The Australian Psychological Society (APS) welcomes the Federal Government’s commitment to review and replace the Disability Services Act 1986 (the Act).
The Act is a key piece of legislation which enables the Government to provide a range of disability services to Australians outside the NDIS, including advocacy, employment and rehabilitation services. The Act also regulates the certification of service providers and sets out standards for service delivery.
The APS submission supported the Department’s proposed goals for a ‘new and improved’ Disability Services Act which affirms a contemporary approach to disability services centred on the rights, capacity, choice and leadership of people with disability.
Our submission pointed to areas in which further consideration and consultation would be desirable as part of the development of a new Act. These include:
- Consideration of expanded objects in the new Act which promote the participation of people with disability in the development, design and evaluation of supports and services. We also recommend that the new Act seek to promote the peer/lived experience workforce in Australia.
- The need for careful and consultative legislative design to avoid the duplication of regulatory structures and administrative burden for providers of Commonwealth-funded disability services, particularly for highly-regulated professions such as psychologists.
- An opportunity to affirm in legislation that psychological services and supports are an integral part of disability services. Services and supports which promote the psychological wellbeing of people with disability should not be excluded as being out of scope for Commonwealth funding under the new Act.
The APS looks forward to opportunities to work with the Department in the design and implementation of a new Disability Services Act. We will also continue our advocacy for the recognition of the full contribution of psychologists to the provision of disability services in Australia.
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