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Part 4.2: Commonwealth Disability Strategy

The Commonwealth Disability Strategy was introduced by the Australian Government in 1994 to help agencies meet their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Full details on the strategy can be found at www.fahcsia.gov.au. The following discussion addresses the department's performance in its Policy Adviser, Regulator, Purchaser, and Provider roles under the strategy.

Policy Adviser Role

New or revised program/policy proposals assess impact on the lives of people with disability prior to decision.

The Healthy Communities initiative under the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health provides support to local governments to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity within target populations by maximising the number of individuals engaged in physical activity and healthy eating programs. The initiative targets vulnerable and socio-economically disadvantaged populations with a particular focus on individuals who are not predominantly in the paid workforce. Target populations can include people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, older Australians, carers and individuals with disability.

The department has also developed high level policy guidance for the Healthy Workers and Healthy Children's initiatives under the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health which require programs funded through these initiatives to specifically consider social inclusion principles, including an assessment of impact and equity of access for people with disability.

During 2009-10, the Australian Sport: the pathway to success initiative was launched to improve opportunities for people and athletes with disability to participate in sport at the grassroots and high performance levels.

The department also continued to provide funding support to Aboriginal Medical Services including funding the provision of appropriate disability equipment such as wheelchairs and building modifications to improve access at health facilities for disabled clients.

People with disability are included in consultation about new or revised policy/program proposals.

The department in 2009-10 included people with disability in the consultation forum for the development of the National Male Health Policy. The department also funded a written submission, from Women with Disabilities Australia, for the development of a National Women's Health Policy.

Eighteen organisations representing people with disability in the sport and recreation sector were consulted in 2009-10 when preparing the Independent Sport Panel report. The Government's national sport policy direction paper: Australian Sport: the pathway to success drew extensively on the report.

Aboriginal Medical Services funded by the department consulted with client groups, including those with disability, to establish service priorities at the local level. This achieved the department's aim to expand access to quality health care services for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including those with disability.

Public announcements of new, revised or proposed policy/program initiatives are available in accessible formats for people with disability in a timely manner.

The department provides documentation online which includes a range of large print and internet reader options. Other formats such as Braille are available on request. For example the 'Living with Water' DVD, a comprehensive guide to water safety for children under five, is available in English with subtitles for hearing impaired.

The department's website adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines which were devised by the World Wide Web Consortium. Public announcements of new, revised or proposed policy/program initiatives on the internet are published in hyper text mark-up language (HTML) format, to enable the use of screen reader programs and to provide access to people with visual impairment.

Regulator Role

Publicly available information on regulations and quasi-regulations is available in accessible formats¹ for people with disability.

The Office of the Gene Technology Regulator website www.ogtr.gov.au contains public information about the gene technology regulatory scheme and meets the government online minimum standards with regard to accessible formats for people with disability. In 2009-10, the office regularly updated its website with information on its functions and activities. This included a record of licences issued, as well as risk management plans prepared for applications to release genetically modified organisms into the environment. Other information available included information on amended legislation, revised forms, guidelines and operational policies, and information on performance in quarterly and annual reports. The office has a free call number (1800 181 030) to respond to enquiries such as providing callers with access to electronic or hard copies of all publicly available material.

Publicly available regulatory compliance reporting is available in accessible formats for people with disability.

The department publishes compliance information relating to sanctions imposed on approved providers of Australian Government funded aged care services in accessible formats at www.health.gov.au. In addition, the department annually publishes a report of the operation of the Aged Care Act 1997, available at www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-quality-roaca.htm. These reports provide details of sanctions imposed on aged care providers relating to non-compliance. The reports are available in PDF and HTML and alternative formats are available by emailing acc@health.gov.au or calling the Aged Care Information Line (free call) on 1800 500 853.
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Purchaser Role

Publicly available information on agreed purchasing specifications are available in accessible formats¹ for people with disability.

In 2009-10, the department continued to provide publicly available purchasing specifications in accessible electronic formats through its website. All tender documents provided details of departmental contact officers who could issue information in other accessible formats upon request.

Processes for purchasing goods or services with a direct impact² on the lives of people with disability are developed in consultation with people with disability.

The department considered the concerns and interests of stakeholders, including people with disability, as an ongoing responsibility of its procurement planning. Where goods and services had a direct impact on people with disability, these requirements were specified in tender documentation.

Purchasing specifications³ and contract requirements for the purchase of goods and services are consistent with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

The department's procedural rules require purchasing officials to adhere to relevant specific legislation in specifications and contract documents.

The department's standard contract for services, consultancy contract and Deed of Standing Offer contain provisions for the contractor to agree to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

Publicly available performance reporting against purchase contract specifications requested in accessible formats⁴ for people with disability is provided.

