Ms Carol Grogan:

I thank the Senator. Everybody spoke about culture. There is a shift from thinking about safeguarding in a negative way. The change in culture involves considering it in a positive way. It is very important that there is an holistic view which takes in the rights and involves a human rights-based approach.

We believe the national safeguarding policy needs to be introduced in tandem with other legislation, including reform of the Health Act. We must look at the changing pace of legislation. It is about meeting the needs of people now and into the future. We know that people who are living in disability services now needed different types of care and support in the past, and we know they will need different types of care and support in the future. It is important that we keep pace with that.

The introduction of legislation and regulatory reform across all of the areas, including the decision-making capacity legislation, brings with it protections for those whom it is intended to protect. In addition, it affords them the same rights as you and me. There should not be a conversation about people having these rights; they should just have them. It should be about supporting them in the best way we can. All of the legislation coming together would support that.

On congregated settings, on the community-based side we find that people enjoy a greater quality of life and can express and exercise their rights more freely. They become active participants in their communities to the extent that they wish. We believe that every person with a disability who is living in a residential care service should be afforded that same opportunity.

I will hand over to my colleague Mr. Colfer, who might tell the committee some of the human stories of people moving out of congregated settings because the most powerful message is to hear from people themselves. Before I do so, I emphasise that we prioritise the registration of new centres to facilitate people moving out of congregated settings. When an application comes in from a provider to help with such a move, we prioritise that and move as quickly as possible on those settings. Mr. Colfer will discuss the congregated settings in more detail.