The theme of this year’s International Day of People with Disability is the leadership and participation of people with disability toward an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post-COVID-19 world. But people with disability still cannot come safely out of lockdown, said Emma Davidson, ACT Minister for Disability: some still have yet to get their third ‘booster’ vaccination, while others have lost paid work or access to services they need.

In fact, says Nicolas Lawler, CEO of Advocacy for Inclusion: “For many people with disability, despite restrictions easing, the impact of COVID-19 on their life and circumstances is ongoing, and maybe becoming even more challenging.”

Many people with disability have withdrawn from essential supports and services, and become more isolated, Mr Lawler said, due to concerns they are at much higher risk of serious disease and death from COVID-19, due to their medical conditions, disadvantage, and difficulties accessing quality health care. And the ACT disability workforce might not be able to cope with increasing numbers of infections and exposures within the sector.

“We fear that we will see people with disability prevented from participating on an equitable basis in our community, especially if remote access options stop being implemented,” Mr Lawler said.

OzSage had recommended higher vaccination targets, vaccination of all disability workers, safe indoor air and mask use, prioritising third doses for people with disability, better support for COVID-19 patients with disability, and ensuring people with disability are not deprioritised in access to health care.

Craig Wallace, ACTCOSS Head of Policy, called on the ACT Government to create a strong, timely, and impactful disability health strategy.

“Governments need to enact workplans along the lines recommended by OzSage to ensure that people with disabilities aren’t left trapped in our homes in a two-speed COVID-19 recovery,” he said.

Disability housing needed

Nor was there enough available and appropriate housing for people with disability in the ACT, Mr Lawler said.

“AFI has been inundated by individual advocacy requests concerning homelessness, housing accessibility, maintenance, and indefinite detention in secure facilities, which result from the critical lack of housing options to allow people with disability in the ACT to exercise choice and to access safe, accessible, and appropriate housing.”

Many of the ACT’s 80,000 people with disability face challenges finding suitable housing options, an ACT government spokesperson said earlier this year. They often needed to custom build their own homes or were forced to live in public housing that did not meet their needs (as the ABC reported). Younger people with disability were even living in residential aged care and nursing homes, Mr Wallace said.

Mr Wallace said ACTCOSS was keen for governments to progress regulation for accessible housing in Canberra.

“There was a welcome decision by governments around Australia to incorporate these standards within the Building Code, and we need a program of action to increase take-up here, so it starts to flow through to the rental market. 

“There are progressive targets for getting people out of nursing homes between now and 2025 and these require action on the housing supply front as well as the support front.”

AFI and ADACAS (the ACT Disability, Aged and Carer Advocacy Service) wanted appropriate housing options for people with disability in the ACT made a priority.

Earlier this year, Rebecca Vassarotti, ACT Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction, secured a national requirement that all new homes across the country have minimum accessible building standards. This reform and the ACT Government’s commitment to implement the National Construction Code from 2022 would ensure mandatory accessibility standards in new homes in the ACT, a government spokesperson said.

The ACT’s adaptable housing standards require that in constructions with more than 10 dwellings, 10 per cent of dwellings must meet general accessible standards.

Enliven Housing, a disability provider, is building 10 Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) apartments in Braddon, the first of three developments from Enliven. The ACT Government in 2019 funded the Summer Foundation to provide specialist disability accommodation for 20 people, and engaged Rights and Inclusion Australia to identify suitable housing for people with disability in the ACT. The government is renewing social housing to Liveable Gold or Adaptable Class C design standards.

Housing ACT employs specialist occupational therapists to assist tenants with mobility or disability issues, the spokesperson continued. This service is available to all Housing ACT tenants, residents, and community housing tenants. Occupational therapists ensure their homes are suited to their individual health needs and improve their safety and quality of life. As a result of the assessment, the property may be modified.

Financial support, violence, and inclusion

Earlier this year, too, ACTCOSS revealed that most people with disability struggled to survive on inadequate support payments, and more than a third were on JobKeeper because they were ineligible for the Disability Support Pension.

Today, the Mental Health Community Coalition ACT called on the Federal Government to introduce a $50 disability and illness supplement, make impairment tables fair, and abandon harmful proposals for income management.

Women with disability were twice as likely to experience violence than non-disabled people, Women with Disabilities ACT said. CEO Kat Reed wanted the ACT Government to provide more accessible crisis shelters in the ACT, a gendered approach to justice issues, and to streamline complaints processes at the ACT Human Rights Commission.

The ACT still had a long way to go in terms of improving inclusion and access for people with disability, Mr Lawler thought.

Society must, he argued, recognise their independence, individual autonomy, and right to participate equally in the community, and make essential services, transport, and planning and infrastructure inclusive and accessible.

To address these problems, Mr Lawler proposed raising awareness of disability; more education on the human rights of people with disability; and stronger protection against discrimination under the law.

Ms Davidson also thought a lot needed to be done around accessibility, education, and employment – and, above all, on how we view disability itself.

“Accessibility and inclusion aren’t just putting a ramp into a building,” Ms Davidson explained. “Sometimes, it’s about how we engage with a service, and how we communicate more effectively.”

Read more:

• Celebrate International Day of People with Disability
• Fun and learning for International Day of People with Disability
• Federal disability strategy welcome, but NDIS concerns remain
• ACT Government wants to make a better Canberra for people with disabilities
• Opinion: Respect and make space for disability leadership