Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Today I am introducing the Disability Services and Inclusion Bill 2023,and immediately after this I will also introduce the Disability Services and Inclusion (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023.

This bill, along with the consequential and transitional bill, will help deliver on the Albanese Labor government's commitment to enable people with disability to fully participate in our community and exercise agency over their lives.

This gives me a good opportunity to remind the parliament that supports and services for people with disability go beyond the NDIS—extending to the 4.4 million Australians with disability in Australia. Many of these services complement those provided under the NDIS and others are standalone as the only services people with disability receive.

Disability supports and services have changed significantly since 1986. The Disability Services Act, now more than three decades old, is outdated and too restrictive to accommodate the changing landscape of disability policy. This includes a shift towards creating a more inclusive society and the nature of services and supports required to complement the NDIS.

The Disability Services Act predates many of the important milestones in the evolution of arrangements that support people with disability in Australia. This includes:

These evolutions have also seen the Australian government move from solely providing direct block funded service provision to embracing other models, including person centred market models of service delivery and support, both within and outside the NDIS.

In response to this changed landscape and taking into account comprehensive feedback from people with disability and the disability sector, the bill and the consequential amendments and transitional provisions bill establish a contemporary, inclusive framework to fund Commonwealth programs targeted for the benefit of people with disability, their families and carers—because this protection, safeguarding and inclusion should apply outside, not just within the NDIS.

The bill has been designed and drafted in consultation with the disability community. It supports the inclusion of people with disability by broadening the supports and services that can be funded under the bill and seeks to avoid placing unnecessary restrictions on who can receive supports and services.

It is imperative that the outdated and restrictive Disability Services Act is repealed and replaced with legislation more aligned with this transformed service delivery landscape in order to affirm the rights of people with disability to full inclusion in Australian society.

The bill is an enabling piece of legislation, providing a single-source statutory framework and a clear basis for the Commonwealth to fund certain disability supports and services outside of the NDIS that are not covered by state and territory obligations under Australia's Disability Strategy 2021-2031. It contributes to reducing the significant administrative delays in implementing important programs that have resulted from disaggregated legislative frameworks for disability services and supports.

The bill establishes clear authority to continue funding existing programs, and at the same time, provides a flexible basis from which to fund non-NDIS supports and services to respond to emerging needs and changing circumstances both now and into the future.

The bill improves quality and safeguarding arrangements by introducing a mandatory code, which will mirror the NDIS Code of Conduct. This code will set a minimum standard for all service providers and workers, and will show people with disability, their families and carers what they should expect from providers funded under this legislation. This will support the provision of consistent, high-quality supports and services and ensure people with disability are safe when accessing them.

This bill, and the consequential and transitional arrangements, will also enable the government's timely response to findings and recommendations arising from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability and non-NDIS initiatives arising from the NDIS review.

The bill represents significant legislative reform and demonstrates the government's continued commitment to breaking down barriers for people with disability and enabling participation by providing a broad and flexible legislative basis for government to fund services and supports.

Key changes

More than one in six people in Australia live with disability. Australia's Disability Strategy 2021-2031 demonstrates national recognition that all levels of government are responsible for supporting people with disability to reach their full potential as equal members of the community—not only through providing support, but creating an inclusive society. It is therefore essential to establish a complementary, modern act that facilitates funding for Commonwealth supports and services for people with disability.

It is also essential that such an act be informed by people with lived and direct experience of disability. This is why the proposed bill, including the objectives and principles, has been subject to two rounds of public consultation with a focus on consulting within the disability community.

This process highlighted the importance of inclusive, accessible, safe supports and services to people with disability, their families and carers and the broader disability sector. The importance of inclusive, accessible and safe services and supports has been extensively highlighted by the disability royal commission over the last 4½ years.

To support an inclusive focus, the bill uses modern language to establish a contemporary framework for disability supports and services that complies with a human rights approach. One of the objectives of the bill is to give effect to the CRPD, in conjunction with other key Commonwealth legislation such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and the NDIS Act 2013, and the Social Security Act 1991, as well as the state and territory disability legislation.

Just this year in June, I led an Australian delegation, which included a group of Australians with diverse experience with disability, to attend the 16th Session of the United Nations Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

At the conference, the Australian government reaffirmed its commitment to the rights of people with disability at the United Nations.

This bill supports the realisation of the CRPD by focusing on capacity, experience, empowerment, potential and goals for people with disability.

Accordingly, the bill has been drafted to promote consistency, coordination and accessibility of supports and services for people with disability and to provide a clear basis for the Commonwealth to continue funding disability supports and services alongside the NDIS and alongside state and territory services.

Furthermore, the bill embeds its objects and guiding principles in primary legislation, whereas under the Disability Services Act the objects and guiding principles are prescribed via legislative instrument.

This change fosters greater transparency, more certainty, clear articulation of aims and objectives, and provides clearer guidance for actions taken under this legislation.

