Disability Services and Inclusion Bill 2023 and Disability Services and Inclusion (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023 [Provisions] Submission 1
The
Public Advocate
/nf/ucnclng c/1angc to transform /Ives
8 February 2023
International, Legislation and Program Support
Department of Social Services
GPO Box 9820
Canberra, ACT 2601
Submitted via engage.dss.gov.au website
Re: A New Act to Replace the Disability Services Act (1986)
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the drafting of new legislation to replace the Disability
Services Act 1986 (Cth) (the Act).
As the Public Advocate for Queensland, I undertake systemic advocacy to promote and protect the
rights and interests of Queensland adults with impaired decision-making ability.1
As the consultation paper has noted, this Act has not been significantly updated in over thirty years,
and a new Act must address the developments and priorities that have been progressed over that
period regarding the lives of people with disability in Australia and around the world.
To that end, I agree that any objects of the new Act should affirm Australia’s obligations under the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), along with updating
the Act to reflect more contemporary views on disability. The consultation paper also noted that the
new Act should be consistent with the objects of the NDIS Act, which I support, but I further suggest
that apart from the UNCRPD and the NDIS, there are several other developments that the new Act
should support and acknowledge.
Over the many decades in which the current Act has been in place, there have been a number of
Commonwealth led initiatives that provide aspirational goals to improve the lives of people with
disability. This includes Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031 and the National Disability Advocacy
Program.
The creation of a new Disability Services Act provides the Commonwealth with the opportunity to
legislate for broader coordination and leadership consistent with these broader plans for people with
disability, and consideration should be given to the new Act assisting in the realisation and
progression of these plans by potentially integrating and formalising them into the new Act.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback regarding the new legislation to replace the
Disability Services Act 1986.
Yours sincerely
John Chesterman (Dr)
Public Advocate
1 Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 (Qld) s209.
Level 7, 50 Ann Street | GPO Box 149, Brisbane QLD 4001 | 07 3738 9513| public.advocate@justice.qld.gov.au | publicadvocate.qld.gov.au