PDCN Bulletin #11 • June 11, 2001

latest news and views from PDCN

Bulletin Index

Our Publications

CONTENTS

• Wheelchair Accessible Taxis Public Inquiry
• Review of Disability Advocacy & Information Services
• Parliamentary Inquiry Into The Review Of Advocacy and Information Services
• Job Vacancy At PWD NSW Inc: Manager, Individual Advocacy
• Teachers' Federation Review Of Public Education
• Disability Information Resources
• PDCN Member Wins UTS Equity Award 2000

Wheelchair Accessible Taxis Public Inquiry

The deadline for submissions to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's (HREOC) public inquiry into wheelchair accessible taxis is Tuesday, 3rd July 2001. HROEC prefers e.mail submissions, so send your comments to disabdis@humanrights.gov.au,

Or by mail to Disability Rights unit, HREOC, GPO Box 5218 Sydney 1042.

PLEASE NOTE: HREOC has made it clear that your comments on wheelchair accessible taxis can be submitted 'in confidence'. People often tell us that they are reluctant to speak up about poor quality taxi services because of fears that they will be pinpointed as so-called trouble makers or difficult customers. HREOC has pointed out that you can submit your comments but ask for your name to be withheld. You may also, if you wish, ask that your submission be not published so that the Commission's inquiry knows what you believe but your comments are not distributed outside of HREOC.

If you want to give personal examples of discrimination to PDCN so that we can incorporate them in our submission, please do so. You can call us on Freecall number: 1800 688 831. One of our staff members will take a note of your concern or example, which will be added to our submission. We will need to keep a note of your name but we will NOT pass it on.

PDCN urges everyone who feels strongly about human rights, equality of opportunity and accessibility to submit comments to HREOC. If you have direct personal experience of using wheelchair accessible taxis, so much the better.

It is important to remember that this HREOC public inquiry is about disability discrimination matters. Your comments must deal with discrimination. Ask yourself these types of questions:

• Do wheelchair users ever / generally / never have to wait longer than other taxi users to catch a cab?
• If people have to wait longer for a wheelchair accessible taxi, why is that?
• What solutions can contribute to reducing waiting times for wheelchair users?

Some possibilities could include:

• Ultimately every taxi must be wheelchair accessible.
• A proportion all taxis must be wheelchair accessible.
• Wheelchair accessible taxis should be barred from accepting other work for as long as any wheelchair user is waiting.
• Government funded financial incentives should be given to taxi drivers accepting wheelchair jobs.
• Have you ever felt unsafe when using a wheelchair accessible taxi?

There could be several reasons.

• The restraints were not fitted properly.
• You were harassed or abused in some way.
• You were not treated with respect or dignity.
• Do you believe that the regulations for wheelchair accessible taxis are enforced adequately?

The views of PDCN about access to wheelchair accessible taxis are unambiguous and straightforward.

• We support the principle of equal human rights.
• We are against discrimination that results in less favourable treatment of people because of their disability.
• We believe that HREOC must act to ensure an equal outcome for wheelchair accessible taxi users. By this we mean that a wheelchair user making a taxi booking by phone, waiting at a taxi rank or hailing a cab from a street corner should not be required to wait longer for a taxi than people who do not use wheelchairs.

The PDCN submission will be posted in full on our web site soon after 3rd July. Look for it at www.pdcnsw.org.au/..taxishreoc.html We reproduce below the summary from our draft submission, which will be submitted to HREOC next week.

Summary of the PDCN Submission

Wheelchair users almost invariably wait significantly longer for wheelchair accessible taxis than people who do not require wheelchair accessible taxis. We believe that this problem is widespread, systemic and discriminatory.

No more than 300 of the 5,900 taxis in NSW are wheelchair accessible. This is only 5% of the total. This figure is unacceptably low.

PDCN believes that the concept of 100% accessibility, based on a requirement over a reasonable timeframe that operators replace current vehicles with a universal taxi that complies with the draft standard, is one means by which equality of outcome can be achieved.

The efforts of the NSW Government over the last 4 years to accelerate the introduction of more wheelchair accessible taxis have failed. There are currently less than 100 additional wheelchair accessible taxis operating in NSW than in 1998 when the Disability Council of NSW published its report "Taxis And People With A Disability: Issues For Government And Industry".

According to the NSW Department of Transport survey of wheelchair accessible taxis users, the State's dedicated booking service is not operating. 80% of all journeys made by wheelchair accessible taxi do not result from the dedicated, "0200" booking service.

If all taxis are required to be wheelchair accessible there all drivers and operators face the same core operating costs. We need a level playing field.

Wheelchair accessible taxi licences should be offered at a substantially lower fee than vehicles that perpetuate discrimination against wheelchair users.

Tax breaks should be introduced for the owners / operators of wheelchair accessible taxis to offset against the purchase price of new vehicles.

We believe that wheelchair accessible vehicles are no more expensive to run than vehicles that cannot meet the needs of all passengers.

