Submissions

A4 made a very short submission on improving data provided by the NDIS on its data website.

A4 made a brief submission on disability advocacy. There would be little point to making a real effort with a submission like this since the views of the autism community are disregarded anyway.

A4's submission raised numerous concerns, such as:

A4's brief and somewhat rushed submission on proposed changes to the NDIS legislation is available below.

The government gave the disability sector insufficient time to respond to its proposed changes. Parts of the disability sector have received legal advice that the limited time allowed is disability discrimination. It certainly shows that the government's aim to build trust (following the Independent Assessments debacle) and to work with the sector is insubstantial.

A4 made a late submission in response to DSS's consultation on a National Disability Employment Strategy.

Basically, A4 felt that DSS's proposed holistic strategy to address disability employment over the next decade is the same as it was for the last decade: it's the same strategy expecting a different result. Rather thank acting on what they "think" might work, some of the 10 years could be used to determine reliably what does work for the various parts of the disability sector, then implement working approaches more widely.

A4 sent a short submission (see below) to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for its series of online regional consultations with people with disabilities, through their representative organizations. The Committee's information says:

Subject:
misinformation and untruths

Date:
Thu, 15 Oct 2020 13:42:10 +1100

From:
Bob Buckley (A4 Convenor) <convenor@a4.org.au>

Organisation:
Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia

To:
Committee, NDIS (SEN) <ndis.sen@aph.gov.au>

A4 made a submission to the Disability Royal Commission on restrictive practices. The submission is available via the link below.

Dear members of the Select Committee on Autism

When I appeared before you recently, you asked about a National Autism Strategy. Please disregard the answer I provided at the time.

Since that time, the Department of Social Services (DSS) and Services Australia:

had senior officials appear before the Community Affairs Committee, and
released a Position Paper on its National Disability Strategy.

These events both show DSS to be no longer fit-for-purpose.