Link to full submission: Joint submission by Disability Representative Organisations
The Australian Government plans to repeal and replace the Disability Services Act (1986) (the Act). This is a significant opportunity to shape the vision and direction for the rights of people with disability in Australia for years to come.
Repealing the Act also provides the opportunity to update the legislative framework. This should make sure people with disability are living their lives as equal citizens, engaging in education, employment, social, political, spiritual and cultural pursuits alongside their peers.
The Department of Social Services (DSS) consulted about a New Act to Replace the Disability Services Act (1986). This consultation closed on 12 February 2023.
The following Disability Representative Organisations (DROs) made this submission to this consultation process:
- Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO)
- Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA)
- Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA)
- First Peoples Disability Network (FPDN)
- Inclusion Australia (IA)
- National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA)
- People with Disability Australia (PWDA)
- Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA)
The submission was endorsed by more than 70 organisations and individuals from across Australia:
Organisations
- Action for More Independence and Dignity in Accommodation
- Action For People With Disability Inc.
- ADA Australia
- ADACAS
- Advocacy Tasmania Inc.
- Advocacy WA
- Allied Health Professions Australia
- AMPARO Advocacy
- Antipoverty Centre
- Australian Centre for Disability Law
- Australian Council of Social Service
- Australian Federation of Disability Organisations
- Australian Music Therapy Association
- Australian Physiotherapy Association
- Barwon Disability Resource Council
- Brotherhood of St. Laurence
- Canberra Community Law
- Children and Young People with Disability Australia
- Colac Otway Region Advocacy Service (CORAS)
- Council for Intellectual Disability (CID)
- Darwin Community Legal Service
- Developmental Disability WA
- Dietitians Australia
- Disability Advocacy & Complaints Service of South Australia Inc. (DACSSA)
- Disability Advocacy Network Australia
- Disability Discrimination Legal Service
- Disability Rights Advocacy Service
- Down Syndrome Australia
- DRC Advocacy
- Equality Lawyers
- Explorability Inc.
- Family Advocacy
- First Peoples Disability Network
- Gippsland Disability Advocacy Inc.
- Grampians disAbility Advocacy
- Inclusion Australia
- Inclusion Designlab, Inclusion Melbourne
- Independent Advocacy in the Tropics Inc.
- Integrated Disability Action
- Kin Disability Advocacy
- Leadership Plus
- Melbourne Disability Institute, University of Melbourne
- Melbourne East Disability Advocacy
- Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association
- National Ethnic Disability Alliance
- Osteopathy Australia
- Parent to Parent
- People With Disabilities (WA) Inc.
- People with Disability Australia
- Physical Disability Council of NSW
- Public Interest Advocacy Centre
- Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion
- Queenslanders with Disability Network
- Regional Disability Advocacy Service
- Rights in Action Inc.
- Rights Information and Advocacy Centre
- South Australian Council on Intellectual Disability
- Southern Disability Advocacy
- Speak Out Advocacy
- Speaking Up For You Inc.
- Spinal Cord Injuries Australia
- Spinal Life Australia
- The Australian Association of Psychologists
- The Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association. Co Ltd.
- VALID
- VMIAC (Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council)
- Women with Disabilities Australia
- Youth Disability Advocacy Service (YDAS)
Individuals
- Andrew Liew
- Dr Linda Steele, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney
- Dr Piers Gooding, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Law School University of Melbourne
- Heidi La Paglia Reid
- Jenny Crosbie
- Michelle Wakeford
- Professor Erin Wilson, Uniting Chair in Community Services Innovation, Centre for Social Impact, Swinburne University of Technology
- Professor Jennifer Smith-Merry, Director of the Centre for Disability Research and Policy, The University of Sydney