Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Disability Services and Inclusion Bill 2023. This is a very important piece of legislation because it will help one in six Australians who are living with disability. This bill, together with the Disability Services and Inclusion (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023, replaces the Disability Services Act 1986. Anyone listening to this broadcast who thinks of how we understood people living with disabilities back in 1986, compared to our much better understanding of the needs, aspirations and wants of people living with disability now, will appreciate that this bill is a very important piece of legislation that will help so many Australians.

The bill will establish a framework for the funding and regulation of programs for the benefit of people living with disability. And it doesn't just affect the one in six Australians who are living with disability. Think about their families and their carers and how important this type of legislation is. Through this bill, the Albanese Labor government is going to strengthen supports for people living with disability outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme. We're reforming that scheme. Under the previous government, that scheme was let go. It wasn't operating anywhere near effectively enough for the hundreds of thousands of people who are enjoying the benefits of that scheme. There are many, many more Australians living with disability who are outside of that scheme because they do not qualify for the NDIS, and this piece of legislation that is before the chamber will support them. The bill seeks to repeal and replace that old piece of legislation from 1986 with a stronger piece of legislation that has better safeguards and a more modern approach to disability. It seeks to ensure that we provide a better way to fund disability services and support them now and into the future. There are quality and safeguard requirements for supports provided outside the NDIS—and as I said, this bill goes beyond the NDIS—through a mandatory code of conduct and certification, when required.

The bill also gives effect to Australia's obligations. Under our Constitution, there is a foreign affairs power that gives the federal government power to pass laws and sign treaties and also to bring those treaties into effect in Australian law. The legislation that is before the chamber gives effect to Australia's obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It introduces a more modern and inclusive framework to provide responses to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. It supports people living with disability to participate in the development and review of services and supports. That consumer choice is absolutely critical. We consider that is really important in the aged-care reforms that we introduced when we were last in government—the living longer, living better package under the current Minister for Health and Ageing. The reforms in this legislation are about giving people greater choice as well.

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