Page 4378 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 22 September 2010

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video

Once at the Assembly and in my office there were some further difficulties he encountered: the lifts in the Assembly were small and could barely fit him and his carer; no-one knew where the wheelchair-accessible toilets were, and the one that was identified was on the other side of the building; there was insufficient OH&S induction to accommodate someone with his disabilities; the anteroom was not accessible due to heavy glass doors, so he had to go around the building to enter from the main entrance to the Assembly chamber; and, when there was media activity in the courtyard, the step leading to the courtyard made it difficult to take part in media activities. I hate to think what would have happened if we had had a fire drill or, worse still, if a fire were to happen.

The point is that we as a community need to ensure equitable access to gainful employment for individuals with disabilities and to also ensure that they can succeed in their jobs. This is even made more urgent when we are faced with the fact that in the ACT there are few post-school options for individuals with disabilities to transition into.

The Liberals will support Ms Bresnan’s motion. However, I will seek amendments to affirm measurable targets, accountability and transparency and to ensure that proper consultations with the disability community are conducted. In light of the government’s upcoming disability employment framework, to be announced in December, this motion is a first step to ensuring that we have a clear road map that takes us from strategy to execution and to effective management. I move the following amendment circulated in my name:

Omit all words after “mental illness” in paragraph (2)(a)(i), substitute:

“(ii) specifies a strategic map for increasing the percentage of people with disabilities in the ACT Public Service workforce;

(iii) provides for flexibility in work practices that will allow the greatest productivity of all members of the workforce; and

(iv) includes a commitment to the collection and analysis of disaggregated data, for example, gender, age, disability, resignations;

(b) increase consultations with all key stakeholders within the disability community and documenting this process; and

MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (8.44): The Greens welcome the amendment provided by Mr Doszpot. Since I placed this motion on the notice paper, I have received further comment from the Women’s Centre for Health Matters, to the effect that they would appreciate it if the gender desegregated data could be further split into age, ethnicity and type of disability. Something else that the Women’s Centre for Health Matters has included in here is that the ACT public service should review bullying and harassment procedures, as the experience of bullying and harassment is worsened by the extremely stressful process of making a complaint in many workplaces. This is an area that we must improve, and I hope we can examine it through other future efforts.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video