Legislation has been important for people with disabilities in achieving services and integration into the community. This was particularly so in the halcyon days of reform in the 70s and 80s. However, legislation played a role even in colonial times.

South Australia was the first State to legislate for associations to be able to incorporate, as early as 1858. This enabled parents, friends and supporters of different groups to form legal entities for fundraising and providing services.  In this way members were able to avoid personal liability for debts of the association. This early start helps to explain why so many NGOs have played such a crucial role in South Australia’s disability history and still provide services today.

South Australia’s first Mental Health Act was less commendable. The Lunatics Act of 1864 breezily dismisses distinctions between mental illness and intellectual disability in its key definition: “ lunatic” “shall mean and include every person of unsound mind and every person being an idiot .”
Things could only improve from this, although until the late 1970s, the emphasis in our mental health legislation was clearly on control, rather than individual rights. At the stroke of a pen, the superintendent of a mental health institution could place a person’s finances under the Public Trustee, or detain someone indefinitely. Appeals lay only to the Supreme Court.

It was the South Australian Mental Health Act 1977-79 that led Australia in its reforms, with the creation of the Guardianship Board among other things to ensure longterm restrictions on a person’s liberty and management of finances were subject to scrutiny and approval by a special multidisciplinary body.

As a lawyer in the Crown Solicitor’ Office and then as the first Chairman of the Guardianship Board, I was heavily involved in the implementation of this legislation. However, the architect of this farsighted legislation was the then Director of Mental Health, Dr Bill Dibden, who should not be forgotten for his contribution.

However, it was the Committee on Rights of Persons with Handicaps which was a turning point for persons with disabilities in terms of law reform. In 1976, the then Attorney-General Peter Duncan noticed a short article in The Bulletin on the UN Declarations of Rights of Disabled Persons and Mentally Retarded Persons. It gave him the idea of a review of  South Australian law and policy having regard to these Declarations. He asked Charles Bright, a Supreme Court judge and me to work together to set up the review.

Over the next 5 years, (life was so leisurely then) the Committee produced 2 major reports on physical and intellectual disability respectively, which led to many changes of benefit to people with disabilities, including:
•    Anti discrimination laws
•    Improved access laws
•    The parking permit scheme
•    Employment initiatives

One can see its influence in the Principles of Disability Services Acts and national standards for disability services.

Perhaps, its crucial contribution was its rights perspective – that people with disabilities should be part of the community as a right; they should be able to enter public buildings without access problems; they should not be discriminated against in employment when their disability does not affect their ability to do the job.

Until then, advocates for access improvements had always met arguments based on need and cost. How many people in wheelchairs will actually want to enter this building was a frequently asked question which proved an obstacle for change. Arguments based on right were much more difficult to dismiss.

Just as the Bright Committee was ending its work, it was 1981 and IYDP [the Year of Disabled Persons ] which continued the focus on disability issues. The responsible Minister was again the Attorney-General because of the rights focus, and now Trevor Griffin, who brought considerable commitment to the task.

The momentum continued with a review of services for people with intellectual disability, chaired by Dr Bill McCoy, supported by others, including a young psychologist, Peter Millier.

The same slipstream saw the creation of Link magazine by Jeff Heath, who along with others including Neil Lillecrapp collaborated to obtain Government support to establish DIRC. Jeff played a significant role in publicizing the need for change in a light, very effective way, not dissimilar to Nick Xenophon.

The other significant force for change was Richard Llewellyn, who through commitment and personality became the Disability Adviser to the Premier, and enhanced the impetus for change.

This was a most creative and enjoyable time for me, as the principal writer of the Bright Reports and in the implementation of the legislative changes which followed. In this, I had the support and friendship of many people who were seeking the same changes, including;
Sir Charles Bright
Janet Belchamber
Jeff Heath
Richard Llewelyn
Peter Millier
Neville Kennedy
Maurice Corcoran
Ian Shepherd
Barbara Garrett
Neil Lillecrapp
Rosemary Martin
Peter Duncan
Trevor Griffin

They were heady days . There was a great sense of being involved in something worthwhile together.

Ian Bidmeade AM
June 2009

Ian Bidmeade is a lawyer with expertise in the areas of disability and mental health. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2008 for service to public health and to people with disabilities through contributions to administrative and legislation reforms, and to the community through a range of social welfare organisations. Ian is a Board Member of Disability Information and Resource Centre (DIRC).

