00:00Sure, well firstly the use of restrictive practices is a serious violation of human
00:08rights of people with disability. Sometimes restrictive practices are used to manage
00:15people with disabilities behaviour, but it is illegal to use prone restraints, so effectively
00:23where you bear hug or place a knee on the back of a person with disability, that is
00:28illegal and unlawful, and there have been five incidents at least where this has occurred
00:34in the last couple of years, resulting in the death of a First Nations person with disability.
00:39This is an extraordinarily dangerous thing to do, and regrettably the statement, I can't
00:46breathe, isn't exclusive to African Americans, it happens here to First Nations people with
00:52disability as well.
00:53So you're really sounding the alarm. Have you been able to speak with the Federal Government
00:59about your concerns around the use of these restraints?
01:03Well, we'll certainly be taking these matters to the Federal Government. A lot of these incidents
01:09are occurring in the Northern Territory. In fact, all of them are. These are serious breaches
01:15of duty of care. They're also a failure of the guardianship system. They're also part of,
01:21frankly, an ignorance in understanding the nature of people with disabilities. Some people with
01:27disability have difficulty understanding instruction. That's not their fault. That's the nature of
01:33their disability. So we must train police disability support workers to better understand how to
01:40appropriately interact with First Nations people with disability.
01:44And because of the way the NDIS works, you're also concerned that a lot of Aboriginal people aren't
01:49able to be on country and get the NDIS support they need. They have to move off country, sometimes
01:54into larger town centres where they're away from family and from their country. What sort of
01:59reforms do you think are needed in this space?
02:01Well, we've articulated since 2013 a 10-point plan for the successful implementation of the NDIS in our
02:11communities. And frankly, none of it has changed. Staying on community is vital for any human being
02:18where you live, where your supports are, where your family are. And our communities have the solutions.
02:23They always have. They've always provided support to community members with disabilities since time
02:29began. So it's critical that we use the expertise and knowledge that's long held within our own
02:36community so people can stay on country, close to supports, close to family, close to culture.
02:41The government's foreshadowed a lot of change in terms of reform to the NDIS in recent weeks.
02:47What did you make of that announcement by the government to start to move some families,
02:53particularly for children with autism, off the system onto a new system? Do you think there
02:58was enough consultation done with the sector?
03:02No, there hasn't been, frankly. And First Nations people with disability and people with
03:06disability themselves are the knowledge holders. Of course they are. They know their own experience
03:11as a person with disability. So nothing can be designed without First Nations people with
03:17disability or people with disability themselves in the wider Australian community being the designers
03:22of a program. After all, if you don't do that, you end up with scenarios that are all too common.
03:28For example, where, say, a wheelchair ramp is at the wrong angle because they didn't ask
03:33a wheelchair user how to build it, for example. Or how do we build support structures where First
03:41Nations people with disability can feel safe and can talk about how difficult it can be for
03:46them sometimes, engaging with authority figures.
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