Tuesday, 26 November 2024

Inclusive infrastructure

Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (19:10): (1311) In the late 1990s and early 2000s I was fortunate – fortunate perhaps in hindsight, although I did not know it at the time – to work with the Disability Rights Commission in London. I think they no longer exist by that name today, but I was very fortunate to work there. I say fortunate because I am not sure that I had thought a lot at that age and at that stage of life about the challenges that those who are less able than I am go through each and every day. The job of the Disability Rights Commission in large measure was to ensure accessibility, in a word. Being a member of Parliament some 20-plus years later, I am in a very fortunate position in that I get to advocate on behalf of those who are not as able-bodied as I continue to be and enjoy being.

My matter for the adjournment debate today is for the Minister for Disability, who is in this chamber, which is very fortunate. I suppose an observation that I have made over some time now is that I am interacting increasingly, serendipitously perhaps, with people in wheelchairs and particularly young people. What has been, I suppose, somewhat confronting in a sense is that I am consistently frustrated at all of our lack, and I say ‘all’ because I mean all governments for decades, of progress – it is never as fast as I want it to be; I am sure it is not as fast as the minister wants it to be – in respect of making everything as accessible as I enjoy. I know that is quite a lofty ambition.

I am perhaps rambling too much here. I need to be more specific. One of the things that concerned me recently with a couple of children in particular in wheelchairs was that what was clear was that their lack of accessibility was the family’s lack of accessibility. If they are in a wheelchair, so are the family in very many respects. There are a number of families who are now going through the process with the NDIS of getting a vehicle, and that is great, although that is a very difficult process. But what struck me is that many of them cannot even go to the park, because they do not have footpaths. In fact in both instances I can think of, neither of the families with children in wheelchairs have a footpath.

So my question to the minister is whether there is any program that councils can participate in or whether the state government have a policy or a program to assist councils or can in fact take the initiative themselves to make footpaths more accessible. It sounds really silly, but in terms of our suburbs the further we get out from the CBD, the more frequent it becomes. We all take it for granted, I think, that we have footpaths, but I can tell you many, many suburban courts and streets do not. In the case of the two children I am thinking of, their parents have to wheel them on the road just to get to the park. That is a really difficult thing for them. So anything that the minister can provide in terms of advice that the government either has in terms of assistance or may be able to offer in the future would be most welcome.