Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I want to start by thanking all those in the disability community who contributed to the feedback on the Disability Services and Inclusion Bill 2023, throughout both the initial government consultations and the inquiry. Their continued involvement has allowed for the voices of those with lived experiences to be heard.

The Australian Greens welcome the repeal of the Disability Services Act 1986, which entrenches segregation and fails to set out a vision for an inclusive Australian society. By stating that the objectives of this bill are to 'provide funding, outside of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, to persons that provide supports and services for the benefit of people with disability, their families and carers' and 'advance the inclusion and social and economic participation of people with disability', the government sets itself a benchmark of success in this legislation which it seriously fails to meet.

This bill also fails to implement recommendations of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with a Disability. The Australian Greens are disappointed and frustrated by these failures because we understand the effort expended by the disability community over decades to share clearly with the federal government the barriers to inclusion experienced by disabled people and the services and policy responses needed to break those barriers down. In my own electorate of Brisbane, I have heard from dozens of constituents calling for change.

In their submissions, the disability community are clear that this bill is an opportunity to put into action Australia's commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This would include committing to time frames for the end of segregated employment, segregated education and segregated housing. Moreover, it would include proactive steps to ensure the provision of services for disabled people over 65 who are not eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. This is an area that has particularly impacted residents in my electorate, and I'd like to share the story of one constituent who, unfortunately, was not able to access the NDIS because she had just reached 65 years of age. This jeopardised assistance with all her activities of daily living, including cleaning and meal prep, as well as support for her to access social events and connect with her community. Moreover, access to the NDIS would have offered her an array of assistive technology to be determined through consultation, assessment and support by an occupational therapist.

This is an opportunity to tangibly and immediately improve the lives of disabled people, including by making reforms to the disability support pension, ensuring the provision of equitable access to preventative and primary health care and making reforms to ensure national standardisation, including a national assistance animal framework. Such reforms are all absent from this bill. The only barrier to the inclusion of these mechanisms is political will. Therefore, while the Greens are supporting this bill in the House, we will seek to make significant amendments to the bill in the Senate, in line with the calls of the disability community. We implore the government and opposition to support these amendments. It is imperative that this opportunity to replace the Disability Services Act does not pass by without our doing everything we can to end the cycle of segregation that too many disabled people find themselves trapped within.

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