Page 191 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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in layman’s terms, Madam Deputy Speaker: what was going on in our community, not “emergency” from an ESA point of view. I am talking about the pub test: what is going on? There were numerous broadcasts by ministers, the Chief Minister and the ESA commissioner, but no communication access was provided for our ACT deaf constituents. It was a highly serious oversight. There were people wondering what was going on.
These types of emergency broadcasts provide important information for our residents to keep them safe, keep them healthy and, in the very strongest case, save lives. When a threat is imminent, emergency broadcasts are the most accessible and reliable source of instruction and information available—or such is the intention, but that is only if you can access and understand these broadcasts.
I have talked about this many times in this place over the years. English is often a second language for deaf people. Without providing access in their primary language, their first language—Auslan or Australian sign language—the deaf community simply may not be able to understand what is going on. I should not have to state the obvious, but deaf people cannot listen to the radio, which is one of the prime sources of information in an emergency. Missing these broadcasts can mean enormous danger to the deaf community. But, just as importantly, missing information, lack of information and failure to provide information are a source of enormous stress. The mental health impacts of not knowing what is going on in your community cannot be underestimated. Unfortunately, there were some failures this year.
I fear that this is a broader reflection of this government’s neglect of the deaf community. It is a broader pattern of neglect. Time after time we have come into this place to point out the need for better communication access for our deaf community. I am sure there are some people saying, “Here is Ms Lawder going on about the deaf community again.” If it happened properly, if it happened as it is meant to happen, I would not have to stand up here and bring these issues to the Assembly time after time.
Let us look at a bit of history. We had an issue this year about an Auslan-competent psychologist, a mental health professional able to communicate in Auslan. The deaf community was blocked from accessing those mental health services. I had to bring a motion here in the Assembly calling on the government to provide better mental health services to get some action happening on this issue.
There have been other times I have spoken in this place about access for deaf people. Over this summer, members of the deaf community contacted me to say, “We are not getting interpreters provided on these media broadcasts.” It is not good enough. The deaf community activated. They complained. They used the avenues available to them. This was not a time for me to write a letter to the minister and wait however long to get a response. This was not a time to put in a question. This was a time for the deaf community to step in and act themselves, to make sure that this was provided sooner rather than later. They did that. They contacted the department and the minister to say, “What is going on?” It is an unacceptable pattern. It is discriminatory. And it is not reflective of what I believe should be the inclusiveness of Canberra.
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