Equal Opportunity Act

In 1978 the South Australian Government established the Bright Committee. It made recommendations on ways on how to improve the lot of people with a disability using the law and through policy. In 1984 the South Australian government introduced the Equal Opportunity Act to promote equality of opportunity and prevent discrimination based on sex, sexuality, marital status, pregnancy, race, physical or intellectual impairment or age. The Act aimed to: Promote equality of opportunity between the citizens of this State.[and] to facilitate the participation of citizens in the economic and social life of the community. Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA) s6 (3) The Equal Opportunity Act despite its importance only provided some protection of rights and opportunities to people with disabilities.

South Australian Disability Services Act

In the 1980’s de-institutionalisation had begun and the government had the responsibility to provide support services for people with a disability. In 1981 the State Government commissioned a report ‘A New Pattern of Services for Intellectually Handicapped People in South Australia’ focussing on the relationship between institutional and community based services and their service delivery. However, there were no reforms in disability services until the 1990’s. There was a major review on disability services called the ‘Disability Directions Project’ in 1992 and the ‘Disability Implementation Committee’ was formed in 1993 to report on how to implement change. The South Australian parliament passed the South Australian Disability Services Act in 1993 to provide for the funding and provision of disability services. South Australia had agreed, along with the other Australian states and territories to enact legislation that was complementary to the Commonwealth’s Disability Services Act. The Minister of Health, Family and Community Services in a speech on the second reading of the South Australian Disability Services Act stated: We are witnessing a constructive time of social reform, where Governments at all levels, together with non-government service providers, are working closely to provide a better quality of life for all people.It [the bill] thereby serves to endorse and protect the right of people with disabilities to dignity, autonomy and self-determination.

Commonwealth Disability Services Act

In the early 1980s the Commonwealth Government began a review of services for people with disabilities. The ‘Review of Handicapped Programs’ took the unusual step of involving people with disabilities and their families in the consultation process. The findings of the Review came out in 1985 in a document called ‘New Directions’. People with disabilities, their families and carers were critical of the existing services namely, institutional living arrangements, sheltered workshops and activity therapy centres. They wanted access to mainstream services, to be part of and to participate in the community, have access to paid employment and a choice in the services they used. The Disability Services Act passed by the Commonwealth Government in 1986 was a result of the findings of the Review. The Act covered the provision of services for people with a disability, set standards for their delivery and provided for action against services that did not meet those standards. The Act led the way for the inclusion of people with disabilities more widely into the community.

Disability Discrimination Act

During the 1980’s policy changes by the Commonwealth Government focussed mainly on service delivery and income support. By the beginning of the 1990’s the Government turned its attention toward formulating legislation that would eliminate discrimination against people with a disability. In 1992 the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was passed by the Commonwealth Government. It was an extension of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Act of 1986 and represented a step forward in the development of policies to support people with disabilities in Australia. The Act aimed to eliminate discrimination, ensure equality before the law and promote recognition and acceptance within the community of the fundamental rights of people with a disability.

The Disability Discrimination Commissioner is responsible for handling complaints under the Disability Discrimination Act. The Commissioner is a member of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). HREOC was established in 1986 to promote and protect the rights of all Australians. The Act was similar to legislative developments in other western countries, in particular the Americans with a Disability Act of 1990. It is similar to other Australian legislation created to protect the civil rights of other groups open to discrimination namely the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 and the Sex Discrimination Act of 1984. The DDA represented a further step in the gradual process by which disability has come to be viewed as a civil rights concern and a community responsibility rather than a charity and later a welfare issue Lindsay, 2004, p.36

References

Life to live. 2007. [online]. [Accessed 15th May 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: http://www.dsa.org.au/life_site/text/employment/index.html

Lindsay, M. 2004. ‘Background Paper 2′ 1995-96: Commonwealth Disability Policy 1983-1995 [online]. [Accessed 22nd May 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bp/1995-96/96bp06.htm

Turnbull, T. 1998. A social history of disability services in South Australia and a review of previous, current and future policy directions. Adelaide: University of Adelaide

Westhorp, G., Sebastian, A., Morrell, D. & Mayne, M. 1997. Advocacy and people with a disability: A learning package. Mile End, South Australia: Disability Action Inc