Community Alliance Party

The Community Alliance Party recognises that people with disabilities encounter barriers to participating in community life as well as discrimination on a daily basis. The Alliance will act to ensure that people with disabilities are treated with respect, dignity and equality.

The Alliance will work with people with disabilities, carers, health care professionals, government, advocacy groups, and the wider community to develop an adequately funded and comprehensive approach to directly address the needs of people with disabilities.

The Alliance will provide the resources for assessment and support so that children with disabilities and other learning needs receive the level of support they need in the classroom. For many students with Autism Spectrum Disorders this needs to entail ongoing access to clinical support and therapy services. As children with autism often find it difficult to be socially flexible with regards to routines and rituals, there is a very strong argument to co-locate Therapy services and staff with special education schools, ensuring consistency of therapy services from early childhood through pre-school and into primary school for the greatest benefit to the child.

The Community Alliance proposed this co-location of therapy services and special education last week at the P&C Council, Aspergers/ Autism ACT, Advocacy for Inclusion; Special Education Forum. No other party had any comparable policy so parents and carers of children with disabilities who have for so long needed to see some real and practical solutions such as this have shown strong support calling on other parties to support this initiative.

Early intervention and education

• The Alliance will provide the resources needed to allow the prompt, sensitive, and early detection of children who have disabilities and provide ready access to early intervention services.
• The Alliance will provide the resources for assessment and support so that children with disabilities and other learning needs receive the level of support they need in the classroom.
• The Alliance supports a transparent process to allocate ongoing support, based on need, to allow people with disabilities to reach their full potential.
• The Alliance believes that, with the numbers of ACT children with disabilities increasing, more schools must be made adaptable and more people with disabilities should be encouraged to become involved in education to help overcome discrimination.
• The Alliance will seek to ensure strict enforcement of disability discrimination legislation and will promote community education to address discrimination against people with disabilities

Independence

• The Alliance believes that people with disabilities should be supported to manage their own care and independence.
• The Alliance supports the provision of sufficient adaptable public housing for people with disabilities.
• The Alliance will support all new housing—in new developments and redevelopments —meeting appropriate design standards of adaptability.

Mobility

• The Alliance will seek to ensure that existing regulations on wheelchair access to commercial and government buildings are strictly enforced.
• The Alliance supports the provision of improved public transport options for people with disabilities.
• The Alliance will require all new commercial developments to provide adequate disabled parking, and will ensure that the illegal use of disabled parking spaces is appropriately punished.

Leisure

• The Alliance will support measures that improve access for people with disabilities to a wide range of recreational pursuits.
• The Alliance supports the provision of safe facilities and the development of coaching and training skills in the wider community to help those with disabilities participate in sports.
• The Alliance supports the extension of artistic opportunities to people with disabilities.