Launch of Australian Federal Police Disability Action Plan

Thursday 2 August, 2012

Graeme Innes AM
Disability Discrimination Commissioner
Australian Human Rights Commission

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today.

Most of you would confidently tell me that Australians are not held in prison for five or ten years when they have not been found guilty of any crime. We don't do that here you would say. And, as upholders of Australia's Federal law most people would accept your view. Sadly, you would be wrong.

Marlon Noble is an Aboriginal man from Western Australia. He is one of a number of Australians currently found unfit to plead due to their mental illness or cognitive impairment, but kept in our prison systems. I know of others in South Australia and the Northern Territory, and there are probably more in other States.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't hold the AFP as responsible for this- it’s our law-makers, and policy-makers who are responsible for this problem. And it’s a problem that my team at the Australian Human Rights Commission will be doing some work on over the next couple of years. I mention it here, though, because it highlights the need for all areas of society to have a much greater awareness of disability, and Australians with disability.

How many of you are aware that, in a number of States, I am not allowed to serve on a jury. Not because I am a lawyer. Because I can't see.

How many of you would know what action to take if a person you were arresting showed you a card stating that they were deaf, and communicated using Auslan.

How many of you would know about the impediments relating to evidence given by a person with intellectual disability, and of a sexual assault trial in South Australia which did not proceed recently because the prosecution did not know how to present the evidence of the children who were the alleged victims because of that intellectual disability.

In the Justice system, as in a whole lot of other areas of Australian society, we need to greatly increase awareness of people with disability, and the issues we face. That's one good reason why you need a DDA Action Plan.

Further, there are a number of legal responsibilities and liabilities under Federal discrimination laws that can be addressed through the development of a plan. While Action Plans under the DDA are a voluntary provision, developing and lodging them with the Commission provides some protection from successful complaints. This is because the progressive identification and removal of barriers reduces the chances of complaints, and because in the event of a complaint being lodged an Action Plan can form part of a defense should the complaint proceed to the Federal Court.

Also there is the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Australian Government ratified the UN Convention in July 2009, which means that all levels of Government have a duty to act in a way that furthers progressive realisation of its Articles.  This includes an obligation to remove barriers to access to justice.

Thirdly, Federal and State governments have developed a National Disability Strategy which uses the Convention as its reference point strengthens obligations across Government to develop pro-active approaches to barrier elimination.

The Commission has no approval or monitoring functions in relation to Action Plans.  But we have gained valuable experience in understanding the sort of factors that lead to effective plans, and not so effective plans. We have acronyms for some that don't work so well.

Firstly, there is The NAP or Nobodies Action Plan. It tends to take a nap at the back of a filing cabinet.

There is the STRAP or Someone's Taken the Resources Action Plan.  It is the sort that is high on rhetoric, but low on outcomes, often because it is strapped for cash.

There is the FLAP or Floundering and Lost Action Plan. It is the sort that struggles to integrate itself into the organisations general business activities. It tends to flap around like a fish out of water.

I also note the Created Reluctantly Action Plan - think about the acronym - which fails to get organisational leadership endorsement.

Joking aside these acronyms do point to a very real set of difficulties which have an effect on the development and implementation of action plans.

Here are some of these factors that I believe lead to more effective action plans:

First work to get senior management commitment. If you have commitment from senior management for the development of the plan, then you are more likely to ensure that meaningful timeframes and financial and human resources are allocated for implementation of the plan.

Unfortunately it is often the case that senior management commitments arise from an obligation rather than a passion to do things well.  I and my staff regularly talk to people charged with responsibility for implementing action plans who clearly just don't "get it".
They don't get why it is that a ramp without handrails on both sides and kerb rails is dangerous, they don't get why it is that glazed doors need to have colour contrast strips across them, they don't get why it is that a PDF document on a website is inaccessible to blind readers, they don't get why it is that staff attitudes are less likely to change without some leadership being shown at the highest levels.

My office has produced a free CD called The Good, the Bad and the Ugly which can be used as part of a staff awareness program to inform people about how people with disabilities move around in and use the built environment.

Second, promote a sense of ownership through celebrating the achievement of milestones. The actual process of development or review of Action Plans can be used to promote a sense of ownership among staff and managers, and consequently a commitment to effective implementation

Third allocate Action Plan implementation responsibilities to specific individual positions.  Responsibility for implementation should be delegated to a position of some authority, such as a section manager, to ensure that it is viewed as a high level activity.  Preferably responsibilities should be written into the job description or Performance Assessments of the delegated position rather than allocated generally to a Branch or section.

Fourth, allocate priorities and don't over commit. An Action Plan may include a large number of strategies and tasks to be performed. Some will be big ticket items involving considerable resource allocation over a period of time while others will be cost neutral.  It is important that some system of prioritizing is included in the plan. It may sound obvious, but the commitments made in a plan have to be carefully budgeted for, and receive appropriate budget committee endorsement.

Fifth, develop objectives that can be measured in terms of real outcomes for people with a disability. One area I know many organisations have difficulty in is that of developing an evaluation strategy that does more than measure the number of tasks that have been completed. For example, while producing accessible information on the services a Department provides is important the successful production of that information says nothing about whether or not the service has become more accessible to people with a disability.

Far too often an evaluation strategy takes the form of ticking boxes to ensure tasks are completed rather than measuring whether or not all your tasks have resulted in better outcomes for people with a disability.

It is relatively easy to develop an evaluation strategy around whether or not the Departments website is accessible to blind people as a result of completing a number of tasks. It is much more difficult to develop an evaluation strategy around something more global such as "Promoting inclusion and participation in the community of persons with a disability".

When faced with this difficulty the best action plans I have seen have been those that break down rather global objectives into a series of outcomes that are within the sphere of influence of the Department and which can be measured. For example, an agency such as the Melbourne Water Corporation might not have many opportunities to influence public participation for people with a disability, but it may have a community consultative committee or council and could develop strategies to ensure that suitably qualified and experienced people with a disability participate in such committees.

Finally make sure you recognise the importance of continuing consultation by building it into your Plan's strategies. For example, strategies to consult with people with disabilities when developing or amending policies and practices; strategies to include people with disabilities in the evaluation and review of your Plan and strategies to provide existing employees with disabilities opportunities to continue to contribute their ideas and experiences.

The development and implementation of an effective action plan relies on the ability of an organisation, and its leadership, to embrace the need to address barriers to participation and to actively welcome the contribution people with a disability can make.  You play a vital role in facilitating change in your organisation, so that the contribution of people with disability can be recognised, elevated and celebrated. Don't lose the chance to have participation from 20% of the community.

Thanks for the chance to speak with you today.