Yesterday, the Federal and State/Territory Governments released their responses to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. DSA was very disappointed that the Federal Government only agreed to 13 of the 222 recommendations, but has agreed in principle to another 117. DSA has been advocating strongly to end segregated education, segregated employment, and ensure fair wages for people with disability. The mixed response to the Recommendations in this areas provides no clear pathway to ending segregation in these settings. DSA has provided an initial response to the Federal Government announcement through the media - see our social media or the link to our media release below. DSA will be reviewing Federal, State and Territory responses closely and will soon provide a guide for people with Down syndrome and their supporters, outlining our key priorities.
In other news, the new NDIS legislation was sent back to the Senate Committee for further review in June. Our CEO, Darryl Steff, spoke at the public hearings on 24 July, addressing how the changes could impact people with Down syndrome. The Senate Committee’s report will be published early this month, with a debate and vote to follow.
Finally, DSA has been working hard with Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and other disability representative organisations on the Welcoming Disability campaign. We're pushing for needed changes to Australia's migration health laws. While some progress has been made, we believe more is needed.
It’s disappointing that there’s still no clear plan or timeline for the urgent reforms needed to fix the harmful impacts of current laws on people with disability.
Read more about our campaign and our joint media release here.
