Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Siewert suggested that the lights dimmed when I got up to speak. I am sure that was a factual statement, not a metaphorical one! I move the amendment standing in my name, amendment (1) on sheet 7362:

(1) Clause 4, page 5 (after line 23), after subclause (5), insert:

  (5A) People with disability have a right to access independent disability advocacy support to promote, protect and ensure their full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and to enable them to participate fully in the community.

This relates to providing assistance for people with a disability in terms of the issue of advocacy. One of the concerns that I raised in my second reading contribution was that at the moment, if there is a dispute—and it will get to that, unfortunately, in some cases—there will be situations when a person with a disability will, in the absence of this amendment, simply not have the support of an advocacy service. So there may be someone who has a profound disability and has to slug it out with representatives from the Australian government—the Australian Government Solicitor's office or a large legal firm representing the Australian government. That to me seems to be fundamentally unfair. What this amendment states is that people with disability have a right to access independent disability advocacy support to promote, protect and ensure their full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and to enable them to participate fully in the community.

There are other issues in terms of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which will be dealt with eventually, but I think that it is important that, for the purpose of this particular amendment, there must be some assistance for people with a disability in terms of advocacy. The parliamentary secretary said in the course of debate on the earlier amendments that the government were considering their position in relation to this, because simply having a phrase in the legislation that says everyone has the right to advocacy is all very well but, unless you actually provide that advocacy, you are not going to achieve the outcome that is desired. So this is consistent with the government's approach, but this is actually doing something about it, and that is why I think it is very important that this amendment be supported, because otherwise it will make a mockery of the framework that is meant to provide advocacy for those with a disability. Unless it is entrenched by this amendment, it just will not happen.

Progress reported.