Released 11/04/2024
The ACT Government is committed to building a community that welcomes and values all people with disability. This commitment has been highlighted today with the release of the 10-year ACT Disability Strategy 2024-2033 and First Action Plan 2024-2026.
Minister for Disability Rachel Stephen-Smith said this Strategy aims to support the one in five Canberrans who live with a disability in the ACT to have full and equal participation in all aspects of community life.
“Canberrans with disability are active members of our community, but they also experience significant disadvantage and marginalisation. On average, people with disability are less likely to finish school, attend university or have paid employment, and more likely to experience violence,” said Minister Stephen-Smith.
“As a community we must do more to ensure every Canberran has equal opportunity to participate and thrive.
“This Strategy will guide how the ACT Government works to create a more inclusive Canberra by making systemic changes to embed consideration of people with disability in everything we do."
The Government has allocated $5.54 million over four years to address the priorities in the Strategy. Some of these initiatives includes:
- Support for Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to deliver culturally safe and inclusive services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with disability
- Setting employment targets for people with disability in the ACT public service
- Working with the community sector to deliver a peer support program to improve the wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ people with disability
- Creation of new disability liaison officer roles in Housing ACT and Access Canberra
- Strengthening the ACT Government’s capacity to consistently provide accessible communications and information
Implementation of the strategy will occur through three action plans over ten years. The Strategy and accompanying action plans will focus on achieving outcomes against each of the 12 wellbeing domains of the ACT Wellbeing Framework.
“The principles and actions in the Strategy and First Action Plan have been developed through extensive consultation with people with disability, families, carers, community organisations and ACT Government agencies,” said Minister Stephen-Smith.
“I thank everyone who has participated for generously sharing their experiences, ideas and ambitions. Your input has been invaluable in delivering a strategy that is underpinned by the principle of ‘nothing about us, without us’."
The ACT Disability Strategy and First Action Plan build on the other interconnected strategies, including the ACT Inclusive Education Strategy 2024-2034, the ACT Disability Health Strategy 2024-2033, and the ACT Disability Justice Strategy 2019-2029. The Strategy and Action Plan can be found here: www.act.gov.au/open/disability-strategy.
Quote attributable to Renée Heaton, Chair of Disability Reference Group:
“People with disability want to access quality services and supports, work in jobs we find rewarding, and to engage in education and other opportunities on an equal basis to others. We want to head out to dinner with our mates, go to a concert or footy match and experience all the things our city and community have to offer, free from barriers. What we know is that we all want a Canberra where people with disability live a life of their choosing.
“Good work is already happening through the ACT Disability Justice Strategy, the ACT Disability Health Strategy, and the ACT Inclusive Education Strategy. But we aren’t there yet, which means we all must take deliberate action and we expect our government to be exemplary leaders of that work and set the standard for other parts of the community.
“This ACT Disability Strategy brings together the important work already happening while committing us all to a future direction paved by real actions and goals. Canberrans have benefited from a progressive and contemporary community, and we want these benefits to extend to people with disability. We want to aim high and work together so that this strategy and the subsequent action plans see every Canberran doing something to make inclusion a reality.”
Quote attributable to Craig Wallace, Head of Policy for Advocacy for Inclusion:
“AFI welcomes the whole of Government ACT Disability Strategy being announced today by the ACT Government. While there will be more to do this is an important start and we are pleased to see the Strategy is accompanied by a credible investment of resources along with policy intent and shifts in some key areas.
“In particular we welcome: the commitment to introduce a new Housing Disability Liaison Officer position, the funding to an Aboriginal community controlled organisations to deliver culturally safe and inclusive services, work to establish a communications hub with an easy English Specialist and Auslan Interpreter within Access Canberra, the increases to the Inclusion Grants and the I-Day grants, the training to up skill Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Workers and the systemic self-advocacy program for people with intellectual disability. We also welcome an ambitious 9% target for disability employment in the ACT Public Service along with moves to transition the International Day of People with Disability celebrations to community control.
“This Strategy is the culmination of solid work and commitment spanning two Ministers as well as people with disabilities who devoted time, expertise and energy to a robust consultation process over several years.”
- Statement ends -
Rachel Stephen-Smith, MLA | Media Releases