Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] All disabled people who want to get vaccinated need to be able to do just that, and we need to be able to do it urgently. The Morrison government has failed to meet its 1a and 1b targets, and right now there is no plan, no pathway, not even a trail of breadcrumbs to guide us as a community to how to get vaccinated, to give us all the protection that we need. Once again it is the disability community that have been abandoned by our government, and once again it is the disability community that have had to rise, work together and make a clear demand of the government to ensure that we are protected from COVID-19. The community are calling for a list of actions to be taken immediately, and I want to read them in detail to the chamber.

First of all, there is a need to urgently develop and implement a clear and publicly available plan to fully vaccinate disabled people, including people in congregate care settings, disabled people over 12 and those who are not NDIS participants; urgently develop and implement a clear and publicly available plan to vaccinate the close contacts of disabled people—a key aspect that is often missed in these conversations—and release data each week about the number of disabled people and their close contacts who are vaccinated. There is a need for the proper provision of PPE and the creation of a dedicated and fully accessible vaccination booking system to ensure that all call-out services are properly promoted so that we can get vaccinated in our place of residence.

The Greens will not risk the lives of disabled and young people, and we will ensure that, as we move to change the way we respond, the needs of our community are centred. (Time expired)