Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Werriwa for this motion. Tomorrow, on the International Day of People with Disability, a day to increase awareness of gains to be derived from inclusion of people with disability in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life, we have the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of people with a disability and the positive contributions they bring to our communities and families. The focus of the international day this year is on the empowerment of people with disability for inclusive, equitable and sustainable development across the world.

This year many Australian organisations are using 'The future is accessible' as their key theme to celebrate the day. Assisting people with disabilities to achieve this are devoted families, friends, carers and some extraordinary not-for-profit organisations. In my electorate of Indi, the Regional Disability Advocacy Service, RDAS, assists people with a disability living in the Ovens-Murray district of north-east Victoria and the Murrumbidgee district of southern New South Wales. Martin Butcher, the chief executive officer, and the RDAS team, including Deb Randich, provide free and independent advocacy and information to anyone with a disability, of any age, to ensure equality of rights and increased integration into the community. We really need such organisations.

Across Australia, the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme has had many positive outcomes for a more accessible future. However, for too many the aim of providing people with a disability with choice and control in relation to support services they need is yet to be fully realised. A fully accessible future is one where people living with a disability can easily access age-appropriate accommodation, including supported disability accommodation, supported independent living and public housing.

For carers with young adults at home, finding respite care is a critical part of NDIS support, and it's a challenge compounded in rural and regional areas such as mine, where there is little or no choice. The transition to a new funding model has further impacted services in the thin markets that characterise rural and regional communities. For example, in October this year the only short-term respite facility in Benalla notified participants it would close in early November, advising that it was no longer financially viable. While the provider worked hard to identify suitable alternative providers, these are located 50 to 100 kilometres away and, importantly, must be booked months in advance.

One single parent from the rural locale of Molyullah, Lee Harris, cares for her 21-year-old son, Taylor, who has severe autism. Lee described to me the reality of her situation now that the Benalla respite centre is closed. She'd recently required urgent medical care and needed hospital admission for surgery. Her son was able to go to respite that day and stay for a week in a place he knew well with support workers familiar to him until she came home. But, should that happen again, Lee now has nowhere to send Taylor where he's known and understood, and she certainly can't take him anywhere at short notice.

Universal access to education is a fundamental human right. I recently visited Belvoir Special School in Wodonga to meet the principal, students, parents and teachers. Belvoir is a foundation-to-year-12 school comprising 198 amazing students. The principal of Belvoir, Mr Jamie Gay, told me of the joys and the many challenges he faces in helping to achieve student goals. A key concern he raised with me was an extreme shortage of special education teachers and the anomalies of trying to work across the border with New South Wales—a common problem in my electorate.

And what of inclusion in the workplace? In the January 2019 edition of the Journal of Business and Psychology, Bonaccio et al summarised the international evidence for participation of people with disabilities in workplaces. They found that, while managers may express concern that workers with disabilities would have lower job performance and greater incidence of lateness or absenteeism, the empirical evidence suggests otherwise. Employers' testimonials make it clear that their inclusive practices do not stem from charity but from business decisions. Matched to the right job, people with disabilities are superb employees. Two young men, well known to me, who are invaluable employers at Merriwa Industries are Jed MacLeish and Jacob Grogan. I give a special shout-out to Jed, who with the support of his family recently purchased his first home and is living independently.

As we mark International Day of People with Disability, it's incumbent upon all of us to look across all aspects of daily life and make sure—

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