Transcript:

My name is Martin Butcher, with the DANA weekly update. I am coming to you from Biripi country on the Mid North Coast of NSW.

I have recently been appointed to an exciting new role as Senior Manager of Sector Development and Engagement with DANA. This is a strategic role for DANA, as our purpose is to provide a collaborative voice for the disability advocacy sector and people with disability who cannot do this without a strong network of independent disability advocacy organisations across Australia delivering consistently high advocacy for people with disability.

This is an important time for the disability advocacy sector. We are going through the biggest reform in thirty years as the government has opened a tender for the delivery of the Disability Support Program. DANA is committed to supporting our members through the transition process.

In this new role, I will continue to have oversight of the activities, including the disability employment program that is supporting advocates going into disability enterprises.

We want to build an evidence-based approach to address the resources to provide to support the advocacy sector.

We know that independent disability advocacy supports some of the most vulnerable and hidden people in our community, including people living in closed settings.

This week, the NCDA published an insight report into closed settings. The key message from this report is that there is a need for the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to develop practice standards for group homes.

The practice standards must include a requirement for independent advocates and community visitors to have a right to enter homes to inform residents of their rights.

This insight report came following a systemic advocacy forum in which advocates told us that their pure frustration about advocates are not able to meet with people living in group settings in private, and there’s always other people like support workers who overhear what they have to say.

This report will be available on the NCDA website, which is www.ncda.org.au

I’m looking forward to continuing to connect with our members and the sector and to be able to strengthen the sector to be a strong network for people with disability.

Thank you very much.