Page 3267 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 21 August 2019
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National and international research shows that people with disability face many barriers to accessing justice, which leads to an increased level of contact with the justice system. The disability justice strategy will address this inequality and increase the responsiveness of the justice system to the needs of people with disability, which will improve the justice system for everyone.
The disability justice strategy is for people with disability, their families and carers, the justice system and the wider community. The strategy is a 10-year plan and has three primary goals: to ensure that people with disability are safe and their rights are respected; that the ACT has a disability responsive justice system; and that change is achieved and measured.
The disability justice strategy will support a series of action plans and review points. The first action plan released with the strategy describes the first four years of work and the commitments made by stakeholders to ensure that the ACT provides equal access to justice for people with disability. Almost $4.9 million over four years has specifically been allocated for the implementation of the action plan, with a primary outcome of the development of a community of practice, of disability liaison officers across our justice system, working together to build an understanding of the needs of people with disability within the justice system, and to support people with disability as they interact with a range of justice and legal sector partners. This will, of course, be supported by the establishment of the intermediary scheme announced in the budget.
The disability justice strategy and first action plan deliver on ACT Labor’s election commitment, and it is part of our vision for building a more inclusive Canberra.
MR GUPTA: Minister, how were the strategy and action plan developed?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mr Gupta for the supplementary question. Of course the lived experience of people with disability and their experiences with the justice system were at the core of the consultation work and the development of the strategy.
In May 2018 we held an important public conversation in which criminologist Eileen Baldry, Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates and advocate Yenn Perkis shared their knowledge and experience of people with disability and accessing justice, at a public forum during Law Week.
Then through June to September 2018 the government asked for feedback through surveys, face-to-face meetings, community events and written submissions to hear directly about the community’s views, priorities and experiences. This was continued through a survey on your say. We sought the views of the community on the issues, concerns and responses that could be included in the strategy, focusing on the three central themes of knowing your rights, exercising your rights and your experience of the justice system.
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