Disability
Disability rights are human rights.
Disabled people deserve genuine dignity, respect and independence to participate fully and equally in the community.
But too often, disabled people face compounding barriers of discrimination and prejudice which prevent them from accessing housing, education, employment and transport. No government should ever have the power to shape the lives of disabled people without their say.
The disability community has been treated like a punching bag for too long.
The Greens will fight every day alongside the disability community to create a truly inclusive society in which disabled people are free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Explore our plan for disabled people
- Protect the NDIS
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The Greens will work with our Greens colleagues in the federal Parliament to fight the NDIS cuts and make sure disabled people get the dignity, respect and sustainable funding they deserve to live a good life.
The Greens believe the NDIS should be uncapped and demand-driven, not restricted to budget constraints. People with disability should be at the centre of the scheme. Before implementing any reform to the existing policies, the disability community and peak organisations should be thoroughly consulted.
The Greens want to see state-wide foundational support that actually addresses the needs of the disabled community. The Greens want to ensure those foundational supports are co-designed with people with disability, and that no one falls into a gap between systems.
The Greens believe Thriving Kids should not be used to shrink NDIS access for children with disabilities and developmental delays. The Greens want no child to lose access to NDIS while Thriving Kids is still unavailable. We demand a clear timeline and funding plan on the roll out of Thriving Kids.
- Inclusive education which benefits everyone
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All Victorian children deserve a world class education without being restrained, secluded or segregated. For disabled students, this starts with appropriate funding. The Greens will fight for more funding for the Disability Inclusion program.
The evidence shows that disabled and non-disabled students both do better when full inclusion is achieved in mainstream settings. The Greens want to phase out segregated education, as recommended by the Disability Royal Commission. The Greens want schools and their teaching staff to have more resources, to better support all students in mainstream settings.
- Accessible tram stops and public transport
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People in wheelchairs and with prams and shopping trolleys have been waiting years to be able to catch Melbourne’s trams, and easily get on and off our trains and buses.
Since coming to power, Labor has built just 102 accessible platform tram stops, leaving over 1000 where people need to climb up from street level. Despite a deadline in legislation to have all stops accessible by the end of 2022.
The Greens believe it’s time to make serious progress on making our public transport network accessible, and will start with a $225 million initial investment in building accessible tram stops.
- Better support for carers
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One in eight Victorians provides unpaid care, with the majority of caring responsibilities falling on women.
The Greens recognise the invaluable contribution carers make to our communities.
We want to see increased funding and improved respite support for all carers, so they have the financial security and time to take care of their own health and wellbeing. You can’t pour from an empty cup!
- Stronger disability employment practices in the public service
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The unemployment gap for disabled people is stubbornly large, and too many disabled people are still being paid sub-minimum wage. The Greens will ensure stronger targets in the public sector, as well as government procurement processes that reward businesses with best practice disability employment practices.
The barriers to employment for people with disabilities are multiple and complex. Employment practices based on fairness and inclusion will ensure the public service is reflective of the community and create pathways into secure employment.
The Greens want a public service that is inclusive of all lived experiences.
- Multicultural disability support
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Disabled people from multicultural backgrounds experience compounding barriers like environments that are not always culturally safe.
The Greens want to ensure disability support services are culturally safe, anti-racist and responsive to cultural needs of their clients.