Labor MLA Suzanne Orr intends to introduce a Disability Inclusion Act for the ACT, removing barriers to ensure full participation, equity, and inclusion for people with disability.
The Bill is expected to be introduced to the ACT Legislative Assembly before the end of 2023, after an extensive consultation period with key stakeholders and the community.
The Disability Inclusion Bill would replace the medical model of disability (which sees disability as a health condition to be individually addressed) with the social model (which sees disability as a social construct).
Ms Orr states that this will be “a profound and important shift in addressing inequity in the ACT”.
“Historically, people with disability have been required to adapt to a world that fails to respond to their needs,” Ms Orr said. “This isn’t fair, and through this bill, we hope to change that.
“A social model of disability recognises that to support people with disability, we as a community need to alter the physical, attitudinal, communication, and social barriers that we often unintentionally, through these norms, establish.”
The social model of disability is now the internationally recognised way to view and address disability, consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), according to advocacy organisation People with Disability Australia.
Ms Orr’s Bill would establish a framework for creating disability inclusion strategies across government in health, education, employment, justice, and social inclusion, to be developed in consultation with people with disability and key stakeholders. It would require ACT Government agencies to develop disability inclusion plans specific to their organisation and to detail how they will adapt their work processes and programs to people with disability. It would put the onus on those priority areas of participation to remove barriers to full participation, equity, and inclusion, rather than having people with disability seek accommodations.
The MLA believes the Bill will enforce institutional change and help remove barriers for people with a disability in our community.
“It is estimated that there are over 80,000 people in the ACT who identity as living with a disability, and we have concerningly high reports of discrimination: one in ten people with a disability experience discrimination,” Ms Orr said.
“We need to ensure that people with a disability feel included and supported in our community. This Disability Inclusion Bill will drive long-term and systemic change to better promote the inclusion of people with disability in the ACT community.”
The Bill will establish a Disability Advisory Council to advise the ACT Government on systemic change on issues faced by people with a disability.
NSW and South Australia are the only states in Australia that have Disability Inclusion Acts; each Act is different due to the states’ particular legislative frameworks.
Craig Wallace, head of policy for Advocacy for Inclusion, welcomed the launch of the draft Disability Inclusion Act.
“The Disability Inclusion Bill provides a sensible and comprehensive framework for ensuring that strategies and plans are introduced and maintained across time, as well as placing expectations on all agencies to develop such plans to a good standard,” Mr Wallace said. “A legislative underpinning for inclusion strategies and plans is an important step forward.
“We look forward to the introduction and passage of the Bill through the Assembly. We are also looking toward the early realisation of this approach through the full implementation and funding of the ACT Disability Strategy and the ACT Disability Health Strategy.”
