Page 209 - Week 01 - Thursday, 10 February 2022
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NDIS principles into closer alignment with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, where “people with disability are central to the National Disability Insurance Scheme and should be included in a co-design capacity”. This echoes the genuine desire of people with disability and the disability sector to work in partnership with the commonwealth in supporting and strengthening the NDIS to fulfil its original promise.
Here in the ACT we continue to champion an NDIS where person-centred support, that gives choice and control to people with disability, is a core principle. For example, the ACT government provided support to the Disability Reference Group to meaningfully engage with people with disability and their supporters and allies to inform a submission to the commonwealth. Through supporting and facilitating meetings and conversations with people with disability and their supporters, 70 people in the ACT were able to contribute to the new Australia’s Disability Strategy that was launched in December 2021.
People with disability; their families and carers; non-government organisations; support groups; and the Disability Reference Group also participated in consultations for the Canberra Health Services Disability Access and Inclusion Plan, which is being progressed by ACT Health.
The development of the ACT Disability Justice Strategy 2019-29 is another example of how the ACT government uses a person-centred and co-design approach, with extensive consultation with people with disability, disabled people organisations and disability advocacy organisations being undertaken during the developmental stages of the strategy, using a variety of accessible formats.
The ACT welcomed the commonwealth’s announcement in October 2021, outlining the outcomes from two workshops held in September, which acknowledged the need to improve relationships and rebuild trust between the NDIA and the disability community, as well as a shared commitment to work on priorities which would benefit from co-designed solutions, such as the new person-centric assessment model. Independent Advisory Council member Mr James Manders repeated a frequently quoted core principle when consulting with the ACT’s Disability Reference Group regarding the proposed legislative reform changes: “Nothing about us, without us.”
I am very pleased to say that we will have an excellent working example of how to build relationships with the disability community, and engage in genuine co-design, through the development of the ACT’s Disability Strategy. I look forward to providing more detail about this work in coming months, but one of the things I am most excited about is that the conversation will be led by people with disability, including members of our ACT Disability Reference Group, led by Chair Renee Heaton. The ACT’s Disability Strategy will confirm and consolidate our commitment over the next decade to upholding the rights of people with disability and facilitating opportunity for people with disability to live with dignity and to actively engage across every aspect of society.
I remain committed to working in partnership with my ministerial counterparts through the disability reform ministers forum, to ensure that people with disability are
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