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The State Disability Plan: reality or rhetoric?

By Peter Gibilisco - posted Thursday, 19 January 2012


This confusion can be identified again and again in the political explanations that are put forward.

Is there a possibility to attain policy that is based on rights and fairness? Victoria's disability sector now seems bent on creating one social dilemma after another. For example, the original statements which were unrealistic to begin with are regularly invoked by disability support service providers, who cast further doubt upon the state disability plan and how that relates to individual support, and so discussion about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) simply confirms the unrealistic appeal to a set of neoliberal policies which h.ave already been shown to be out-of-step with real daily needs of severely disabled people. This begins me to the Victorian Government's latest edict.

The disability plan 2013-2016

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Here is part of an email sent out by The Hon Mary Wooldridge MP, 10 November 2011.

Now is an exciting time to be engaged in disability policy. The Victorian Government continues to do everything we can to drive the implementation of the…NDIS. The State Disability Plan will assist us in outlining a vision for reforming disability support and laying the foundations for an effective transition to a NDIS.

As a passionate disability advocate I would like to pose some critical questions. My concern is also about a practical and realisable theory in disability policy that reckons with the dynamic need for practical assistance with disability services. For example, bureaucracies can too easily generate fanciful justifications for innovations with their minimal budget. It seems that because of the many needs that have to be met with minimal resources a situation is created in which innovative but marginal projects are given priority.

This extract is from a current article,'Disability expectations: Investing in a better life, a stronger Australia' is shocking in what it reveals

Almost one in two people with a disability in Australia live in or near poverty (45%). This is more than 2.5 times the rate of poverty experienced in the general population and more than double the OECD average of 22%. The OECD average for relative poverty risk is approximately 1.6, which indicates that people with a disability tend to have a poverty risk about 1.6 times higher than people without a disability. Australia is by far the worst performer on this indicator, ranking 27th out of 27 OECD countries, with a relative poverty risk of 2.7.

Currently, there seems to be the vibe that everything related to disability is on the improve. It may well be that inclusion seems to be improving for those with milder disabilities but this cannot be said for the rest of the disabled population in Australia. In reality it is not so and in this article I have tried to indicate why it cannot be on the improve as long of an overall dilemma is created by claiming to increase social welfare provision when social services are being cut. In other words, this alleged improvement may only indicate that the problem in disability service provision is deepening rather than otherwise.

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As I have previously stated where I quote the work of Jenny Cooper,

[when we claim to succeed as a nation and]continue to stay in denial about who we are .... Disability is a part of what we are. Inclusion would acknowledge that. Destiny may one day lead us there. Or there's always revolution!

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Special thanks to the man Bruce Wearne.



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About the Author

Peter Gibilisco was diagnosed with the progressive neurological condition called Friedreich's Ataxia, at age 14. The disability has made his life painful and challenging. He rocks the boat substantially in the formation of needed attributes to succeed in life. For example, he successfully completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne, this was achieved late into the disability's progression. However, he still performs research with the university, as an honorary fellow. Please read about his new book The Politics of Disability.

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