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Thanks, George. Now, on to our two very special guests. We're gonna get political now.
We have two guests to provide an opening address. Firstly, I would like to introduce Senator Mitch Fifield,
the Shadow Minister for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector.
Thank you Senator Fifield. (audience applauds)
Well, thank you, very much indeed, it's great to be here at
the first National Youth Disability Conference.
And could I acknowledge, at the outset, the tireless efforts of George to bring this to bear.
Applause! (audience laughs and applauds)
Also could I acknowledge Kate Colvin, the CEO of Youth Affairs Council.
And my very good friend, Andrea Coote,
who is the State Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services.
Andrea - if you haven't met her before, most of you probably have, but if you haven't met her before -
she is the political equivalent of the energizer bunny.
She is ceaseless.
And she's a great, great advocate for people with disability.
I've been in this portfolio now for a little over three years.
And I came to it without any
background in disability.
I didn't have a close friend
who had a significant disability;
I didn't have a family member with a significant
disability.
So, I
came to the portfolio
I guess you could say, 'blissfully ignorant'
that I'd been operating on the assumption - that I think
a lot of people do -
that people in Australia
with a disability got the support that they need.
Usually there's laughter when I say that because
people who
have a disability or a family member
or work with someone with a disability obviously
know that that is not the case. And so the scales
literally fell from my eyes
when I realised that
we live in a country
where often
the level of support
that a person with a disability receives is
sometimes
close to
a third-world standard.
There's rationing;
there are waiting lists; it's a crisis-driven system too often.
And
it's not the why that it should be in what is a first-world country;
what is a wealthy country.
Australians assume that they pay their taxes and people who face extra challenges
for reasons beyond their control
get the support they need.
And we know
that's not true.
There have been some great developments over the last couple of years
the sway
where people with disability,
carers,
family members, have come together to speak with one voice to say,
"It's not good enough,
and we're not gonna take it anymore."
And all political parties have heard
that message.
And you cannot find
a member of the State Parliament
or a member of the Federal Parliament,
in government
or opposition today
who will say anything other than,
"We want an NDIS, its time has come, and the sooner the better." (audience member cheers; audience applauds)
And that's a great thing,
but it's not a tribute,
I have to say, to our politicians.
It's a tribute to people with disability
and their family and friends
for being ceaseless. For not giving up.
For demanding that their voice is heard. And it has been heard.
You will have been aware, obviously,
of that great work that
the Productivity Commission did
in laying out the blueprint for a National Disability Insurance Scheme.
You would be aware that
the current Federal Government
have announced a billion dollars
for the first phase of the NDIS, which the Federal Opposition fully supports.
And you'll be aware that a number of State Government, led by Victoria,
have committed to established launch sites
for the NDIS. And again, the Federal Opposition
fully supports that.
But we also
have a job to do, as a Federal Opposition, to ask questions on your
behalf,
of the government of the day
to make sure that the National Disability Insurance Scheme
is the best that it can be.
Not to put questions in a partisan and a political
point-scoring way, because
no one wants that, in disability.
But to put questions in a way that will see the National Disability Insurance Scheme be the best that it can be.
And one thing that the Federal Opposition has proposed
as a mechanism to do that
the idea of
a joint parliamentary committee chaired by both sides of politics
a joint parliamentary committee chaired by both sides of politics to oversee the implementation of the NDIS.
I think we need a mechanism
that can ensure that the NDIS is elevated beyond partisanship.
And I think this joint parliamentary committee chaired by both sides of
politics would do that.
We also need a forum
where questions can be asked about the design,
implementation
and funding
of the NDIS in a way that isn't seen to be partisan.
I mean, you all know the way things go in politics.
If an Opposition asks a question about
something the government's doing, it tends to be seen
that you're trying to
score a political point.
It's just the way that the press cover things.
It's the way of adversarial politics.
And that's why I think we need a new model to oversight
the implementation of the NDIS. So that if there
are young people
with a disability
who have a question about eligibility
which they're concerned isn't being addressed in the design of the NDIS,
they can come to a member of parliament
and that member of parliament can put that question
in this joint parliamentary oversight committee and get an answer.
And that in posing that question, it's not seen as undermining what's being done,
it's actually seen as supporting what's being done.
