Kew Residential Services

12/08/2003

by Diane Sisely
Chief Executive
Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria
August 2003

The continuing furore over the fate of Kew Residential Services and the people it once accommodated demonstrates how little has been achieved in the area of rights for people with disabilities. We must all remember that people with disabilities have rights just like the rest of us – to work, to health services, education and accommodation. People with disabilities have the right to participate in the community, just like anyone else.

It’s time we stopped talking about what people with disabilities need and focus instead on their rights – which are the same rights we all have. That means instead of creating dependence on services, we must empower and support people to take control of their lives to their fullest possible extent.

The critical issue, as Julian Gardner, points out, is about supporting people with disabilities to lead fulfilling lives. As a community our understanding of disability is appalling, unless we are personally faced with it. Discrimination on the basis of disability accounts for about one quarter of all complaints to the Equal Opportunity Commission. Clearly we have a large educational task ahead of us to change this situation.