Ms Teresa Mallon:

To echo everything Dr. Harnett has said, we believe accessibility of the process is very important. We have heard from a number of witnesses this afternoon about people coming to us with their lived experiences. They do not believe they or the people they represent have had strong engagement on the Act and the codes of practice. Accessibility is very important. We use many mediums in how we communicate with the people we support to ensure the information is accessible. It is very important that the people we support are part of the process. They have not been to date. The people supporting them, such as family members, are key to the successful implementation of the Act. They must also be involved.

There are lessons in this. There is a sense of urgency now to get this over the line. In fairness, the Act has real ability to strengthen the rights of people with disabilities through supporting them with making decisions. It is powerful legislation. It may have its flaws but it is powerful in its focus on will and preference and moving away from a best interest approach. It is decision specific and time specific. There are many powerful components to the legislation. As one of the speakers said earlier, there should be nothing about us without us. The main lesson is that all of the key stakeholders should have involvement in these processes and feed into it so it is accessible. Although we found it very challenging because the codes were circulated so close to Christmas, we still had an opportunity to engage and give some feedback on the process. I want to reiterate this.