EDDIE: Hi, I'm Eddie. Today I'm here with Amilee. Amilee is a practicing lawyer from “Your Story Disability Legal Service”. We are here today producing a video for Deafblind and other people with disabilities, who reside in Western Australia only. The Western Australian Government has an Act, that refers to supports and services for people with disabilities. The Government is wanting to update the Act for people with disabilities in Western Australia. The Government is now arranging for a consultation to take place, seeking feedback and suggestions from the community in regard to how they can improve the law to benefit all of us. AMILEE: Hello. The Government has made some resources which talk about how the Act looks now and asks for your thoughts on some specific topics. The resources are available online. EDDIE: We can have a discussion on what things in the law you would like to see changed. AMILEE: You might remember last year we spoke about the Disability Royal Commission. That was a national investigation into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability. This is different to that. This is about the Western Australians only and it's about disability law in particular. The WA Government wants your feedback on issues that should be covered in WA’s disability law. AMILEE: You have until the 10th of June this year to give your feedback. You can give your feedback online or by email or letter at the moment. We will put a link at the end of this video for you. We're hoping to organize a face-to-face opportunity at the DBWA Hub in Maylands in early June, so that you can speak to someone from the government directly if you want to. Your feedback is important because it helps the government learn what is important to you and what needs to change. EDDIE: This video summary will mainly speak to four main issues. We are aware that there are many more that could be mentioned, but for today's purpose this video will be focusing on four. You can find further information online. The government would like to hear from you in regards to what you think can be done to make the law better. Now, Amilee will expand on these four issues. Later I will come back to explain how these issues have a connection to us all. AMILEE: The first topic in the consultation paper is about how we define disability in the law. The government wants to make sure that the new law is built around the needs, interests and safety of people with disability. The government wants to know how best to define disability in the law. This is important because a person needs to meet the definition of disability in law to be able to get services and support. WA disability law says that a disability is when you have one or more of these types of disability. Intellectual, which is how you think, learn and communicate. Psychiatric, which is how you feel and behave. Cognitive, which is how you learn and pay attention. Neurological. When your brain impacts how your body moves and operates. Sensory, like how you see or hear and physical how you move. The law says that a disability will be permanent. It will last forever and that you need support, for things like communicating, socializing, learning things and moving around. EDDIE: The government wants to hear from the community and see if you think this covers all disabilities. Are there any missing? What do you think? If you agree with this list, then it can be left as is. If you think otherwise, for example, myself as a Deafblind person, I might want the law to recognize Deafblind people who have additional disabilities, like being in a wheelchair, going through depression or missing a limb. Secondly, the law should recognize the impact Deafblindness has on individuals every day. It's not just being Deaf and not only being blind, but having dual sensory loss. And thirdly, not all Deafblind people are the same. We experience differences during the day and night. Some people have very good experiences, while others do not. If you think of any changes that are necessary, feel free to discuss them at the face-to-face consultation. AMILEE: The disability law has a list of important beliefs. In the law, these are called principles. The beliefs, or principles, say that people with disabilities should be respected, not discriminated against, have access to supports and services, be part of the community, make their own decisions, be able to complain if things aren't right. The WA government wants to know if you think that these are enough. Do they need to change? Are there important things that we want to add. EDDIE: If you would like to make any suggestions, you can do so in your submission. As an example, you could suggest that Deafblind culture be respected. People with disabilities should have opportunities to be upskilled. The general community to become more aware of disability. Independent accessibility as an example, being able to go out to a restaurant that has sufficient lighting, menus that are provided in Braille format or large font, public information to be made available using Auslan, Braille or large font. AMILEE The next topic the WA Government wants your opinion about is rules that protect people with disability from being hurt, treated badly or taken advantage of by providers of disability supports and services. These are called safeguards. Some of the safeguards in the WA law that exist already are making sure that providers are properly registered. When providers register, they have to meet standards as a business and follow rules about keeping people safe. Workers should be screened to make sure that they've never been in trouble for hurting someone and making sure there's a place to make a complaint that will do the right thing. At the moment, there's an organization called the Health and Disability Services Complaint Office, or HaDSCO for short. This is a place where people can make complaints about their disability support and services. If something's gone wrong or they need help. The WA Government wants to know if you could think of other ways to properly protect people with disability when it comes to state disability supports and services. They're interested to know if you have ever heard of HaDSCO or made a complaint to them. If you knew about them before, would you have contacted them when you needed help? How would you have contacted them if you made it to? EDDIE: That's a really good point. How do we know about HaDSCO? Have you heard about HaDSCO before? If something happens, for example, hospitals not providing interpreters, service providers being extremely rude, misinformation or miscommunication occurs, then you need to make a complaint through HaDSCO. Some changes I would suggest putting forward would be HaDSCO would be better if they accepted complaints in Auslan. HaDSCO to go through Deafblind and disability awareness training. HaDSCO should really try and connect with our Deafblind community and be available 24/7. AMILEE: The WA Government wants to make sure that we have an inclusive society. That means that people with disability should be able to do the same things as everyone else if they want to, and go to all public places easily and have the same opportunities like getting a job, for example. When the government is making laws or policies or making decisions that impact Western Australians, One of the ways that they try to consider the needs of people with disability is through the Ministerial Advisory Council on Disability. It's a group of people who tell the WA Government what they think about things that affect people with disability. EDDIE: Perhaps you might know Erika Webb or Rita Kleinfeld-Fowell. Erika previously sat on the Ministerial Advisory Council. Rita is now currently involved. Both have been liaising with the Government on disability issues. Do you know or have you heard of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Disability? We need Deafblind persons to be involved in the Council representing our community. AMILEE: These are the major topics that the WA Government wants to know about while it is doing this consultation. It wants to hear from as many people as possible so that when it comes to write the new disability law, it gets it right. We hope that this video has given you a starting point and we hope that if you have the time and the desire that you will take this chance to let the WA Government know about how the law should be better for the Deafblind people in WA. EDDIE: This is a good opportunity to be involved in making changes to make our future better in Western Australia. Keep in mind these main issues listed that the Government is seeking your feedback on. AMILEE: There is more information available online if you are interested. You can Google “Reforming WA Disability Legislation”. To find out more, or you can contact me. Karen Wickham, Erika Webb, Eddie or Rita Kleinfeld-Fowell. We will keep you updated about an event that's going to happen in June where we hope the WA Government will come and meet with the Deafblind community at the DBWA Hub in Maylands. They will speak to you directly about this consultation. This is your choice and you don't have to do it unless you're interested and you'd like to. EDDIE: Thank you for watching. AMILEE: Thank you.