Perth Voice Interactive

Disability Awareness Week 2017

IT’S a disgrace that one in two Australians living with a disability are unemployed compared to the national average of 5.4 per cent, says Greens disability spokesperson, senator Jordon Steele-John.

On the eve of national Disability Awareness Week, Mr Steele-John called on the Turnbull government to be more proactive in helping disabled people find work.

“It is abundantly clear from Senator Fifield’s lacklustre response in question time today that the Turnbull government has no plans to seriously address high rates of unemployment amongst the disability community,” he says.

“There has been no suggestion that the government take up proactive public sector targets for people with a disability and no suggestion of an innovation fund to enable the employment of people with a disability.

Safety nets

“I find this so concerning because our own human rights commission has indicated that discrimination in relation to disability comprises 37 per cent of all complaints received annually.

“Given these statistics, the government must make a concerted effort to ensure that employers act in a non-discriminatory way towards people with a disability and understand their obligations under the law.

“It is time this parliament took proactive steps to address the entrenched discrimination felt by those with a lived experience of disability in relation to employment, and I will make it my mission along with the Australian Greens to bring about positive change in this sector.”

Mr Steele-John, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, recently became a WA senator, and found out first hand the problems disabled people face when they finally land a job, scraping his skin on the narrow corridors of Parliament House trying to get to his first press conference last week.

He also quickly discovered the toilets for MPs’ offices did not provide access, with the nearest loo a long trek away on a carpet unsuited to wheelchairs.

“It’s the most pre-eminent building in Canberra, and while the public areas are accessible, nobody thought that there might be staffers or MPs or ministers that might have a disability,” Mr Steele-John says.

“There must be full accessibility built into both chambers of government, but there must be a broader discussion had about our built environment everywhere.

“Our cities, our towns, our transport systems and our legislative infrastructure have not been built to accommodate those with issues of mobility, those who are frail and elderly, mothers with children or pushing prams, for bicycles or for those with other, less visible disabilities.

“It is my hope that in time, now that attention has been drawn to it, Parliament House can be adapted to ensure that is accessible to all Australians and we can start to change the conversation about accessibility in our society more broadly.”

Mr Steele-John added he would like to see public sector targets for people with a disability, and an innovation fund set up to enable greater employment of people with a disability.

“It is my humble hope that I can be a voice for people living with a disability who feel left out,” he says.

Disability Awareness Week 2017

North Lake man Brandon Tomic is one of thousands of Western Australians achieving their goals through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

With his sights set on enhancing his skills and confidence to live independently, 19-year-old Brandon, who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, has started his own business ‘Brandon’s Shredding Boxes’.

With many clients already on the books, the business involves a pick-up service where small to medium businesses can have their paper shredded and recycled.

Brandon’s confidence to explore different options and opportunities that come his way has been possible with supports he accesses through the NDIS.

Supported by his Local Coordinator, Brandon and his family developed a personalised plan to suit his interests and aspirations. Together, they have planned the strategies to achieve one of Brandon’s goals of gaining greater independence.

In recent years Brandon’s mother, Simone, has employed a range of support workers to assist Brandon both within the home and when he’s out in the community. This has given him the opportunity to interact with a diverse range of people and has led to significant personal gains. It has also enabled Brandon to spend time away from the family home and participate in informal activities in his local community.

Brandon is showing what can be achieved through the NDIS and how it will improve the lives of people with disability and their families.

Department of Communities (Disability Services) Assistant Director General Marion Hailes-MacDonald said more than 10,000 people were now eligible to participate in the NDIS in WA.

“People are benefitting from life-changing opportunities brought about by the NDIS and its individualised planning process,” she said.

“This process, together with the supports and services provided by the State’s disability sector, means people with disability can achieve great personal outcomes.”

The NDIS is the biggest reform in the State’s disability sector. It gives people with disability greater choice and control over the supports and services they receive to actively participate in their community, while also working towards their personal goals for the life they want to live.

Following on from the areas that rolled into the NDIS from July 2014, people with disability in the Kimberley-Pilbara, South Metropolitan region and additional areas in the Perth Hills have had access to the NDIS since 1 July 2017, with more than 39,000 people with disability expected to be part of the NDIS in WA by 2020.

To participate in the NDIS, people can test their eligibility by using the ‘Am I Eligible’ tool on the Department of Communities website at http://www.communities.wa.gov.au.

THE old East Perth power station should become an Aboriginal cultural centre and not a Fritz Lang tribute to WA’s mining industry, Perth councillor Reece Harley says.

Last week former state architect Steve Woodland unveiled plans for a $100 million interactive mining museum at the old power station, situated on the banks of the Swan River.

The state government said it would support the museum if the mining industry pay for it.

But Cr Harely says the proposed museum would cut into Kalgoorlie’s tourism sector, driven by mining, and that Aboriginal cultural tourism in Perth was “under-serviced”.

“If you look at the cultural landscape in the city, there aren’t that many opportunities for international, interstate tourists as well as local people to engage with Aboriginal tourism in the city,” he says.

“We’re coming up now to our bicentenary, 2029.

“It’s only 12 years away now.

“What an incredible gift to the people of Western Australia and the world it would be to officially launch the Aboriginal culture and history centre for our bicentenary.”

Responsibility

Mr Harley says the Aboriginal museum could be jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and the resource sector.

“It would need to be connected by high speed ferry to the city to make it more accessible”, similar to the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart.

“I think you’d find a lot of companies would really be jumping all over it, to help fund an opportunity like this, as part of their corporate-social responsibility.”

Mr Harley says that during the planning for Elizabeth Quay an Aboriginal cultural centre was discussed, but never realised, so this could be an alternative for the state government to pursue.

He added that the centre could provide jobs and opportunities for Aboriginal artists and workers.

WA Aboriginal affairs minister Ben Wyatt says he believes “an Aboriginal cultural centre would be a tremendous addition to our city” but says the state’s “dire” finances would stop it from committing to any funding.

He would of course however, “welcome any investment from the private sector”.

The South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council say they welcome councillor Harley’s interest in a cultural centre, and while the site does hold historical significance, they don’t want to commit to a specific location yet.

by EMILEE NEESON