A CENTRAL Victorian advocate has urged the federal government to heed advice from a report into the experience of people with a disability during COVID-19, saying its lessons are vital to protecting vulnerable people in future emergencies.
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Released on Monday, the Disability Royal Commission report found failures in government policy and action contributed to ill-effects on people with a disability, such as extreme stress, anxiety and going without essential supplies.
Mount Alexander Shire Disability Advocacy Group chair Lorraine le Plastrier said it was important to learn from what took place, because future disasters would arise.
She said many people she knew with a disability struggled with the disruption to their lives during the pandemic.
Ms le Plastrier said life was already a battle for people with disabilities, and the COVID-19 crisis just added to it.
"It's the total disruptions to their lives, regular patterns change, that pretty well happened to everyone," she said.
"People with a disability are often pushing uphill anyway, and encounter many more difficulties."
Ms le Plastrier said she welcomed the Royal Commission, because the needs of people with a disability were often misunderstood or overlooked.
The Royal Commission found the government was responsibly for significant failings from the start of the pandemic in late January, until it established an advisory committee on the COVID-19 response for people with a disability on April 2.
Extreme stress, anxiety related to fear of contracting COVID-19 because of exposure to different support staff, were among the consequences of this policy gap, the report found.
People with a disability in residential facilities - especially those with comorbidities - were exposed to much greater risk than other community members, because of the reliance on casual staff, it found.
The health and wellbeing of people with a disability was also jeopardised, by prolonged periods without access to essential supplies such as food and medication, it found.
Significant distress was caused by a lack of clear and consistent information, and threats to mental health, due to people with a disability's believe they had been forgotten and ignored.
It also found there was a lack of data on infection and deaths specific to people with a disability.
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Among the 22 Royal Commission recommendations was that the government provide funding to support people with disabilities to participate in consultation processes, and identify gaps in its current processes.
It also recommended the advisory committee on emergency response for people with a disability continue to function.
Ms le Plastrier said it was wise to have an advisory committee for people with a disability established, because other emergencies would arise.
She said it was of vital importance to know what to do with vulnerable people in an emergency, when nearly every system was likely to break down.
Ms le Plastrier said a local level plan for these people was vital in emergencies.
"It's really important that what people have experienced and the lessons that people have learnt from COVID-19 ... to note them, because other emergencies are going to come up, floods, fires those sorts of thing," she said.
- With AAP
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