Ms Angela O'Neill:

The Senator will be sorry for asking what could be done for us because one of the critical things is a review of the Disability Act, as Dr. Muldoon recommended in his report. We absolutely support that. In children’s disability services, we are absolutely committed to delivering child- and family-centred supports for children with disabilities but we have legislation that was written in a different age in respect of its focus and the way it is structured. Regarding the meeting of our legislative obligations, the legislation is effectively tying our hands behind our back in that we will be sucked into a system of assessing children without necessarily having the capacity to provide intervention for them. Therefore, a review of the Disability Act should really be considered by the Government, particularly because the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act is being reviewed. Both should be reviewed in tandem.