Many issues fall within FECCA’s disability portfolio, including those that affect the day-to-day life of people with disability, such as easy access to amenities and education opportunities. As part of its core access and equity work, FECCA consults with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people with a disability. Forming a key part of their constituency, FECCA also provides the federal government feedback on behalf of people with disabilities.

FECCA has a dedicated Disability Advisory Committee comprising of committed disability advocates from different States and Territories and experts in their sphere of work. Most of the committee members are CALD people with disability themselves. Click here to view the FECCA Disability Advisory Committee Terms of Reference (reviewed March 2016).

FECCA works closely with the National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) on all matters pertaining to people with disability from non-English speaking backgrounds.

The accessibility of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) by CALD people with disabilities is currently a key issue in view of the national roll out of this scheme in July 2016. FECCA also works on issues affecting people with disability in detention centres, temporary, bridging or work visas and those who are unable to obtain such a visa based on their disability. In June 2015, FECCA produced a paper on access and equity in the context of the National Disability Scheme.

The employment of CALD people with disability is another key focus for this area of FECCA’s work. FECCA is concerned about the drastic decline of the employment ratios of people with disability in both the private and public sector. FECCA believes that employment is the most important step towards empowerment and living with dignity. Negative attitudes, stereotypes and discrimination against people with disabilities are seen as the most prominent barriers to employment of people with disability. The FECCA Disability Advisory Committee is currently looking at options to enable CALD people with disability to transition from Disability Support Pension to gainful employment.

Other pressing issues relating to employment include:

• The absence of managerial and middle managerial level job opportunities for people with disabilities, despite having tertiary qualifications.
• Opportunities presented by developments of information technology to increase employment rates of this constituency; such as working from home in the public and private sector.