Consultation Report (Easy Read)

Now Closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 6 August 2019 to 30 August 2019. Below is a record of this engagement.

South Australia’s First Disability Inclusion Plan 2019–2023

Community Consultation: Summary Report

Easy Read version

Download the Consultation Summary Report (Easy Read version) on a PDF printable version.

How to use this document

Julia Farr Association Purple Orange (JFA Purple Orange) wrote this document for the South Australian Government Department of Human Services (DHS). When you see the word ‘we’, it means DHS.

We have written this information in an easy to read way.

We have written some words in bold. We explain what these words mean.

There is a list of these words at the bottom of this page.

This Easy Read document is a summary of another document.

You can ask for help to read this document.

A friend, family member or support person may be able to help you.

What’s on this page?

• About our State Disability Inclusion Plan
• Talking to the community about our State Plan
• How did we include people with disability?
• Groups in our community
• What did people say?
• What do people with disability want?
• Our vision for South Australia
• Making things better
• Thank you!
• Word list

About our State Disability Inclusion Plan

In 2018, we wrote a new law – the Disability Inclusion Act 2018.

We call it the Act.

The Act explains how people with disability should be treated.

After we introduced the Act, we started writing our first State Disability Inclusion Plan (our State Plan).

Our State Plan is an important step we must take to make sure our community is:

• inclusive
• accessible.

If something is inclusive, everyone can take part.

If something is accessible, everyone can use it. This might be:

• a place or a building
• transport
• a service
• information
• a website.

Our State Plan talks about our goals for the next 4 years.

Other parts of the government need to write plans too, including:

• State Government departments
• local councils.

We call these plans Disability Access and Inclusion Plans (DAIP).

Everyone needs to help make life in our community better for people with disability.

Talking to the community about our State Plan

It’s important for us to talk to the community about any plans we make.

We have already talked with the community about what we should put in our State Plan.

People gave us more than 1,000 ideas to think about.

384 people told us what they think should be in our State Plan.

Over 130 of those were people with disability.

Some of the other people we talked to were:

• family members
• carers
• people who work with people with disability
• people who work for state and local governments
• researchers.

How did we include people with disability?

JFA Purple Orange helped us talk to our community.

They helped us plan our community forums.

These are events where we get together to talk about our ideas.

JFA Purple Orange also brought a group of people with disability together to help them.

The people in that group told us what they think should be in our State Plan.

The people in the group will keep working with us on our State Plan in the future.

Groups in our community

There are many groups in our community who face extra barriers and challenges.

These groups include:

• women with disability
• children with disability
• people with disability from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds
• people with disability who come from different cultures
• people with disability who speak languages other than English at home.

We are talking to these groups about our State Plan:

• in different ways
• at different times.

What did people say?

Some people told us that our community is not very accessible.

Some people also told us that sometimes our community is not very inclusive.

We heard about the issues that affect people with disability the most.

People don’t understand what life is like for people with disability.

The places people with disability need to go, and the ways they get there, are not always accessible.

People with disability are not always included in the fun things other people get to do.

People with disability find it hard to get the things they need, such as:

• services
• transport
• information.

It’s hard for people with disability to find work and earn money.

What do people with disability want?

People with disability told us what they want.

People with disability want to:

• be treated with respect and dignity
• make their own decisions
• live in a place that feels like home
• learn and get the education they want
• work and earn money
• feel safe
• have fun and make friends
• get the information they need
• know what their rights are
• find and use the services they need.

Our vision for South Australia

Our vision is what we want our state to be in the future.

We want our state to be a place where everyone:

• is treated fairly
• is treated with respect
• is safe
• is treated equally
• has the same opportunities.

What did people say about our vision?

People said we should:

• talk about people with disability in our vision
• give everyone a chance to share their ideas about what is in our State Plan
• use more everyday language that people can understand.

Making things better

We are doing a good job in some areas.

But other areas need more work.

The community told us their ideas about what we can do to make things better.

We talk about what we can do on the following pages.

Understand what life is like for people with disability

Our community is learning what life is like for people with disability.

We still have a lot to learn.

People said we should:

• share positive ideas about people with disability all over South Australia
• teach people everywhere what life is like for people with disability.

Include people with disability

People with disability want to take part in:

• sport
• fun activities
• community life.

People with disability want to:

• meet different people
• make new friends.

People said we should:

• use more of our money to make our government:
  • accessible
  • inclusive
• make our public places and shared spaces accessible
• offer more sports and
• fun activities that are inclusive.

Make more places accessible

The places we go and the ways we use to get there need to be accessible so people with disability can take part in our community.

We have some accessible:

• beaches
• playgrounds.

People said we should:

• set higher standards for building and planning
• fix roads, crossings and footpaths that aren’t safe
• make more car parking spaces accessible
• make more taxi ranks accessible
• promise to use Universal Design ideas.

Universal Design means we think about what everybody needs when we plan or start new projects and services.

