Page 3880 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 25 September 2019
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NAATI-accredited courses across Australia with endorsed qualifications. These are diploma-level or higher translation and interpreting qualifications provided by educational institutions that have received NAATI endorsement.
As part of the upcoming Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, the Department of Social Services will provide information on counselling and other support services, including Auslan providers, currently available for people with disability, their family and carers, and support workers who are affected by the issues raised through the royal commission. While the royal commission will serve as a much-needed platform for some of the most vulnerable members of our community it may also bring to the fore the availability or unavailability of counselling and support services to people who are deaf or deafblind. We welcome the provision of this support and the development of the disability royal commission’s accessibility strategy, which will guide the commission in its engagement with people with disability.
The ACT government has demonstrated its commitment to people with disability by providing a significant funding investment of $700 million to aid the full scheme implementation of the NDIS. I look forward to seeing how this will further improve the lives of Canberrans with disability.
Reflecting on what Minister Rattenbury said earlier today, with the additional facts that he provided of the case and the additional insights, it is very clear that at the forefront of his mind has been the need to make sure that our deaf and deafblind community have access to the best services possible when accessing their mental health. I have every confidence in his sincerity when he said he wants to work to make sure that there are options available for the community.
I am pleased to support the motion discussed in the chamber today and Mr Rattenbury’s amendment, as the ACT government continues to work with the disability sector to ensure that the wellbeing of deaf and deafblind people remains a core priority. In my ministerial statement I reconfirmed my commitment to ensuring good outcomes for people with disability. Our work to improve wellbeing for deaf and deafblind people in the ACT is a reflection of that commitment, and this government will continue to work to build a community that is inclusive for everyone.
MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (4.17): I am quite pleased with the support, generally speaking, for my motion today. I think this is another one of those areas where we all agree that there is an issue. We may not agree on the best way to address that issue and fill the gap in service provision, but I am very heartened by comments from Minister Rattenbury and Minister Orr about their commitment to ensuring that Canberrans who are deaf or deafblind will get the support that they need.
I think one of the issues here is that these program do not fit into a nice, little standard box. I would not like to think that there is inflexibility in the ACT’s public health system such that the bureaucracy there could not cope with non-standard treatment practices, as may be required for specific groups, whether it is a disability group or a culturally and linguistically diverse group, which the deaf community sometimes identify as.
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