Speech by Commissioner Graeme Innes for launch of database set up by the Disability In-Service Training Support Service Inc

13 March 2007

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today.

Thank you for inviting me here today to launch this product, ‘Disability Consultants; Nothing About Us Without Us’. As some of you may know, the expression "nothing about us without us" originated in the torrid years of the disability movement, when service providers and Governments thought it quite appropriate to make most decisions concerning people with disabilities in our absence. In fact, in the late 1970s and early 1980s (yes, some of us can remember back that far) members of Rehabilitation international were - to use another well-known expression "shocked and appalled" when people with disabilities suggested that we should be heard.

Some of the more cynical amongst you may suggest that not much has changed, and that decisions are still made without us, covered by the veneer of consultation. I don't think things are that bad, although I don't suggest for a moment that we have yet achieved the perfect world. So perhaps this expression encapsulates the direction that the database wishes to take pretty well.

I'm impressed by the commitment and energy displayed by the Disability In-Service Training Support Service in instigating this project. The database is innovative, in that it specifically recognises the value of personal experience of disability as an important aspect of expertise. Many people with a disability who choose to work as consultants have valuable personal experience and knowledge to offer, but this dimension of their expertise is often overlooked or ignored.

Those same people may not have formal qualifications, as pathways to such training have traditionally been difficult to access for people with a disability. Whilst such formal qualifications should not be lightly dismissed, they ought not to be the only factors considered when determining which consultants to use.

This specialised product attempts to even the playing field, by recognizing the value of experience on many levels as criteria for inclusion. It assists the consultancy process, by trying to bring together consultants with a disability, and organisations in need of such services.

Today I thought I would briefly talk about two areas in the disability field to which this initiative relates; DDA action plans, and the labour pool shortage. 

Action Plans

One of the areas where I can envisage this data base will be of value is in relation to the development of Action Plans. In this context, it's good to see that service providers, who have much to gain from developing DDA Action Plans, are well represented here today.

As many of you will be aware, an Action Plan is a way for an organisation to plan the elimination, as far as possible, of disability discrimination from the provision of its goods, services and facilities. These plans, which are voluntarily lodged, allow an organisation to make a public commitment towards removing discrimination, and can also provide some protection if a DDA complaint is lodged against them.

When lodged, these plans are placed on our website. A look at our website will show that local government, education service providers, and the financial services industry, feature strongly as organisations that have submitted Action Plans. And I am happy to note, as I have done many times in the past, that Victoria is the State from which most Action Plans come. Others may suggest that Victorians are better planners but lack spontaneity. I would never say that - at least not in Melbourne. I think it demonstrates a broad commitment to social justice, as seen in the fact that Victoria was the first State to enact a Charter of Human Rights.

While Action Plans are often initiated and coordinated by a disability or community focused part of an organisation, the really important thing about the successful ones is that they allocate responsibility for action to business units throughout the organisation.  This means that ownership of the responsibility to ensure inclusive and equitable service delivery is located within the mainstream of the organisation, and not the disability or community relations section.

The expertise offered by those on the consultant database could provide organisations with a valuable additional resource in developing and implementing Action Plans.

Labour Pool Shortages

People with disability represent a significant 16.6 % of Australia's working age population. However, for people with disabilities, unemployment levels sit between 8 and 20% - depending on the nature of the disability - compared to 4% of the general population.

One of the key reasons for this is that people with a disability, despite being qualified and eager to work, are often overlooked because of their disability. The research we have done in this area over the last couple of years indicates that Employers are often reluctant to hire a person with a disability due to misconceptions and misplaced fears about cost, risk, and impact on the workplace.

When you consider that Australia faces serious labour pool shortages, its hard to understand how this view of people with disabilities is allowed to continue. Despite the Federal Governments keenness to move people off welfare and back into the workforce, ant the numerous programs run by the Department of Workplace Relations to achieve this goal, people with disabilities as employees still slips under the radar.

It is vital for both employers and for people with disability that this invisible workforce is accessed and utilized. Whilst the many government programs in this area are having some affect, we as people with disabilities will not achieve employment parity without the development, at all levels of government, of a national disability employment strategy. This was the key recommendation of our report last year, but has still not been taken up by the Federal Government.

This database highlights the skills of people with disabilities, and actively seeks to provide us with a clear and direct pathway into the marketplace.

The personal experience of living with disability is not only a tool which can be applied within the context of disability consulting.  There are many other areas where the personal experience of people with disability is an additional tool that they can bring to their role.  For example, an architect or engineer with a disability has something distinct and valuable to offer in a discussion about access and design issues.

The experience of living with disability, combined with formal qualifications, is a valuable resource. I'm sure my law degree, combined with my many years of experience in the human rights field, got me the job I'm in today. But when I arrived fifteen minutes late to a meeting with some of Australia’s most senior bankers, and told them this was because I could not use their inaccessible ATM'S and had to wait in a bank queue, it certainly helped me to persuade them of the need to make these machines accessible.

Congratulations on the establishment of this database- may it lead to both more employment for people with disabilities, and the greater recognition of the value of disability experience.