[Photo: File]

The Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission says children with disabilities need more than a monthly allowance, warning that inaccessible infrastructure and
limited support services continue to make daily life difficult for many families.

FHRAD Commissioner Veena Singh says financial assistance alone cannot address the barriers faced by children living with disabilities.

“Let’s contextualize it, bring it back to, like, just us, everyday people. Is that enough? And if you’re someone who’s, you know, in a wheelchair, most of our buses are not
accessible at all. Our public transports are not accessible. Our roads are not accessible. The streets are not accessible.”

Lead researcher Kayt Bronimann says many families face significant financial pressure, with some parents forced to leave their jobs to become full-time caregivers.

“Some children, they require diapers. They have to have feeding. Parents need to stay home full-time to care for them, so that often means some families, it’s just one income
from one parent and the other parent stays at home. But I don’t think it’s as simple as this is an amount of money, we just give it to the family and that’s it.”

Bronimann says families also need access to services that ease the burden of care and improve opportunities for children with disabilities.

“Beyond just providing an allowance, what are some other services, what are some other supports that we can give to families? Maybe it’s respite care. Maybe it’s access to
training for the children, for the family. So we need to kind of expand beyond just, you know, a dollar figure.”

The Commission is recommending a review of disability support to ensure assistance reflects the varying needs and costs associated with different disabilities.