PDCN believes that rigorous and effective enforcement of the conditions of wheelchair accessible taxi licences is essential.

The performance of telephone and/or computer booking, taxi allocation and communication systems should be monitored and evaluated by an effective regulatory authority.

We believe that GPS has a crucial role to play in enforcement. Any operator / driver of a wheelchair accessible taxi refusing a call from a wheelchair using client for whom they are the nearest available service, as evidenced by GPS location data, should be, in our view, suspended from operation immediately for a specified, regulated and monitored period.

Competition between operators should be encouraged.

Taxis should be safe for all potential users. Drivers must be trained and tested in the safe use of equipment and customer care.

The draft standard for a universal taxi design should be adopted, implemented and enforced by all regulators.

Get your response into HREOC today!

Review of Disability Advocacy & Information Services

The Review of Disability Advocacy and Information Services by the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (DADHC) continues on its almost unbelievable way to who knows where. Recent events have bordered on the farcical.

The deadline for submissions of Expressions Of Interest (EOI) was set by the Department at 3.00 p.m. on Friday, 25 May. PDCN, like disability sector organisations across NSW, brought to a close our three months of discussion about the EOI with a hectic final week preparing our bid. Our documents were lodged with the Department around lunchtime on Friday, 25th.

You could have knocked all of us over with the proverbial feather when we received an e.mail message from the Department - sent out 18 minutes after the deadline closed - to tell us that:

"In view of the recent distribution of supplementary information, [By which DADHC means LATE DISTRIBUTION] it has been decided to extend the deadline for receipt of Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the provision of disability advocacy and information services. The decision to extend the deadline will further ensure that community organisations will not be at any disadvantage in participating in this EOI process. The deadline is extended until 12 noon on Wednesday 13 June 2001."

After we picked ourselves up off the floor we formed the following opinion.

PDCN is not necessarily opposed to an extension of the DADHC deadline. If it means, in the end, that people with disability have a better range of advocacy and information services that they can call on then it will have been a justifiable decision. We are deeply concerned, however, that the Department feels able to modify, alter, amend or delay the process whenever it all gets too hard for them. It ought to be deeply troubling to everyone involved that not one of the deadlines set by the Department has been met by the Department.

While PDCN was prepared to accept the deadline being extended (not that we had any choice in the matter) we remain absolutely opposed to competitive tendering in community services. We decided, nevertheless, that we had no choice but to participate in the competitive tendering exercise linked to this EOI. But, given that ADD (as it was when the EOI was launched) decided to use this model of grant allocation, it really is critically important that they manage the process fairly and well.

The Department has not covered itself with glory when it comes to the EOI. It is critically important, therefore, that the officers involved in the process from this point on improve the quality of the Department's performance. People with disability deserve no less than the best response possible from Government Departments funded out of our tax dollars.

Of course now the real test begins. People with disability and their organisations all over NSW will be watching carefully to see what the Department does next. Here's why:

• People with disability need more advocacy and information services locally, regionally and across NSW.
• People with disability need individual and systemic advocacy support.
• An adequate advocacy and information infrastructure serving all of NSW will cost more than the $4.7 million that the Department says it has at its disposal.

They say that the proof of the pudding is in its eating. So what does the Department do now? Respond to the legitimate bids of organisations such as PDCN? Or continue to stuff up in the most public and unacceptable fashion imaginable.

Actions speak louder than words DADHC. Which is why we're all watching and waiting to see what you do.

Parliamentary Inquiry Into The Review Of Advocacy and Information Services

A Parliamentary Inquiry into the DADHC review of disability advocacy and information services is being conducted by the General Purposes Standing Committee No. 2 of the NSW Legislative Council. Written submissions were required by 18th May.

PDCN lodged a submission to the parliamentary inquiry and was one of the disability sector representative organisations invited to give verbal evidence to the committee. We participated in a joint session of committee hearings held on Tuesday, 12th June alongside colleagues from:

• Disability Safeguards Coalition
• NSW Council for Intellectual Disability
• NSW Council of Social Services
• People With Disability NSW

The transcripts of verbal evidence given to the Parliamentary Inquiry (including that given by the PDCN Executive Officer) can be viewed on the Parliament's web site at:

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/..OpenFrameSet

Click on "Transcripts" in the side bar menu then click on the date "12/06/2001" beneath the sub-heading "Inquiry into Disability Advocacy Funding".

The Report of the Parliamentary Inquiry is expected soon.

Job Vacancy At PWD NSW Inc: Manager, Individual Advocacy

People with Disabilities (NSW) Inc is a leading cross-disability peak and advocacy organisation substantially funded by the Commonwealth and State Governments under their respective Disability Services Acts. The Commonwealth Government has recently approved funding for an expansion of the individual and systemic advocacy services we provide through the Disability Complaints Service of NSW.

