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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-05-07 Daily Xml
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Disability Justice Plan

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (14:47): My question is to the Attorney-General. Can the Attorney-General inform the house of the measures the state government is undertaking to assist South Australians with a disability to interact with the justice system?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform) (14:48): I thank the honourable member for her question. In 2014, the government released the Disability Justice Plan, with a view to making the criminal justice system more accessible to vulnerable people. As a part of the plan, the Legal Services Commission has been running the Law4All program. Law4All assists people with a disability to know their rights and to understand their responsibilities when navigating through the legal system.

As a part of the Law4All program, training has been delivered to community workers and personnel in criminal justice agencies so that they are better equipped to deal with clients with a disability. Funding for the Law4All program came out of the Disability Justice Plan. The Law4All program and the Disability Justice Plan is in addition to recent government legislation that aims to protect the most vulnerable in our community. Last year, the government passed the 'sexual offences—cognitive impairment' legislation in parliament, which protects the rights of people with cognitive impairment.

Yesterday, I introduced the 'vulnerable witnesses' bill. This legislation will ensure that the justice system is responsive to vulnerable people within our community. In a society that supports those who need assistance, a disability should not be a barrier to being able to interact with the legal system. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the late Helen Wighton, the deputy director of the Law Reform Institute of South Australia and former legal officer in the Attorney-General's Department. Helen sadly passed away in 2014. She was a tireless campaigner and worker for law reform in this and many other areas of the law and she started this important legislative project when she was at the Attorney-General's Department.

This government is committed to supporting vulnerable people within our community. There is no reason that vulnerable people and people with disability cannot properly interact with the justice system. The Disability Justice Plan, together with the government's legislative program, is assisting vulnerable people by providing a fair and accessible justice system.

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