Despite the high levels of spending, people living with disabilities are far from being well provided for under this scheme. A small percentage have managed to traverse the bureaucratic maze to get things such as home assistance, wheelchairs and home modifications that substantially improve their lives. No decent person would begrudge them that, whatever the cost.
The ways educators orientate to disability is crucial to how they ensure students are not excluded from any aspect of educational participation because of the conditions they live with. An educator’s orientation to disability is also just as important when they are designing and delivering inclusive curriculum. Unfortunately, still too many students with disabilities receive inequitable schooling opportunities in Australia.
The toolkit has information and worksheets to help people know their rights and speak up for themselves. It guides them on how the NDIS works, setting goals and plans and where to find support. The toolkit has been co-designed with people with lived experience of the NDIS and mental health system to make sure you get the help you need to advocate for what you want under the NDIS’ psychosocial disability stream.
The guidelines are intended to guide and support States parties, in their efforts to realise the right of persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community, and to be the basis for planning deinstitutionalisation processes and prevention of institutionalisation. Institutionalisation is a discriminatory practice against persons with disabilities, contrary to article 5 of the Convention. It involves de facto denial of the legal capacity of persons with disabilities, in breach of article 12. It constitutes detention and deprivation of liberty based on impairment, contrary to article 14. States parties should recognise institutionalisation as a form of violence against persons with disabilities.
Lisa, who lives with an acquired brain injury, speaks with Dinesh Wadiwel from the University of Sydney about human rights, their origin, their influence and effect.
The bottom line of that analysis is although … a contested issue, my own view is the better view of the Convention’s obligation, in particular Article 24, is that Australia needs to move progressively over some time to have [a] transformed system with inclusive education, which does not, as a matter of principle, include special schools as a long-term separate form of education. And I think that is also a position taken by the CRPD Committee.”
Child protection statistics are a sober reminder of the vulnerability these families face if they fall between the cracks of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and mainstream support services. Parenting should be treated as an activity of daily living for people with disability and then supported – rather than ignored – to ensure the best outcomes for parents and children.
Craig Wallace, head of policy at Advocacy for Inclusion, says the ban on plastic straws introduces another layer of complexity into the lives of people with disability by requiring them to negotiate the availability of an item that they need to remain hydrated or to carry that item with them.
We have set up an unnecessary division — environmentalism versus the needs of disabled people — creating eco-ableism. Compromise is the way forward, and already exists in our approach to single-use plastics.
Ms Cox says the world continues to collectively experience a global situation of risk, the pandemic continues, armed conflicts, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters continue to happen. ‘Despite these events, state parties and governments have so much more to do to ensure the protection and safety of disabled people.
Emily Dash is an emerging writer, actor, producer and speaker who works across theatre and screen. Her acclaimed and wide ranging work emphasises social justice issues, community engagement, intersectionality, and expanding perceptions of disability. Watch her spoken word performance about owning your power and taking up space as a person with disability which was presented at the ‘Where To From Here Conference 2022’.
As a disability rights lawyer who represents people with disabilities and their families every day, I know that there is often a lot of confusion and fear around guardianship laws; especially about why they exist. This article is designed to fill you in on how these laws came to be and what role they have in a modern Australia that acknowledges the human rights of people with disability.
This fifteenth session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an important moment for stocktaking and reflection. With 185 ratifications since its adoption in 2006, the Convention has crystallized the commitment of the international community to realize an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable world for all.
Measuring inequality is essential for identifying the barriers faced by people with disability in exercising their human rights. Evidence of disability-related inequalities can inform action to remove barriers and reduce inequalities. This report presents the first national data using the Disability and Wellbeing Monitoring Framework and Indicators, which was developed by the CRE-DH in consultation with people with disability and disability advocates.
Proud Indigenous man Thomas Marks tells his story of being Stolen Gen, incarceration and turning his life around through art. This is his story told in his own words for the Disability Royal Commission.