We are seeking a highly skilled advocate with management ability. Management duties include supervision and support of 4 advocacy staff; service development; quality assurance; and service promotion, particularly in rural and remote regions and among non-English speaking and Indigenous communities. The position also involves a significant component of individual advocacy casework, and some systemic advocacy. The position is responsible to the Executive Officer.

The salary range is $48-50K which may be packaged to approx $58K.

For an information package contact Allyson Campbell on (02) 9319 6622. More detailed enquiries should be directed to Phillip French. Applicants must address the selection criteria set out in the information package. People with disability and associates of people with disability are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications close 6 July 2001.

Teachers' Federation Review Of Public Education

The NSW Teachers Federation has announced that it will co-sponsor what it is calling an "Independent Review into the Provision of Public Education in NSW". The Teachers' Federation writes that:

"This review is a chance for people to be involved in groundbreaking, policy debate about the future of public education.. The last major review, the Wyndham Review, was conducted some forty years ago and took four years to complete. The Wyndham review only canvassed secondary education. It resulted in the introduction of the comprehensive high school model. A new review is long overdue. It is a disgrace that the Government has failed to engage in sound, long-term educational planning."

The proposed Terms Of Reference for the review are as follows:

Preamble:

Public education has for more than 150 years been the defining institution of Australian democracy and its unique values.

This Inquiry is about the future of public education. The system has a proven ability to meet new challenges and changing times. The Inquiry will become part of the dynamic history of public education.

This Inquiry has been initiated by parents and teachers in the interests of our children. It is not a Government inquiry. This Inquiry will be underpinned by the key provision of the Education Act (NSW):

"the principal responsibility of the state is the provision of public education".

General Terms:

What are the purposes and values of public education in society?

What are the resources and structures needed to achieve these purposes and values?

Focus Issues:

How should Australian society develop participatory, critically-minded and just citizens?

How do we guarantee that all children in every school have an equal opportunity to learn and fully develop their capacities?

How do we ensure that the principles of social justice are guaranteed within the system and that public education strengthens the influence of these principles across society?

What has been the social and educational impact of State Government policies since 1988 regarding the structure of public education? (e.g. specialist schools, pre-schools, support units, selective schools, college groups, middle schools, TAFE Colleges).

How does Australian society best respond to the needs of students with particular characteristics within the totality of provision?

What is the educational planning mechanism needed to achieve the purpose and values of public education?

PDCN will take a keen interest in the review. We will be particularly interested in focus issue (b) concerned with access and equity issues.

We will be satisfied with nothing less than an absolute, unambiguous commitment to principles of inclusive education.

We believe that it is in the long-terms social and educational interests of children with disability and children without disability that they be educated side by side, growing, developing and learning from one another as well as from their teachers.

We will demand that adequate resources be called for to provide the required academic and non-academic supports for children with disability who need such supports.

For further information about the Teachers' Federation Review

Contact: NSW Teachers Federation
Phone: 9217 2100
Fax: 9217 2470
Email: mail@nswtf.org.au
W: www.nswtf.org.au

Disability Information Resources

The Disability Access Service of the State Library of New South Wales has expanded its website to include the following resources:

• Education to Employment Package,
• Disability Referral Guide.

The Disability Referral Guide is a searchable database of peak disability organisations in NSW. It also lists disability information services and agencies that handle complaints and discrimination. The web address is http://stlib.slnsw.gov.au/DAS/

The Education to Employment Package contains a wealth of information for university students with a disability who have finished their studies and are looking for work. It includes, among other things, advice on how and when to tell prospective employers about the disability, information on government programs and links to university careers officers.

The Education to Employment Package also has a searchable database of specialist employment agencies that assist people with a disability to find jobs in open employment. This package has been updated recently through DIP funding. The web address is www.slnsw.gov.au/access/employ/

More details are available from Laura Molino, Senior Librarian, Disability Access Service, State Library of NSW

Phone: 02 9273 1583
Email: lmolino@slnsw.gov.au

PDCN Member Wins UTS Equity Award 2000

Former PDCN Management Committee member, Simon Darcy, of the Faculty of Business at UTS, recently won the university's staff award for his work towards greater inclusion of disability issues in the curriculum. Well done Simon!

Dougie Herd, PDCN Executive Officer
St Helen's Community Centre,
3/184 Glebe Point Road,
Glebe NSW 2037
E_mail: pdcnsw@pdcnsw.org.au;
Web: www.pdcnsw.org.au

Tel: (02) 9552 1606; 1 800 688 831
Fax: (02) 9552 4644

PDC NSW Inc is funded by the NSW Government's Ageing and Disability Department. Views expressed by PDC NSW Inc are not necessarily endorsed by the NSW Government.

©PDCN, Physical Disability Council of NSW • 184 Glebe Point Road, GLEBE NSW 2037 Australia
Phone (02) 9552 1606 • Fax (02) 9552 4644 • TollFree 1800 688 831 (within NSW) • TTY (02) 8223 7579
URL www.pdcnsw.org.au • Email pdcnsw@pdcnsw.org.au