Centre Alliance
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Below is the full response we received from Rebekha Sharkie from Centre Alliance.
Rebekha is a firm supporter of building on and improving the NDIS as key social policy in Australia. As you would be aware, Rebekha will if re-elected not be in a position to form Government in her own right and commit to specific detailed policy requests. Rebekha’s answers below therefore address the broader policy positions set out in your request from her current perspective as a cross-bench Member of Parliament.
I also attach a copy of the Hansard excerpt of Rebekha’s recent speech regarding her concerns with aspects of the NDIS at present, and thanking JFA Purple Orange for your engagement regarding the NDIS (Participant Service Guarantee and Other Measures) Bill 2021. As the Hansard is a PDF (which may not be an ideal format for legibility), I also provide a link to Hansard of the speech: ParlInfo - BILLS : National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Participant Service Guarantee and Other Measures) Bill 2021 : Second Reading (aph.gov.au).
Housing
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?
Yes – I will advocate to whomever forms Government for direct commitment to invest in accessible, affordable social housing. I recognise that meeting minimum accessibility standards will better cater for people living with disability and additionally for people ‘ageing in place’, both of whom make up our community here in Mayo as the oldest electorate in South Australia.
NDIS
Do you commit to each of the three tenets to strengthen the NDIS: personalised supports, grassroots LACs, and a simple participant pathway?
Yes – I will continue to support these three tenets and other means to strengthen the NDIS including the NDIA better working with participants. I am particularly interested in making local area coordinators more ‘local’ and less a big business, and the proposed model of ‘investigate, calibrate, evaluate’. I would also continue to advocate for changes to reduce the number of matters currently the subject of dispute before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal at great financial cost to the Government and personal cost to participants, consistent with my speech in the House of Representatives on 30 March 2022.
Women’s Safety
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?
Yes – I will continue to advocate to the Government for a plan to address the prevalence of violence against women and girls including one to recognise and address the higher rates of violence experienced by women and girls living with disability. I will consult my constituents with disability and disability advocates regarding the co-design of such a plan. I keenly await the findings of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability to help guide this work.
Transport
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?
Yes – I will advocate to whomever forms Government to improve the transport standards and compliance with those standards in order to prioritise inclusive, accessible transport for people with disability.
Disability Support Pension
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?
Yes – I will advocate to whomever forms Government to address barriers (financial and administrative) for people with disability to engage in and earn more income from employment.
Employment
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?
Yes – I will advocate for more robust reporting of employment outcomes generally including for Australians living with disability, recognising that under-employment is not properly accounted for at present. I will work with whomever forms Government to pursue the above employment-related goals more generally, and am interested in further exploring the proposal to re-orient the Workplace Gender Equality Agency as a Workplace Equality Agency, noting the analogy between the gender pay gap and disability pay (and employment) gap, under the Department of Employment, Skills and Education.