Page 865 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 18 March 2015
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more to ensure that people with a disability could pursue their own interests and goals. The great thing about the NDIS is that it is not about people with a disability in and of itself. It is also about our whole community and supporting people with a disability to live a good life.
Earlier today there was some comment around access to Auslan. For the information of members, there are two paths for people in the ACT to become an Auslan accredited interpreter. One is to complete an accredited testing exam in Canberra through the National Accreditation Authority of Translators and Interpreters. The other is to complete an approved suite of Auslan interpreting courses.
Six interstate institutions offer approved courses: the Deaf Society of New South Wales, Sydney TAFE, Macquarie University, TAFE SA, RMIT and the Central Institute of Technology, WA. This year the Canberra Institute of Technology is offering cert II and cert III courses and provides potential pathways for further study to become an interpreter. CIT Solutions also runs programs in conversational Auslan. Students who have completed the CIT diploma of interpreting course can apply to NAATI for accreditation as an interpreter.
It is about supporting people with a disability to build their capacity to live more independently. We are examining ways to provide better housing options as well. It is all about ensuring that there are jobs for people with a disability and helping employers understand how they can do more to include people with a disability in their workforce. The NDIS is a big reform, and there is more we still need to do to create a more inclusive society.
This government has made a commitment also to the national disability strategy, which will focus our efforts on achieving a society that is inclusive and enabling, providing equality and opportunity for each member of our community. I am proud of the way the ACT community has embraced the national disability strategy and the NDIS and taken the steps to make them a reality. It shows that we can do this. We can make our community more inclusive.
In speaking about inclusiveness, I want to talk about the role that education and training plays in bringing social inclusion to the ACT. This ACT government has been a strong advocate for education. We have consistently invested in our schools, our teachers and our students. In the ACT we have a range of programs designed to ensure that every school student can participate in their education and get the most out of their experiences. All of our schools are able to work with parents to provide individual learning plans for students and to ensure that education delivery to students is tailored to meet their needs.
The government recognises the importance of improving outcomes in the early years. This ability is essential to permanently closing the gap in education outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students at every stage of schooling. We have implemented a range of programs targeted at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from preschool to year 12. For example, the Koori preschool program operates at five sites across the ACT, providing families with access to preschool programs for three-year-olds as well as additional hours of preschool education for four-year-olds. Children under the age of three are welcome to attend but are to be accompanied by a parent or carer.
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