“FIJI-THE DISABILITY FRIENDLY SOCIETY “

"Fiji is a more accepting society, where people with disability are just looked upon as being “differently abled”. -Melissa Ryan

As a frequent visitor to Fiji , I often tell people that I leave my disability at the gates of Brisbane Airport.

As stated in the Disability Royal Commission’s final report that was released recently, people with disabilities still face horrendous attitudes within society. These attitudes are mainly based on false assumptions, the notion that people with disabilities are a ‘burden on society’ and can not contribute to society.

Some people with disability face stigma, discrimination, ablelism and paternalism almost on a daily basis within Australian Society.

The same can’t be said for Fiji. Fiji is a more accepting society, where people with disability are just looked upon as being “differently abled”. While being “differently abled’ has negative connotations in Australia, this isn’t the case in Fiji.

In Fiji, having a disability is not frowned upon and being “differently abled”, just means that a person needs a little more help than other people. Attitudes towards people with disabilities are more positive in Fiji, they are not made to feel ashamed and there is no stigma attached to being a disabled person.

Due to the fact that I have a speech impairment, when I go out in public in Australia, people often shy away from me and try to avoid having a conversation with me or assume that I have an intellectual impairment and that I don’t quite know what’s going on, often people will talk to my Support Workers, instead of me.

Most often, I do not have this problem in Fiji and people will come up to me on the street and start a conversation, unfazed by my speech Impairment and when I have had problems, it has been largely due to the fact that there is a language barrier- that the other person can not speak English very well, not because of my actual disability .

In Fiji, people with disabilities seem to be in the media a lot more – in a positive light. The abilities of people with disabilities are showcased in such a way that are not conscending, unlike Australia that tends to see people with disabilities doing every day things as being “inspirational”.

Fiji does not have the infrastructure that exists in Australia. Buildings don’t always have ramps of lifts, pathways are not also levelled and are sometimes hard to negotiate, public buildings are built in hilly areas- which make it hard for those in wheelchairs to negotiate, but what Fiji has, that is sadly lacking in Australia- is the ability to respect the dignity and rights of people with disability.

On my most recent trip to Fiji, I visited the University where my cousin did her Law degree. We went to a cafe where a group of hospitality students were doing their training. There was one big step to the entrance of the cafe with no ramp, instead of letting us struggle, cafe staff came out and lifted my wheelchair (with me in it) into the cafe. I doubt whether this would of happen in Australia.

Once we were inside the cafe, the supervisor approached me and asked: “How can we encourage more people in wheelchairs to come into the cafe, how can we be more inclusive of people with disabilities?”

Normally when I step into a cafe that is not accessible for people with disabilities in Australia, I get angry-I get angry, because these businesses just don’t care whether or not they are accessible to people with disabilities and if they do care- it’s only because they don’t want to be seen as doing the wrong thing or they don’t want to be fined, it’s not because they want to be truly inclusive of people with disabilities.

When I was in the cafe in Fiji, I felt empowered. The attitude of the cafe was “we want to be inclusive of people with disabilities, show us how”. The barrier in this case was not that they did not care, they simply did not have the knowledge to do it.

Amazingly, the cafe was built with the financial assistance of Ausaid, an Australian foreign aid agency. Either Ausaid did not have any involvement in the structure of the building, or they don’t think that Fijians with disabilities go to University.

Another major difference between Fijian and Australian Universities, is that Fijian Universities tend to invest more in the informal supports of Students With Disabilities. Fiji has a “Buddy System”, where a student with a disability is assigned to another student within their course. This student provides them with support in terms of accessing class notes, assistance with doing assignments, and mentoring.

In Australia, Students With Disabilities are supported by paid Support Workers or Mentors. There is very little investment in building informal networks of Students With Disabilities at University. Maybe if we did invest in a “buddy system” such as Fiji’s, the costs of supporting such students at Australian Universities would significantly be lower.

The final report of the Disability Royal Commission has told us that we do not treat Australians with disabilities very well. Maybe Fiji can teach Australia how to treat people with disabilities in a respectful and diginfied manner-are we too arrogant to learn these lessons?