If we use Universal Design when we make plans, everyone can use every place, space and service from the start.

Give people a say when we make decisions

We are starting to include people with disability more when we talk to the community.

But we don’t always include people with disability when we make decisions.

It’s important that we include people with disability before we make decisions that affect them.

People said we should:

• put together groups of people with disability who can give us advice
• include people with disability when we make decisions
• offer programs that can help people with disability get the skills and knowledge they need to live their lives
• think about the best ways to include people with disability when we talk to the community.

Help people find work and earn money

Some workplaces are becoming:

• accessible
• inclusive.

Workplaces are any place you might work, such as:

• an office
• a factory
• a shop.

Other workplaces still have a lot to learn about what life is like for people with disability.

People said we should:

• set goals for how many people with disability work:
  • for us
  • in other workplaces
• make the ways to find people who can work for us:
  • accessible
  • inclusive
• teach the community how good it can be to work with people with disability
• reward employers who give jobs to people with disability
• develop programs that can teach work skills to people with disability.

Help people learn and get an education

Sometimes students with disability don’t get enough support at school.

Schools and teachers need to learn more about how to be:

• accessible
• inclusive.

People said we should:

• use more of our money to support students with disability
• provide more support for students with disability at:
  • school
  • TAFE
  • university
• make it easier for students with disability to start work after they leave school.

Give people the services they need

We don’t have enough support workers in areas that are far away from cities and towns.

Our support workers don’t always get enough training for the work they need to do.

People said we should:

• find more support workers to work with disability service providers
• give support workers better training
• use more of our money to support community organisations.

Give people the information they need

Our community is glad that we are starting to share information in ways that are easy to read.

People with disability still aren’t getting enough information about:

• supports and services
• their rights
• what is happening in the community.

Websites aren’t always the best way for people with disability to get information.

People said we should:

• share information in ways that are accessible,
• not just online
• collect information people with disability need in 1 place so it’s easy to find
• support people who are deaf or don’t hear well by making sure our events and news items include:
  • people who can use Auslan
  • captions
• find ways to get more people in our community to learn Auslan.

Give people the transport they need

We don’t have enough accessible transport in areas that are far away from cities and towns.

There aren’t enough accessible car parks.

People said we should:

• make sure people with disability have enough money to pay for the transport they need
• develop a plan for accessible transport in all parts of our state
• make sure our public transport is accessible.

Give people a place to live that feels like home

When people with disability find a home to live in that meets their needs, it makes a big difference to their lives.

It can help them get better results with:

• their education
• their health and wellbeing
• how much they take part in their community.

We don’t have enough of this type of housing.

It isn’t affordable for everyone.

This means people with disability:

• don’t have a lot of choice about where they can live
• can wait a long time before they can live in a home that meets their needs
• sometimes live in homes that don’t meet their needs.

People said we should:

• make the homes we offer people better
• use Universal Design ideas when we build new homes
• make more homes that meet the needs of people with disability available.

Help people when they use the justice system

The law protects the rights of people with disability.

But people with disability don’t always:

• know what their rights are
• know where to get help
• get the support they need.

We have good advocacy services.

Advocacy services support you.

They help you have your say.

They can also give you information and advice.

But our advocacy services don’t have enough:

• staff
• money.

People said we should:

• pay for more support for people with disability who need to use the justice system
• give more money to advocacy services
• help people with disability learn how to support themselves.

Give people the health services they need

Our health care workers don’t always know or understand the best ways to treat people with disability.

But more people talk about mental health these days.

People with disability need more support or advocacy services when they:

• use health services
• go to hospital.

People said we should:

• teach health care workers and students the best ways to treat people with disability.
• provide more support and advocacy services in hospitals
• spend more money on mental health services.

Being safe

People with disability face the most safety issues when they use our:

• public transport
• roads
• footpaths.

It can be much harder for people with disability to feel safe.

People said we should:

• send more police out into the community, especially around public transport services
• find ways to make supports and services better and safer
• follow what the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability says we should do.

The Royal Commission is a formal inquiry about the way people with disability are treated.

Thank you!

We want to thank everyone who shared their ideas with us.

We will use what people have said to develop our State Plan.

When we have written those ideas into a new draft of the State Plan, we will ask you what you think again.

This will happen in August 2019.

We will share our final plan with everyone in October 2019.

Word list

Accessible

If something is accessible, everyone can use it. This might be:

• a place or a building
• transport
• a service
• information
• a website.

Advocacy

Advocacy services support you. They help you have your say. They can also give you information and advice.

Community forums

Community forums are events where we get together to talk about our ideas.

Inclusive

If something is inclusive, everyone can take part.

Justice system

The justice system includes:

• police
• lawyers
• the courts.

Universal Design

Universal Design means we think about what everybody needs when we plan or start new projects and services.

Vision

Our vision is what we want South Australia to be in the future.

Workplaces

Workplaces are any place you might work, such as:

• an office
• a factory
• a shop.