Equal access to rights protection and justice Drive the strengthening of rights and improved access to justice for people with disability State Government Agencies Communities, Disability Services; Child Protection; Justice; and WA Police Why Upholding and protecting the rights of people with disability is fundamental, including the right to live free from abuse, neglect and harm, to have fair and equal access to criminal justice processes and access to support in the instance where abuse, neglect or harm is experienced. People with disability do not always enjoy these rights because: People with disability experience higher rates of abuse and violence than people who do not have disability The true incidence of abuse is likely to be under-reported given the wide range of barriers to reporting Processes fail to adequately respond to individual reports, and as a result, opportunities to implement secondary protection measures to reduce future acts of violence, abuse or neglect are missed (The 2015 Senate Inquiry into violence, abuse and neglect against people with disability in institutional and residential settings reported this finding) Of lack of support to assist to communicate and participate in all stages of the criminal justice process. Complaints processes are often inaccessible and ineffective. Police, lawyers, judges and other staff do not always identify disability or respond in an appropriate way Quality and Safeguarding mechanisms for the NDIS only provide protection for NDIS participants projected to be around 10% of the disability population – In prison, people with disability do not have access to supports, adjustments and aids. Specialised, intensive, holistic services designed to address the over representation of people with disability in prison are at risk of being unfunded and discontinued under the NDIS Aboriginal people with disability have very high levels of unmet care needs in the justice system and can be trapped in a cycle of regular police contact and control instead of support
Equal access to rights protection and justice Drive the strengthening of rights and improved access to justice for people with disability State Government Agencies Communities, Disability Services; Child Protection; Justice; and WA Police Why Upholding and protecting the rights of people with disability is fundamental, including the right to live free from abuse, neglect and harm, to have fair and equal access to criminal justice processes and access to support in the instance where abuse, neglect or harm is experienced. People with disability do not always enjoy these rights because: People with disability experience higher rates of abuse and violence than people who do not have disability The true incidence of abuse is likely to be under-reported given the wide range of barriers to reporting Processes fail to adequately respond to individual reports, and as a result, opportunities to implement secondary protection measures to reduce future acts of violence, abuse or neglect are missed (The 2015 Senate Inquiry into violence, abuse and neglect against people with disability in institutional and residential settings reported this finding) Of lack of support to assist to communicate and participate in all stages of the criminal justice process. Complaints processes are often inaccessible and ineffective. Police, lawyers, judges and other staff do not always identify disability or respond in an appropriate way Quality and Safeguarding mechanisms for the NDIS only provide protection for NDIS participants – projected to be around 10% of the disability population In prison, people with disability do not have access to supports, adjustments and aids. Specialised, intensive, holistic services designed to address the over representation of people with disability in prison are at risk of being unfunded and discontinued under the NDIS Aboriginal people with disability have very high levels of unmet care needs in the justice system and can be trapped in a cycle of regular police contact and control instead of support
WA_Pre-Budget_Submission_Accessible.docx