So, that's a proposition that we have put to the government
Unfortunately, the government, to date, have said no.
But we will persist,
because
the NDIS is just too important to allow it to be mired
in the day-to-day
politics which we too often see.
Can I commend
everyone here today?
And the organizations represented
for the great
advocacy work
that you do.
For the work that you do in systemic advocacy
and for the work that you do
in individual advocacy.
And, I gotta tell you,
under an NDIS, advocacy is going to have to come into its own,
(audience member cheers)
because where you have more individuals than ever before accessing
the supports that they need,
you are going to need individual advocacy more than ever before.
to make sure that the voices of individuals are heard,
that we don't have a new bureaucracy that's unresponsive,
that doesn't listen.
So, individual advocacy
will come into its own in a way that we have never seen before.
But we will also need
a new commitment to systemic advocacy
because when you have a big, large,
new
national organization, which we all want to see in the form of the NDIS,
uh..
we all know that you've got big, large, national organisations,
the voice of individuals
needs to be heard about the systemic issues
that are so important.
To make sure that we don't repeat the mistakes of the past.
So, again, individual advocacy, systemic advocacy;
there will need to be a new commitment to it.
The Productivity Commission didn't have a heck of a lot to say
about either
form of advocacy
but it's probably a fair bet
that that sort of advocacy
will be funded separately to
an NDIS.
It is very heartening for me - as someone who hopes,
one day,
to be the Minister for this area -
to see the commitment and enthusiasm
that there is in this room.
I think one of the problems that we've faced in disability
is that there hasn't been a continuity
in terms of the holders of the disability portfolio,
in opposition, in government.
No sooner does the sector train up
the person who has the front-bench portfolio disabilities,
but they move on to a different portfolio.
And so, they've gotta be trained up again.
I did have this portfolio before the last election
and after it, I asked Tony Abbott for two things.
I said that I thought that the portfolio needed to be upgraded
from a Parliamentary Secretary's position, which it was at that stage,
to a full Ministerial rank position.
Which he did.
And the other thing that I said to Tony is that I wanted to stay
in the portfolio.
Hopefully
what I had learnt
I could
put to good use and we wouldn't see the need to
train up someone else
on the front bench from our side of politics.
And that's what I hope -is that I can stay in this portfolio.
So that we can see
a better deal
delivered for
people with disability.
It's been a long time coming.
I can't think of another area
of government policy
in greater need of change
and it would be my great honor and privilege
to have the opportunity
to be part
of helping deliver the better deal that is needed.
So, thank you so much. Have a great two days.
And it's wonderful to be here with you.
Thank you, Senator Fifield.
I think we all share the desire
for people with disabilities
to achieve their position above
all the bipartisan politics where I think, you know, all of us deserve to be
and this issue deserves to be.
So it's very exciting to be hearing that both sides of politics
are trying really hard to work on that.
And as George has just pointed out, I'm really glad to hear that advocacy is an up-and-coming field,
because that means that he can keep me on at YDAS. (audience laughs)
Now, I'd like to introduce our second guest speaker, the Honorable Andrea Coote.
Parliamentary Secretary for Family and Community Services.
Thank you, Andrea.
Thank you, Jen. And I, too, would like to congratulate George.
He looks pretty well from not sleeping since August.
So, I guess the end of next weekend will be a long sleep.
And I do really want to congratulate you, George, for a really successful conference.
I've looked at the program; the program just looks so exciting.
And there is over a hundred and fifty participants.
And I'm really looking forward to hearing the outcomes of what it is that you deliberate on,
and to take that forward where possible.
But, to my friend Mitch Fifield; as you can see, he is totally dedicated to this portfolio, to this area,
and believe me, he is one of the talented politicians in the Opposition party.
And watch this space. He will be taking disability right at a national level
to Tony Abbott and beyond. So, I think we're really lucky to have
such a terrific advocate. To Kate Colvin, I can't see her, but hello to - oh, hi, Kate - to say hello to Kate.
To Jen, for a terrific introduction there from you.
And to everybody here. It is so exciting to be here at the very first.
Now, I was a little nonplussed to think that the space scientists have had sixty!
We're all going to be very ancient by the time - or, I will be - by the time you come up with sixty.