The bill's contemporary framework is intended to make clear that it is for the benefit and inclusion of all people with disability. In line with the majority of feedback received from the disability sector, the bill does not provide a definition of disability. This ensures that access to supports and services is not unnecessarily restricted, and allows the bill to be adaptable and responsive.

Under the proposed legislation, individual programs will continue to define target groups, ensuring that they can be tailored to provide the specific supports and services needed.

In addition to expanding the population who can benefit from funding authorised by this bill, it also broadens funding options.

While the current act only allows for funding through grants, the proposed legislation will allow other forms of financial arrangements, such as contracts and procurement.

Complementary to this, the bill expands the types of supports and services that may be able to receive such funding. The new bill expands service categories to cover accessibility, accommodation, advocacy, capacity building, carers, community inclusion, counselling, education, employment, independent living, information, recreation, research and evaluation, and respite care.

The bill defines these service categories broadly to allow for flexibility in the future design of supports and services, allowing the government of the day to respond to emerging needs and changing circumstances for non-NDIS supports as required. It also provides for the minister to define additional service categories, ensuring that the bill can adapt to meet future needs.

The government has followed closely the hearings and reporting from the disability royal commission. The broad and flexible nature of this bill is also intended to ensure that the government has appropriate power to respond effectively and efficiently to findings and recommendations. Of course, this could also include further amendment to the bill, if required.

The government is committed to ensuring people with disability are safe from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. That is why this bill will improve quality and safeguarding arrangements by enabling greater consistency and alignment between regulatory schemes.

Disability programs currently use a range of service delivery models that were not foreseen when the Disability Services Act was first established. These programs are delivered through alternative financial arrangements, with legislative authority generally provided under the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Regulations 1997. This has caused administrative delays in program implementation and has meant some programs are not subject to any form of regulatory oversight beyond the requirements in funding agreements.

Quality and safeguarding under this bill are addressed through two key mechanisms—a mandatory code of conduct for all providers, and certificates of compliance for providers of certain eligible activities.

The code of conduct will be provided for by legislative instrument. The code of conduct will mirror the NDIS Code of Conduct to create greater consistency, ensure ease of adoption by providers, and most importantly allow people with disability, their families and carers to understand exactly what they should expect from service providers.

The bill authorises the Secretary of the Department of Social Services to make a legislative instrument to prescribe the kinds of eligible activities to be regulated. This will be based on a risk based assessment of service provision to ensure the rights and safety of people with disability are protected. A provider delivering regulated activities is required to obtain and hold a certificate of compliance. The standards under the current act, the National Standards for Disability Services, will be remade under the bill, providing minimal disruption to providers who hold current certificates of compliance. The key difference is that these standards can now be applied to activities that were previously not regulated, where it is appropriate to do so.

To improve consistency and reduce duplication across the sector, the bill also includes a power to recognise alternative quality standards, at the determination of the secretary. This will allow the regulatory burden to be reduced for providers who work across multiple sectors and are subject to multiple quality standards, provided that the standards are recognised as appropriate and comparable—for example, the NDIS Practice Standards.

To ensure people with disability and their families and carers can make complaints about the supports and services they receive, a complaints management instrument will also be made to establish consistent complaints management requirements for providers funded under the bill.

Where it is established there are breaches of the code of conduct, standards or terms and conditions of funding arrangements, the bill provides for the department to make a decision to vary or revoke the arrangement with the Commonwealth. This consistent approach to all funding under the bill is a key benefit of establishing a single source of authority for the funding of Commonwealth disability services and supports for people with disability outside of the NDIS.

The bill also provides for information sharing and recognition of NDIS banning orders. This will ensure that awareness of wrongdoing in the NDIS can be considered in the context of other Commonwealth disability programs and services—contributing to our commitment to ensure safe and quality services for all people with disability.

Supports and services currently funded under the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Regulations 1997will have their funding authorisation transition to the bill as current agreements expire, ensuring appropriate regulatory oversight. All new funding agreements will be made under the bill.

The code of conduct will apply to all existing programs and services following the passing of the bill.

Conclusion

In summary, the government is repealing the Disability Services Act and replacing it with a modern, inclusive act that, in conjunction with other laws, gives effect to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other international obligations and enables funding of a broader range of disability programs to benefit people with disability using services outside the NDIS.

By introducing a code of conduct, and including the power to recognise other standards, the bill contributes to improving and aligning quality and safeguarding provisions for disability services. Supports and services will continue to be subject to quality and safeguard checks to make sure they are appropriately delivered and are person-centred. Consistent national standards will ensure the rights and safety of people with disability accessing supports and services.

The Disability Services and Inclusion Billrepresents a significant step forward in providing inclusive supports and services to all people with disability.

Our focus and our objectives as a government remain clear—to support people to participate in society, ensure safe and quality services and protect their rights. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.