Post by siddhartha on Sept 14, 2010 10:35:52 GMT 7
An article in the Melbourne Age:
Australias disability laws need critical review
Nicholas Patrick
March 12, 2010
People with disabilities in Australia live on a lower socio-economic rung than most. People with a disability have poorer educational qualifications, have a higher rate of unemployment, earn lower wages on average, have a reduced life expectancy of up to 20 years, are three-times more likely to be a victim of violent crime and, are far more likely to be the victim of a sexual assault than the rest of the population.
It reads like life in a third world ghetto, yet it is here, and our laws do little to address these critical issues.
For some four million Australians and their families, a threadbare patchwork of state and federal laws, often ignored international conventions and, an all round lack of understanding make life more challenging than it already is. What's needed is a complete review of the existing legal framework to ensure that people with disability live lives of dignity and can realise their potential to fully participate in Australian society.
Much newsprint and digital space has been devoted to such issues as wheelchair access on domestic and international flights, mental health in the Northern Territory, and, on Four Corners recently, the dire state of government support for parents of children with disabilities.
Other cases, gaining less media attention, such as access to education and electoral rights for voters, are progressing through the courts.
Yet, for all the very real pain and injustice these stories draw on, they are only mountain peaks of public awareness. The state of legal rights for people with disability are, in fact, far worse than even these very serious cases might suggest.
Currently, the disability sector is compiling a shadow report to the United Nations on Australia's compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was ratified by the Australian Government in 2008. The report will act as a response to the federal government's own report on our adherence to the convention, which is due later this year.
The shadow report reveals that many of the requirements of the CRPD are ignored in Australia and that people with disabilities experience high rates of social isolation as a result. This sorry situation is based largely on the fact that there are too many gaps in the legal landscape of protections for people with disabilities, combined with a lack of proactive measures designed to ensure that rights are fully realised.
Australia has no Human Rights Act, and no comprehensive human rights protections. Various State and Commonwealth Discrimination Acts, while offering legal protections in some areas, are disjointed with enough gaps to make them largely ineffective. Because the requirements of the legislation are unclear, employers and providers of vital services such as health, education and transport find it difficult to determine what is required in order to fully comply.
Advocacy groups are not adequately resourced to assist individuals to effectively assert and realise their rights.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) can be an unsatisfactory channel for the enforcement legal rights. It is only commissioned with a conciliatory role and may not commence enforcement proceedings where important rights are being violated.
The role of the courts is problematic, since in most cases complaints must be commenced by an individual, rather than an organisation, outcomes can be hard to predict, and costs are prohibitive. Most cases of violations of disability rights are not brought to the courts and thus the jurisprudence is relatively limited.People living with disability in Australia are being let down by a shaky, ill-designed legal framework. They experience high levels of social, physical, financial and legal isolation. It is an unacceptable situation in 21st century Australia.
The CRPD mandates a review of national legislation to ensure that it complies with the requirements of the Convention. An audit of the current legal protections provided for people with disabilities across all jurisdictions is the only appropriate means of beginning a reform process to alleviate the extraordinarily awful state of affairs. The Government must not only strengthen protections, but must also implement programmes to ensure that rights are fully realised.
Nicolas Patrick is Pro Bono Partner at DLA Phillips Fox and lead author of the formal response to the federal government's report on Australia's compliance with the CRPD
Australias disability laws need critical review
Nicholas Patrick
March 12, 2010
People with disabilities in Australia live on a lower socio-economic rung than most. People with a disability have poorer educational qualifications, have a higher rate of unemployment, earn lower wages on average, have a reduced life expectancy of up to 20 years, are three-times more likely to be a victim of violent crime and, are far more likely to be the victim of a sexual assault than the rest of the population.
It reads like life in a third world ghetto, yet it is here, and our laws do little to address these critical issues.
For some four million Australians and their families, a threadbare patchwork of state and federal laws, often ignored international conventions and, an all round lack of understanding make life more challenging than it already is. What's needed is a complete review of the existing legal framework to ensure that people with disability live lives of dignity and can realise their potential to fully participate in Australian society.
Much newsprint and digital space has been devoted to such issues as wheelchair access on domestic and international flights, mental health in the Northern Territory, and, on Four Corners recently, the dire state of government support for parents of children with disabilities.
Other cases, gaining less media attention, such as access to education and electoral rights for voters, are progressing through the courts.
Yet, for all the very real pain and injustice these stories draw on, they are only mountain peaks of public awareness. The state of legal rights for people with disability are, in fact, far worse than even these very serious cases might suggest.
Currently, the disability sector is compiling a shadow report to the United Nations on Australia's compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was ratified by the Australian Government in 2008. The report will act as a response to the federal government's own report on our adherence to the convention, which is due later this year.
The shadow report reveals that many of the requirements of the CRPD are ignored in Australia and that people with disabilities experience high rates of social isolation as a result. This sorry situation is based largely on the fact that there are too many gaps in the legal landscape of protections for people with disabilities, combined with a lack of proactive measures designed to ensure that rights are fully realised.
Australia has no Human Rights Act, and no comprehensive human rights protections. Various State and Commonwealth Discrimination Acts, while offering legal protections in some areas, are disjointed with enough gaps to make them largely ineffective. Because the requirements of the legislation are unclear, employers and providers of vital services such as health, education and transport find it difficult to determine what is required in order to fully comply.
Advocacy groups are not adequately resourced to assist individuals to effectively assert and realise their rights.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) can be an unsatisfactory channel for the enforcement legal rights. It is only commissioned with a conciliatory role and may not commence enforcement proceedings where important rights are being violated.
The role of the courts is problematic, since in most cases complaints must be commenced by an individual, rather than an organisation, outcomes can be hard to predict, and costs are prohibitive. Most cases of violations of disability rights are not brought to the courts and thus the jurisprudence is relatively limited.People living with disability in Australia are being let down by a shaky, ill-designed legal framework. They experience high levels of social, physical, financial and legal isolation. It is an unacceptable situation in 21st century Australia.
The CRPD mandates a review of national legislation to ensure that it complies with the requirements of the Convention. An audit of the current legal protections provided for people with disabilities across all jurisdictions is the only appropriate means of beginning a reform process to alleviate the extraordinarily awful state of affairs. The Government must not only strengthen protections, but must also implement programmes to ensure that rights are fully realised.
Nicolas Patrick is Pro Bono Partner at DLA Phillips Fox and lead author of the formal response to the federal government's report on Australia's compliance with the CRPD