Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Implementation of the National Redress Scheme Inquiry into the Operation of the National Redress Scheme
10 September 2024
PWDA welcomed the opportunity to provide a further submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Implementation of the National Redress Scheme’s Inquiry into the Operation of the National Redress Scheme (the Inquiry).
PWDA has previously provided a submission and supplementary submission to the Inquiry. We welcomed the opportunity to provide further updated information to the Inquiry, and note that this is in addition to, and is not intended to replace, our previous submissions.
This submission will address the following Terms of Reference (ToR) in relation to people with disability:
- ToR 2(b) – Availability of data and information about why application trends are varying from expectations
- ToR 4(b) – Opportunities for Scheme applicants to consider available legal options and to exercise their own choices
- ToR 5 – The performance and effectiveness of support services for Scheme applicants, including accessibility and resourcing and funding levels.
Recommendations:
Recommendation 1 & 2 relate to increasing women with disability’s awareness and access to the Scheme.
Recommendation 3 relates to ensuring people with disability have access to legal services to apply for the Scheme.
Recommendation 4 is to ensure people with disability in prison have equal access to the Scheme as well as combat misinformation and ‘claim farming’ to the Scheme.
Recommendation 1 – The federal, state and territory governments must ensure that relevant government health and social services are trained to provide information about and make referrals to legal and advocacy support to access the Scheme in a way that is trauma-informed and accessible.
Recommendation 2 – The Government coordinates and funds targeted outreach campaigns to reach women with disability to increase knowledge of and access to the Scheme. Outreach campaigns should be conducted in an accessible manner and be effective for people with disability who are unable to read or understand written information.
Recommendation 3 – The Government should provide increased funding to the Knowmore Legal Services and/or similar specialist Scheme legal services to ensure that clients can access legal advice in a trauma-informed and accessible manner.
Recommendation 4 – The Government creates a separate funding stream for specialist disability advocacy services to conduct outreach and individual advocacy for people with disability in prisons.