Hayward, Donna --- "Services for those with a disability" [1995] ALRCRefJl 15; (1995) 67 Australian Law Reform Commission Reform Journal 66

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SERVICES FOR THOSE WITH A DISABILITY

The ALRC Review

In October 1994, as part of the review of the Department of Human Services and Health legislation, the Australian Law Reform Commission began examining the ways in which the Department funds, regulates and provides services for people with a disability.

Donna Hayward reports on progress to date.

The ultimate goal of this review is to produce new legislation dealing with the Department's delivery of disability services, both directly and by funding other service organisations. These activities are currently governed by the Disability Services Act 1986 (Cth).

This Act does not say much about the rights of people who actually use the services. The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) wants the new legislation to focus more on the people who use disability services - clearly setting out the rights and responsibilities of people with disabilities, as well as those of service providers and the Commonwealth.

Terms of reference

The terms of reference for this review direct the ALRC to:

• make recommendations on how new legislation should reflect Commonwealth legal policies in areas such as administrative law, secrecy, privacy and criminal law
• make recommendations on how new legislation should reflect the Commonwealth's human rights obligations and social justice goals of access, equity, availability and quality
• advise on the elements common to the aged care, child care, disability services and health programs
• have regard to the need to ensure that service providers observe proper standards of accountability while retaining flexibility and innovation in service delivery.

What services does the Department fund and administer?

The Disability Services Act 1986 (Cth) enables the Commonwealth to fund and administer any type of service for people with a disability. In 1992 the Commonwealth/State Disability Agreement was signed. That agreement divides the responsibility for administering services between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories. The Commonwealth is mainly responsible for administering services that either employ people with a disability or help them find and keep employment, but also provides services directly through the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service.

The Commonwealth provides funds to the States and Territories, who also contribute their own funds, to administer accommodation, respite and recreation services for people with a disability. The Commonwealth and the States and Territories both have responsibility for funding advocacy services that help people with a disability understand and assert their rights.

Consumer issues paper

The ALRC released an issues paper in June 1995, seeking the opinions of people with a disability who use, who have used or who would like to use disability services. Information sought includes:

• how the Commonwealth is meeting its social justice goals and human rights obligations
• how people get access to a service
• how people's needs and goals are assessed by a service and how the assessment process can be improved
• whether services meet people's needs and goals
• service quality
• the choices people with a disability have about the type of help they get from a service
• complaints about services
• the adequacy of privacy provisions.

The ALRC will produce a second paper in late August 1995. That paper will have a broader focus, covering consumer issues in more detail, and seeking the points of view of:

• Commonwealth funded service providers
• the Commonwealth as a provider of rehabilitation services
• the Commonwealth as a regulator of funded services
• the Commonwealth as a joint funder of State and Territory administered accommodation and other disability services.

Public consultation

The ALRC will consult on both papers during October and November 1995.

To obtain the views of as broad a range of people as possible, the inquiry will visit each capital city and some regional centres to conduct information workshops and public hearings.

Information workshops are informal sessions where people can make comments and respond to the questions in the issues paper (IP 15) and the discussion paper (forthcoming).

Public hearings are more formal sessions where people book an appointment to speak on issues raised in the papers. Those comments will be recorded and become part of the public record.

The ALRC wants to hear from people with a disability

The ALRC wants to hear how people with a disability think the current legislation is working and what improvements they would make. For this reason the first issues paper looks only at consumer issues. The paper is available in print form, braille, audio tape and in simple English for people with an intellectual disability.

The ALRC recognises that people with an intellectual disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a disability and people from a non-English speaking background with a disability may have difficulty participating in the consultations because of distance or communication problems. For this reason, the ALRC will organise a series of focus groups. These are interviews with small specific groups of people with a disability to get their views on the questions raised in the issues paper.

The ALRC will carefully consider the submissions and responses to the public consultations in making the recommendations in its final report which should be delivered to Parliament in late March 1996.

People with a disability are encouraged to convey their views by either writing to, telephoning or faxing the ALRC, filling out a questionnaire that has been distributed with the issues paper, or sending a computer disk or an audio tape. The closing date for submissions is 30 November 1995. For more information contact Donna Hayward on [phone] or 1 800 808 393 if you are ringing from outside the Sydney metropolitan area.

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