Disability Inclusion (Review Recommendations) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (16:08): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading explanation and explanation of clauses inserted in Hansard without my reading them.

Leave granted.

The Disability Inclusion (Review Recommendations) Amendment Bill 2023 seeks to make important changes to the Disability Inclusion Act 2018 that is a critical part of our legislative scheme.

The Act promotes the recognition of essential human rights in South Australia in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and interacts with Australia's Disability Strategy 2021-2031. The act also sets out a number of principles aligned to the United Nations Convention and requires the creation of the State Disability Inclusion Plan, known as Inclusive SA.

In addition to the overarching statewide plan, the act requires almost 100 state authorities, including government agencies and all 68 local councils, to develop their own disability access and inclusion plans, often referred to as DAIPs.

Since the legislation was passed and enacted, state authorities have consulted with their communities and stakeholders to develop these DAIPs that have been an important step in making our community more inclusive and responsive to the needs of people with disability.

Together, Inclusive SA and the DAIPs provide a range of benefits, including requiring agencies to:

consult people within the community;

critically analyse their services and processes; and

commit to actions that improve responses to people with disability.

These plans are not perfect, and the needs and views of people with disability change over time. For that reason, these plans are subject to review, and Inclusive SA has recently undergone this process.

It is not just the various inclusion plans that require review. Under section 21 of the Act, the minister is required to cause a review of the operation of the Act before the fourth anniversary of its commencement.

This review was undertaken in mid-2022 by an independent reviewer who some in this place would know—Mr Richard Dennis AM, PSM—and who consulted widely in his work. A final report was tabled in Parliament in September 2022.

I note 30 of the recommendations were not for legislative change, so are outside the scope of the Bill, but I am happy to report that a number have already been actioned and completed.

Despite not all of the Dennis Review's recommendations being legislative, they are all important and the government is considering them in the context of responding to the NDIS Review and Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.

Both the NDIS Review and Disability Royal Commission were completed in late 2023 and include hundreds of recommendations and actions for consideration by government.

The Review talked about a 5-year transition period and the Royal Commission included recommendations with timeframes up to15 years which reflect that disability reform will be an ongoing process in years to come.

In response to the Dennis review, the Department of Human Services worked with Parliamentary Counsel to develop the draft Disability Inclusion (Review Recommendations) Amendment Bill 2022 that dealt with 14 of the 20 legislative recommendations.

After developing a draft bill, there was further consultation. Between 27 February 2023 and 6 April 2023, the Department of Human Services conducted a consultation via YourSAy. Peak organisations, and those that had provided feedback in the first phase of consultation, were invited to provide written submissions.

Overall, the feedback we received in response to the draft bill demonstrated community support. I would like to express my thanks to everyone who gave their time to contribute to the multiple consultations linked to our State Disability Inclusion Pla, the review of the Act and the draft Bill.

Specifically, this bill proposes to:

Move elements of the Disability Inclusion Regulations 2019 into the Act;

include a definition of barrier, given the significance of the concept of barriers in the definition of disability and within the wider issue of achieving greater inclusion;

insert new paragraphs to provide expressly that people with disability, regardless of age, have a right to be safe and to feel safe through the provision of appropriate safeguards, information, services, and support;

enhance clarity and definition of the principles as they relate to people with significant intellectual disability or who have high levels of vulnerability due to their disability;

amend sections within the Act relating to the reporting requirements and time frames for the state plan and state authority Disability Access and Inclusion Plan, as well as the specific functions of the chief executive of the Department of Human Services; and

require consultation with people with lived experience, and authorise the formation of groups to facilitate consultation.

I note a number of amendments have been moved and we will listen carefully to the arguments put forward around them.

Without pre-empting the outcome of debates on those proposed amendments, I note the consultations leading up to the introduction of this Bill elicited quite different views on the same topics and we may well see the same in this place.

These differences tend to reflect the diversity of our broader community as well as the diversity that exists amongst people with disability.

Around one in six Australians – more than 4 million people—experience some form of disability.

A smaller number – around 6% of the population – require assistance with core activities as a result.

And a smaller group again receive high level supports from systems like the NDIS, Lifetime Support Authority, Exceptional Needs Unit and My Aged Care.

These different groups exist in every corner of the country, have different life experiences, different needs and different views.

The vast majority of people with disability rely on mainstream services and systems from housing and transport to education and health amongst many others.

This is a key reason why this Act – and the Bill before the Council – are so important.

This legislation is a critical tool to make sure sate government agencies and local councils talk to their communities and reflect on their services to ensure they are as inclusive and accessible as possible.

In doing so, more people in our community will have the opportunity to participate fully, realise their potential and know they have a valued role.

I commend the Bill to the Council and seek leave to insert the explanation of Clauses into Hansard without reading them.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

This clause is formal.

2—Commencement

This clause provides that the measure will come into operation on a date to be fixed by proclamation.

Part 2—Amendment of Disability Inclusion Act 2018

3—Amendment of section 3—Interpretation

This clause inserts a definition of barrier to the interpretation section of the Act.

4—Insertion of section 7A

This clause inserts a new section 7A into the Act.

7A—Minister to seek views of people with disability

Proposed section 7A requires the Minister to seek the views of people with disability regarding the operation, administration and enforcement of the Act, and furthering the objects of the Act. It provides for the Minister to create a committee for the purposes of advising and assisting them in doing so.

5—Amendment of section 8—Objects

This amendment makes clear that the objects apply to persons with disability of all ages, and adds a new object to the Act.

6—Amendment of section 9—Principles

This amendment inserts new principles to the Act.

7—Amendment of section 10—Functions of Chief Executive

This amendment inserts a new function under the Act to the Chief Executive.

8—Amendment of section 13—State Disability Inclusion Plan

This amendment requires the State Disability Inclusion Plan to contain a variety of provisions, and that any documents prepared for the purposes consultation are in a form accessible to people with disability.

9—Amendment of section 14—Annual report on operation of State Disability Inclusion Plan

This amendment changes the reporting period for each annual report to cover a calendar year instead of a financial year, and shifts the date a report is due by.

10—Amendment of section 15—Review of State Disability Inclusion Plan

This amendment requires that a report to the Minister for the purposes of the section include or be accompanied by information regarding any recommended changes to the State Disability Inclusion Plan resulting from the review.

11—Amendment of section 16—Disability access and inclusion plans

This amendment requires a State authority's disability access and inclusion plan to include strategies ensuring the needs of priority groups identified by the measure are addressed by the plan, and requires that any documents produced prepared for consultation are in a form accessible to people with disability.

12—Amendment of section 17—Annual report on operation of disability access and inclusion plan

This amendment adds a requirement to the report prepared by each State authority, changes the reporting period for annual reports under the section to cover a calendar year as opposed to a financial year, and changes the date the reports are due by.

13—Amendment of section 18—Review of disability access and inclusion plans

This amendment provides that should the State Disability Inclusion plan be varied, a State authority must ensure that their disability access and inclusion plan remains consistent with it.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. D.G.E. Hood.