Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Hansard source

I do not want it on the record that we do not want a launch site that covers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. As you know, launch sites were identified through nominations from various states and territories in terms of what they were proposing. We are very pleased that in South Australia there are discussions continuing around the provision of services in remote parts of the state for the first cohort and as it grows. That will be an important learning for us as well. We have had discussions around the APY Lands with South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia, thinking that we may be able to do something more broadly than simply in the South Australian area, as does happen with a range of other programs.

The other thing to go to is the number of practical design fund projects that have been funded that do focus on a number of issues; notably, the fact that for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians the word disability is not part of their lexicon. We need to make sure that we do overcome this underutilisation of even current disability services by people who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. It is something that we are very aware of. We are working very closely with the First Peoples Disability Network and I commend Mr Damian Griffis for his engagement and representation. He has been wonderful to work with. It is an issue that I am personally very aware of, living next to Cape York Peninsula and the Torres Strait, where service delivery is very difficult. I am keen to make sure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in rural and remote areas, but also in urban areas. Let's not forget that many Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders live in our cities and they also underutilise disability services. Yes, we have a big piece of work to do, and we are working on it.