 13(3)(a)—after 'of people with disability' insert:

including by adopting targets for the employment of people living with disability in the South Australian public service

No. 8. Clause 8, page 4, line 40 [clause 8(1), inserted paragraph (ba)(ii)]—Delete 'and (5a)' and substitute ', (5a), (5b) and (5c)'

No. 9. Clause 9, page 5, after line 12—After subclause (2) insert:

(3) Section 14—after subsection (2) insert:

(3) A report under subsection (1) must include details of any systemic issues raised with the Minister and—

(a) if action has been taken or is proposed to be taken in relation to an issue raised with the Minister—details of that action or proposed action; and

(b) if no action is to be taken in relation to an issue raised with the Minister—the reasons for not taking action.

No. 10. Clause 11, page 5, after line 19—Before subclause (1) insert:

(a1) Section 16(3)(d)—after 'strategies' insert:

, accompanied by measurable outcomes where appropriate,

No. 11. Clause 11, page 5, line 22 [clause 11(1), inserted paragraph (da)]—Delete 'and (5a)' and substitute ', (5a), (5b) and (5c)'

No. 12. Clause 12, page 6, line 4 [clause 12(5), inserted subsection (1a)]—Delete 'and (5a)' and substitute ', (5a), (5b) and (5c)'

Consideration in committee.

The Hon. N.F. COOK: I move:

That the Legislative Council's amendments be agreed to.

I want to advise that the government supports the amendments passed in the other place. These amendments include:

adding two priority groups to the act—regional communities and LGBTQIA+—on top of the existing four groups consisting of women, children, Aboriginal people and those from culturally and linguistically diverse communities;

increasing the focus on co-design with people with lived experience of disability, their families and carers;

requiring, rather than allowing, the minister to establish an advisory group and giving it a specific function in relation to the review of the State Disability Inclusion Plan;

acknowledging the importance of independent advocacy;

including an employment target for people with disability in the state Public Service as part of the State Disability Inclusion Plan; and

requiring the annual report of the State Disability Inclusion Plan to include a section on systemic issues raised with the minister in the relevant year.

Honestly, again, I appreciate the cooperative nature in which we worked with the opposition and also with the Hon. Tammy Franks from the Greens in order to proceed with some of these amendments. They had some really excellent conversations with community advocates and organisations, such as Julia Farr Purple Orange, in relation to getting some of these amendments really beautifully worded, really effective, so we are really happy to support those. I think they actually mirror some of the concerns that were raised by the shadow ministers in this place when we went through committee stage, so I want to show our support for those and move that they be accepted.

Mr TELFER: I rise only briefly as I know that everyone is keen to get back to the previous debate. Can I just say that this has been a piece of legislation that has taken a little while to make its way through parliament. It has been on the Notice Paper for a fair while. But I will just reflect what the minister has spoken about, which was the across-party-lines, honest way that this piece of legislation has been worked on. I was going to say it was bipartisan but there have been amendments moved by the Greens in the upper house, so it is truly a multipartisan piece of legislation that I think is going to drive positive outcomes for those in the disability community.

I urge that the work does not stop here because these are the reactions to a portion of the recommendations that were made in the report that provided the basis for this legislation. I am looking forward to the minister bringing forward the next range of legislative changes, especially in light of the ever-changing dynamic in the federal space in this important portfolio area.

Once again, I commend the work that was done in the upper house. I commend my upper house colleague the Hon. Heidi Girolamo, the shadow minister for disability, and the Hon. Tammy Franks for the work that she has done. Also, as the minister has done, I commend the community groups in particular that are working closely with people who are affected by this act and enabled by this act. Those community groups have gone into this with a comprehensive perspective of life with a disability and what legislation that respects that life should look like. I commend the bill as the lead speaker for the opposition in this place and I look forward to its swift passing after it has been with us for quite a while.

Motion carried.