Nem Kearns:

There are wonderful people to speak with. Another thing that is not covered under the scope of the Reproductive Justice Project is, and I am probably going to get this acronym wrong because I always do, the ESRI.

They published a Government commission report a few months ago which, among other things, highlighted that children of disabled people are one of the groups in society experiencing the highest level of poverty. While it was terrible to see, we knew it was happening, so it was good to see it captured. Often, when we talk about disabled children, we assume all of their parents are able-bodied, for some reason, which is very much not the case, and we usually forget that disabled people are parents.

I definitely want to follow up with the committee on this issue. One of the things that needs to be kept in mind is that whole-of-life picture. It is so important that disabled people have equal access to parenting, which they very much do not at the moment, but also that they are equally able to provide for their families and support their children when they are born. I would love to see a robust approach because it is such a fundamental aspect of being human and it is heart-breaking to see the number of disabled people who are denied parenting.