So, I think we'll have to have a couple a year. I think we'll have to accelerate this,
and get things going really quickly.
I've been in this particular room on many occasions.
On many occasions with young people.
And just like you, they have issues on education, on sexuality, on homelessness.
And on the fact that the adults in their lives don't appreciate and understand
their abilities to be responsible for themselves.
So, it is really important - it's been electric,
it's been tangible to listen to these young people in this room talking
and arguing and fossicking out all of the ideas that are relevant to them.
And I know it looking at your program that that's precisely what is
going to be here, done in this room, over the next two days. And as I said,
I'll be very keen to see and to read what the outcomes are.
Now, Mitch spoke at length about the NDIS, and I'm certain that you
are all
just as excited as we are.
But also just as perplexed in many respects. The launch site has been chosen
by the Victorian Government to be in the Barwon/Colac/Otway area.
And we are now gearing up for what is going to be the proper launch
and the way forward.
Service providers are getting organized, individuals are getting organized,
bureaucrats are getting organized.
But the really important thing is for you to have a voice.
Make certain that you're participants. Make certain that young people's voices are heard.
Make quite certain
that you are a very relevant, ongoing part of the NDIS process.
Today and tomorrow
are going to give you some focus on what you can do.
But I really, sincerely encourage you all.
Because, quite frankly, you are our future.
You are going to be at the call face of what an NDIS does into the future
So, your voices need to be heard very loudly. So, get engaged.
Make quite certain that you're there at the table, and be heard. It is really important
that you are participants in it. We have to make this a success.
As Mitch rightly said, we are all wanting this to work for everyone.
But, it's only going to be as good as we can make it.
And we've all got to be eager participants in that process.
Many of you in here know that I helped to develop the State Disability Plan.
And we took, we developed a State Disability Plan, building on the success of the first one,
and there are two elements of the state disability plan that were seen to be lacking.
One was accountability
and evaluation. People wanted an opportunity to say what was, and what was
not working in a State Disability Plan.
And the second one
was how government departments join up.
If I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times: people are sick to death
of dealing and telling their story to five different government departments.
So, one of the things that we have tried to do in the State Disability Plan
is to join up a whole range of government departments -
Health, Transport,
Education, Community Services, Housing,
and others as well to make quite certain that we can deliver the very best
programs for people with a disability so that in fact you are
supported at every level. The fact that you can actually catch a train to work.
The fact that the Department of Transport has a job for you,
that they have facilities there that welcome you.
These are just some of the examples.
Now, George was at a couple of those forums and literally had me on toast,
as he normally does.
and gave me some very positive feedback. We've listened right across the state
to what you had to say. We were developing the State Disability Plan,
in a sense, blindy, because at that stage we're not really certain of how
an NDIS was going to work.
So, the idea to have evaluation and monitoring and for you to have input
as an ongoing part of the procedure is going to be very welcome
from our point of view.
So, it shows that even into the future, where we intend to go in this state.
Education and employment were things that came back to us all the time
in our consultations across the state.
There had been Disability Action Plans, and some of you in this room will have heard of these.
Each government department was supposed to have a DAP
- another acronym -
and yes, the government departments had them. They could tick the box.
But it didn't actually translate into reality.
So, we've done an audit of the DAPs, to see what is actually out there,
what is happening,
and it won't be any surprise to any of you to learn that we have a long way to go.
But by working in a joined-up approach, and seeing what we can do across all
departments, hopefully
those opportunities for work into the future are going to be something that
all of you can embrace.
We recently sat at a pilot
at the Department of Human Services and Community Services where we employ
people with a disability who were referred to us from the Disability Liaison Offices at
the university. They were cadet ships and they were so successful.
They were not just successful for the participants,
but they were really successful for the people they were working with.
So, have a look, and see what is out there.
Give us your feedback.
We need to hear. And I'll be particularly interested in what it is that you have to say
in the deliberations in the next two days.
You are our future.
You're the ones
that are going to be making an NDIS in this country work.
You're going to be the ones that hold us as governments, and governments to come,
to account.
It's conferences such as today
that are going to make their mark.
Governments will sit up listen.
People in positions of responsibility
will get up and listen.
Use your voices.
Use them loudly.
And keep us to account.
Have a fabulous conference. Thank you.