Disability Act 2006

Persons with a disability have the same rights and responsibilities as other members of the community and should be empowered to exercise those rights and responsibilities.

Persons with a disability have the same right as other members of the community to—

be given respect for their human worth and dignity as individuals;

live free from abuse, neglect or exploitation;

realise their individual capacity for physical, social, emotional and intellectual development;

exercise control over their own lives;

participate actively in the decisions that affect their lives and have information and be supported where necessary, to enable this to occur;

access information and communicate in a manner appropriate to their communication and cultural needs;

services which support their quality of life.

Disability services and regulated disability services should—

advance the inclusion and participation in the community of persons with a disability with the aim of achieving their individual aspirations;

be flexible and responsive to the individual needs of persons with a disability;

maximise the choice and independence of persons with a disability;

be designed and provided in a manner that recognises different models of practice may be required to assist people with different types of disability and at different stages in their lives to realise their physical, social, emotional and intellectual capacities;

enable persons with a disability to access services as part of their local community and foster collaboration, coordination and integration with other local services;

as far as possible be provided in a manner so that a person with a disability need not move out of the person's local community to access the disability services required;

be of high quality and provided by appropriately skilled and experienced staff who have opportunities for on-going learning and development;

consider and respect the role of families, carers and other persons who are significant in the life of the person with a disability;

acknowledge the important role families and carers have in supporting persons with a disability;

acknowledge the important role families have in assisting their family member to realise their individual physical, social, emotional and intellectual capacities;

acknowledge the important role carers have in assisting the people they care for to realise their individual physical, social, emotional and intellectual capacities;

where possible strengthen and build capacity of families and carers who are supporting persons with a disability;

have regard for the needs of children with a disability and preserve and promote relationships between the child, their family and other persons (including carers) who are significant in the life of the child with a disability;

be provided in a manner that respects the privacy and dignity of persons accessing the disability services;

be provided in a manner that promotes the upholding of the rights, dignity, wellbeing and safety of persons with a disability;

be provided in a manner that does not—

tolerate abuse, neglect or exploitation of persons with a disability; or

normalise abuse, neglect or exploitation of persons with a disability;

be provided in a way which reasonably balances safety with the right of persons with a disability to choose to participate in activities involving a degree of risk;

have regard for any potential increased disadvantage which may be experienced by persons with a disability as a result of their gender, language, cultural or indigenous background or location;

be designed and administered in a manner so as to ensure that persons with a disability have access to advocacy support where necessary to enable adequate decision making about the services they receive;

be designed and provided in a manner which continues to reflect the role of the Secretary in providing and funding planning for persons with a disability;

be accountable for the quality of those services and for the extent to which the rights of persons with a disability are promoted and protected in the provision of those services.

Restrictive practices used on NDIS participants and DSOA clients and the compulsory treatment of NDIS participants should be provided in a manner that—

respects the privacy and dignity of those persons; and

promotes the upholding of the rights, dignity, wellbeing and safety of those persons; and

does not—

tolerate abuse, neglect or exploitation of those persons; or

normalise abuse, neglect or exploitation of those persons.

If a restriction on the rights or opportunities of a person with a disability, an NDIS participant or a DSOA client is necessary, the option chosen should be the option which is the least restrictive of the person as is possible in the circumstances.

It is the intention of Parliament that the principles specified in this section should wherever possible be given effect to in the administration of this Act and the provision of disability services and regulated disability services.

It is the intention of Parliament that the principles specified in subsections (3A) and (4) should wherever possible be given effect to in the administration of restrictive practices and compulsory treatment by registered NDIS providers.