Reporting against purchase contract specifications is generally in-confidence and not available to the public. The department, however, displayed all open business opportunities (tenders) and grant/funding invitations on its website in formats accessible for people with disability. Accessible and printed formats were also available on request.

Complaints/grievance mechanisms, including access to external mechanisms, in place to address concerns raised about providers' performance.

The department has a range of mechanisms in place to respond to complaints and grievances raised about providers' performance. The Home and Community Care National Service Standards ensure that each consumer has access to fair and equitable procedures for dealing with complaints and disputes and that each complaint is dealt with promptly, confidentially and without retribution. The Office of the Gene Technology Regulator service charter includes mechanisms for receiving feedback, and resolving complaints, on its performance and service delivered to stakeholders and the public.

Provider Role

Providers have established mechanisms for quality improvement and assurance.

The department is currently supporting its funded Aboriginal Medical Services to meet accreditation requirements under relevant mainstream Australian health standards.
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Providers have an established service charter that specifies the roles of the provider and consumer and service standards, which address accessibility for people with disability.

The department is providing funding to the Australian Bureau of Statistics to implement the 2011-2012 Australian Health Survey, which will comprise a household interview and an optional biomedical component. The bureau has procedures in place to ensure that people with disability are either able to participate directly in the interview component of the 2011-12 survey or for someone to provide information on their behalf when necessary. The department and the bureau are investigating the potential for home visits for the biomedical component of the Australian Health Survey, for people unable to visit a pathology clinic.

Further, the Office of Gene Technology Regulator has an established service charter that specifies the regulator's roles and functions, values and service standards, mechanisms by which to receive feedback, and resolve complaints, on its performance and service delivered to stakeholders and the public. The regulator also provides information in accessible formats for people with disability.

Improving support for staff with disability

Throughout 2009-10, the department worked hard to improve support for staff with disability. The newly appointed Disability Champion (Samantha Palmer) engaged with other APS Department Champions and met with more than 100 staff across the country to listen and understand staff issues, and receive feedback about how to support staff more effectively. Awareness sessions were organised in Canberra and some state offices to provide education and information to staff and managers about how to enable staff with disability. A number of these sessions, including those run by the Australian Network on Disability and beyondblue, were very popular. A range of new resources for managers and staff were placed on the department's intranet and promoted widely across the organisation. Increased regular communication about issues affecting staff with disability was also generated by the Champion throughout the year. The Champion also advocated for staff and sought to address individual issues and concerns.

The department extended the opportunity for staff with disability to have their issues heard and addressed through establishing representative positions on the department's Bullying and Harassment Working Group and the National Staff Participation Forum.

All staff with disability were invited and funded to attend an inaugural national meeting in June 2010 which resulted in agreement by staff to establish a formal Network for Staff with Disability. The focus of the network is to:

Consult – consult with members on relevant issues, be the initial consultation mechanism for the department to engage with staff with disability.
Educate – educate and raise awareness of and for staff with disability.
Mentor – mentor and support staff as peers with disability, as individuals working with staff with disability, and as managers of staff with disability.

The network is open to staff with disability and any staff member with a strong interest in progressing issues pertaining to people with disability.

With a newly formed Executive elected, the network looks first to its first year of operation in 2010-2011 which includes working on the department's updated Disability Action Plan. The Executive members are:

Central Office
David Heckendorf (RPGD)
Kaye Sperling (HWD)
Melissa Devine (ACD)
Garvin Francis (PHD)

State and Territory Offices
Geoff Kellam (Vic)
Jodie Brown (NSW)
Karen Lowery (NT)
Francis Wiechec (SA)
Nick Pascual (QLD)
Sonia Wisby (Tas)

Proxy
Jason Söderblom (RPGD)

Inaugural meeting of the Network for Staff with Disability Executive (Central Office members pictured).

Photo of inaugural meeting of the Network for Staff with Disability Executive (Central Office Members)

Photo of inaugural meeting of the Network for Staff with Disability Executive (Central Office Members)

Clockwise from bottom left: David Heckendorf, Garvin Francis, Phyllis Cummings, Emma-Jean Stewart, Melissa Devine, Jason Söderblom.

¹Accessible electronic formats include ASCII (or .txt) files and HTML for the web. Non-electronic accessible formats include Braille, audio cassette, large print and easy English. Other ways of making information accessible include video captioning and Auslan interpreters.

² Direct impact means those goods and services which have an explicit consequence, effect or influence on people with disability. It includes the purchase of mainstream goods and services as well as specialist disability services.

³Purchasing agreements can include contracts, memoranda of understanding and service level agreements.

⁴Accessible electronic formats include ASCII (or .txt) files and HTML for the web. Non-electronic accessible formats include Braille, audio cassette, large print and easy English. Other ways of making information accessible include video captioning and Auslan interpreters.

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