Victorian Repealed Acts

This legislation has been repealed.

Intellectually Disabled Persons' Services Act 1986 - SECT 5

Statement of principles

5. Statement of principles

It is the intention of Parliament that in the administration of this Act and
the provision, management, development and planning of services for
intellectually disabled persons the following principles are to be given
effect to-

   (a)  intellectually disabled persons have the same right as other members
        of the community to services which support a reasonable quality of
        life;

   (b)  every intellectually disabled person has a capacity for physical,
        social, emotional and intellectual development and a right to
        individualized educational and developmental opportunities and is
        entitled to exercise maximum control over every aspect of his or her
        life;

   (c)  the welfare of an intellectually disabled person is the first and
        paramount consideration;

   (d)  the needs of intellectually disabled persons are best met when the
        conditions of their everyday life are the same as, or as close as
        possible to, norms and patterns which are valued in the general
        community;

   (e)  services should promote maximum physical and social integration
        through the participation of intellectually disabled persons in the
        life of the community;

   (f)  services generally available to all members of the community should be
        adapted to ensure access by intellectually disabled persons and
        specialized supplementary services should be provided to the extent
        required to meet individual needs;

   (g)  services to intellectually disabled persons should be provided in such
        a manner that an individual need not move out of his or her local
        community or travel inordinately long distances to receive the
        services needed;

   (h)  services to intellectually disabled persons should be sufficiently
        flexible in structure and organization to meet the varying needs of
        intellectually disabled persons in developing towards independence and
        to maximize the choices open to them;

        (i)    it is in the best interests of intellectually disabled persons
               and their families that no single organization providing
               services to intellectually disabled persons exercise control
               over all or most aspects of an individual's life;

   (j)  it is the responsibility of the State of Victoria to plan, fund,
        ensure the provision of and evaluate services to intellectually
        disabled persons according to the principles stated herein;

   (k)  it is in the interests of intellectually disabled persons and their
        families for non-government organizations providing services to
        intellectually disabled persons to continue to play a significant role
        in direct service delivery;

   (l)  the State of Victoria must ensure that government and non-government
        organizations providing services to intellectually disabled persons
        are accountable for the extent to which the rights of intellectually
        disabled persons are advanced and service quality assured;

   (m)  intellectually disabled persons have a legitimate and major role to
        play in planning and evaluating services;

   (n)  when some restriction on the rights or opportunities of an
        intellectually disabled person is necessary, the means chosen should
        be the least restrictive of the available alternatives having regard
        to all the circumstances;

   (o)  the families of intellectually disabled persons have an important role
        to play in supporting, and encouraging the development of, a family
        member with an intellectual disability.