Examining the role of government inshaping disability inclusiveness around COVID-19: a framework analysis of Australian guidelines

Colon-Cabrera, David, Sharma, Shivika, Warren, Narelle and Sakellariou, Dikaios ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2668-2834 2021. Examining the role of government inshaping disability inclusiveness around COVID-19: a framework analysis of Australian guidelines. International Journal for Equity in Health 20 , 166. 10.1186/s12939-021-01506-2

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Abstract

Background:The COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered the ways in which disabled people are made morevulnerable due to structural inequalities. These vulnerabilities are the result of the interaction between individualand structural factors that shape how risk is experienced by disabled people. In Australia, these vulnerabilities areinfluenced by the way disability services and care for disabled people are delivered through a consumer-directedapproach. We analysed the policies and documentation made by the Australian Government and state and territorygovernments during the pandemic to explore whether these were disability-inclusive. We aimed to unpack howthese policies shaped disabled people as vulnerable citizens.Methods:Guided by documentary research, we used framework analysis to examine the policies of the AustralianGovernment and state and territory governments. We analysed legislation that was given royal assent by thefederal, state and territory governments, and documents (reports, fact sheets, guidance documents, etc.) publishedby the federal government and the state of Victoria (given that this state experienced the brunt of the epidemic inAustralia) between February 2020 to August of 2020.Results:We found that most of the resources were not aimed at disabled people, but at carers and workers withindisability services. In addition, most policies formulated by the Australian Government were related to theexpansion of welfare services and the creation of economic stimulus schemes. However, while the stimulusincluded unemployed people, the expansion of benefits explicitly excluded disabled people who were notemployed. Most of the legislation and documents offered accessibility options, though most of these options wereonly available in English. Disability oriented agencies offered more extensive accessibility options.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Healthcare Sciences
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Additional Information:	This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher:	BioMed Central
ISSN:	1475-9276
Related URLs:	https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/...
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	21 July 2021
Date of Acceptance:	6 July 2021
Last Modified:	08 May 2023 20:52
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/142767

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