Consultation on the proposed Disability Inclusion (Review Recommendations) Amendment Bill 2022

Your feedback has been heard! Now have your say on the proposed Disability Inclusion (Review Recommendations) Amendment Bill 2022.

What's being decided?

An independent review of the Act was conducted throughout 2022, including a state-wide consultation on the overall operation and effectiveness of the Act to date. Feedback from the consultation informed the Final Report which has detailed fifty (50) recommendations relating to legislation, policy and operational changes.

The Disability Inclusion (Review Recommendations) Amendment Bill 2022 (the Amendment Bill 2022) responds to a number of the legislative changes proposed in the final report provided by the independent reviewer.

We are now seeking your feedback on these proposed changes, along with other operational recommendations that will be considered as part of the upcoming review of Inclusive SA later this year.

Background

The Disability Inclusion Act 2018 (SA) (the Act) commenced operation on 1 July 2018 and is an important part of South Australia’s legislative scheme. It is designed to promote full inclusion within the South Australian community of people with disability, and to support and enhance the ability of people with disability to achieve their full potential as equal citizens, and more generally to promote the wellbeing of people with disability through social inclusion.

The Act is intended to promote the recognition of essential human rights in South Australia in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and interacts with national strategies such as Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021 – 2031, state-wide initiatives including Inclusive SA, the State’s first Disability Access and Inclusion Plan and other schemes such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The Act is underpinned by a range of rights-based principals that reflect the tone of the UNCRPD and the predecessor document to Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031 (the National Disability Strategy 2010-2020). These principals are based on a recognition that while people with disability have the same fundamental human rights as others, they often experience difficulty exercising their rights because of the inaccessibility of things such as the built environment, cultural approaches, community attitudes or a range of other limitations. Through these principals, the Act gives visibility to the issues faced by people with disability.

The Act is an important piece of legislation and so the important opportunities that the review presents should not be underestimated.

Get involved

Find out more:

• read the detailed Final Report from the review of the Disability Inclusion Act 2018 (SA)
• review the proposed Amendment Bill 2022.

Have your say by:

• taking our survey below and tell us what you think of the:
  • proposed Amendment Bill 2022
  • operational recommendations made to inform our next Inclusive SA (the State Disability Inclusion Plan).
• Email a submission to: DHSdisabilityinclusionact@sa.gov.au
• Post your written submission to: Department of Human Services, Social Inclusion Directorate, GPO Box 292, Adelaide SA 5001.

Submissions will close on Thursday 6 April 2023.

What are the next steps?

Your feedback will be considered prior to the introduction of the Amendment Bill 2022 into Parliament, and collated to support the Inclusive SA review later this year.