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Australian Greens

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Below is the full response we received from the Greens.

Will you commit to directly investing in accessible and affordable social housing that complies with the minimum accessibility standards set out in the updated National Construction Code 2022?

 

The Greens recognise that disabled people have been locked out of affordable and accessible housing, leaving them with unacceptable options. The Greens will:

  • Ensure the implementation of the Liveable Housing Australia (LHA) Silver standard now codified in the National Construction Code across all jurisdictions;
  • Build one million fully accessible public and community homes under the Federal Housing Trust;
  • Invest in accessible housing solutions to ensure availability of high quality Specialist Disability Accommodation and transitional housing options to ensure disabled people aren’t forced into residential aged care

 

Do you commit to updating the Disability Support Pension (DSP) arrangements to eliminate barriers, disincentives, and penalties for people to earn more income from employment?

 

The Greens Liveable Income Guarantee would see all government income support payments raised above the poverty line, mutual obligations abolished, and unfair restrictions on who can access the payment removed, to ensure that everyone has the means to cover their basic essential needs. With cost of living a pressing issue and wages growth stagnant, the Greens also argue the policy for a universally available payment will help lift wages from the bottom up, while also boosting the economy by ensuring more money is spent on essentials in local businesses.

People receiving the disability support pension will be up to $172 a week better off under the Greens plan. 

In addition, changes to the income free area will enable DSP recipients to earn an additional $120 per fortnight in the income free area, before their pension is reduced. In aggregate, this will enable DSP recipients to earn an additional $3,120 per year before their payment is reduced, significantly increasing their annual income, in addition to the benefits of the higher rate of DSP, outlined above. 

 

Do you commit to setting national targets and funding regular robust measurement of employment outcomes for Australians living with disability, reforming the Disability Employment Service (DES) in a way that will genuinely support people living with disability into meaningful sustainable mainstream employment, cancelling the Supported Employment Services Award within five years and transitioning Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) out of the ’sheltered workshop’ approach, and investing in the promotion of the Employment Assistance Fund (EAF) to employers?

 

The Greens support all of the above measures and will:

  • Work with the disability community to create a National Jobs Plan that:
  • Sets a 20 per cent quota for full employment representation of disabled employees in the Australian Public Service by 2030; 
  • Sets milestone targets, performance indicators and timeframes for increasing the workforce participation and retention for disabled people across all sectors; 
  • Ends segregated employment, including the closure of Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE), and makes transitional arrangements for workers. 

 

Do you commit to each of the three tenets to strengthen the NDIS: personalised supports, grassroots LACs, and a simple participant pathway?

 

The Greens are committed to creating a properly funded, staffed and resourced NDIS that is transparent, consultative and accountable.

The Greens will:

  • Remove the staffing cap and ensure that staff receive high-quality, ongoing training and support;
  • Ensure the IT systems and interfaces for participants and service providers are fit for purpose and fully accessible; 
  • Ensure the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is properly resourced to undertake its compliance and investigative capacity through an immediate investment of $300 million;
  • Push to remove the age limit that prevents people over 65 from being accepted in the NDIS;
  • Boost NDIS funding and reinvest into the NDIS the $160 million the Morrison Government committed to corporations as part of their failed attempt to roll out Independent Assessments.

Disability spokesperson for the Greens, Senator Steele-John, and his office, were instrumental in working with the community to ensure that independent assessments, as proposed by the Morrison government, were struck down. 

 

Will you commit to reinvigorating the Transport Standards; providing strong national leadership that prioritises accessibility; implementing a comprehensive auditing, reporting, and accountability framework; and investing in projects that address non-compliance?

 

The Greens will:

  • Invest $1 billion over four years to boost accessible public transport across Australia;
  • Establish a new $3 billion Accessible Infrastructure Fund, including  $30 million Accessible Nature Fund, available to state, territory and local governments to improve the accessibility of existing public places and infrastructure. This includes increasing access to nature and tourism activities for disabled people;
  • Restore funding and invest $30 million to increase the availability of AUSLAN interpreters, relay and translation services, and expand the regulatory requirement for audio description and captioning services to commercial TV;
  • Provide $1.49 million over two years, followed by ongoing annual funding of $2 million indexed by the Consumer Price Index, to establish a National Disability Telecommunications Service, a national resource for communications product and services information, training and support;
  • Invest an initial $5 million to re-establish a safe, dedicated online platform for the promotion of discussion, debate, and cultural development within the disability community (similar to the ABC’s defunded Ramp Up). 

 

Will you commit to investing in the co-design and implementation of a targeted, properly resourced, five-year Action Plan to address the prevalence of violence against women and girls living with disability?

 

The Greens have committed $12B towards a National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children, and to co-designing Action Plans that respond to the particular needs of specific communities, including women and girls with disability.  We will also ensure that the voices and experiences of victim-survivors are central to the design and implementation of Action Plans.