Disability Rights update: October 2008

Other recent editions: August 2008 | June 2008 | April 2008 | February 2008 . Material from older editions is incorporated in HREOC's annual reports available online.

About this update

This Update from Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes is a slightly edited version of his regular disability rights project report for meetings of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. It is published as close as possible to Commission meetings, which are generally held 6 to 8 weeks apart. Events are notified first in the What´s New section of the Disability Rights home page, so check there if you want to keep fully up to date.

You can subscribe to our email list to be notified when new editions of this update are issued and when other major developments occur, by sending a blank message to join-drupdate@list.humanrights.gov.au

Your comments on any project or issue are welcome, preferably sent by e-mail. Contact us at: disabdis@humanrights.gov.au , or by mail to Disability Rights Unit, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 1042.

National Disability Strategy

A discussion paper on the National Disability Strategy, which as previously advised is to be based on the Convention, has been released. We will be preparing a response in consultation with the disability representative, advisory and advocacy organisations with which we worked closely in the lead up to ratification of the Convention.

Convention on Human Rights and Disability

For more in this area see our Convention page.

We have continued to work to assist in development of effective implementation strategies for the Convention now that ratification by Australia has been achieved. Commissioner Innes took the opportunity of the first meeting of States Parties to the Convention to discuss monitoring and implementation with leading experts internationally in this area. Australia 's Professor Ron McCallum with whom we have worked closely on a number of issues is a candidate at this election. In August Commissioner Innes participated together with the Attorney and other Ministers, and disability community and academic experts, in a major seminar on implementation conducted to launch the Human Rights Indicators for People with Disability resource sponsored by Queensland Advocacy Inc which we will be seeking to promote as a central foundation of effective reporting under the Convention here and internationally.

Amendments to the DDA

A Bill for amendments to the DDA to implement the reforms recommended by the Productivity Commission almost three years ago, and a number of associated reforms, is expected to be available very shortly.

Access to Premises

For more in this area see our access to premises page .

Access to Premises Standard : We have had a number of meetings with Departmental and Ministerial staff concerning the completion of the Access to Premises Standard emphasising the need to ensure the final standard is consistent with existing rights under the DDA.

Access to housing: We have raised a number of issues with the Department of Family, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) concerning the criteria attached to the Housing Affordability Fund and National Rental Affordability Scheme. While both schemes refer to accessibility as part of the funding criteria it is not clear how that requirement will be assessed or what level of access will be required to qualify for funds.

Commissioner Innes recently published an open letter on the Commission's website at detailing his views on the possible application of the DDA to the actions of a Body Corporate or Strata Management group.

Fitout and interior design: The Commission has initiated discussions with organisations representing design professionals involved in building fitout and interior design. Once the Access to Premises Standard has been completed we intend to look more closely at access barriers arising from fitout and interior design.

National Inquiry into Employment and Disability

National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy : Following the close of the national consultation phase at the end of the June, we have continued to engage with Government through our participation on the National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy Advisory Committee to inform the shape of the final National Disability Employment Strategy. In particular we have continued to emphasise: the importance of a whole-of-government approach where strategies have been developed in close collaboration with relevant Commonwealth, State and Territory government agencies; the provision of employment support services which are available on as-needed basis for the benefit of both employees with disability and their employers; research into the economic cost of disability to participate in employment; and inclusion of targets and indicators for monitoring purposes; and inclusion of mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability.

Employment of people with disability in the Australian Public Service (APS) : Given the under-representation of people with disability in the APS and the continuing decline of employment of people with disability over the past 20 years, Commissioner Innes has written to both the Minister for Employment Participation, the Hon Brendan O'Connor, and Special Minister of State, Cabinet Secretary and Vice-President of the Executive Council, Senator the Hon John Faulkner, regarding the need for Government to lead by example on employment of people with disability. In particular, in both a letter to Senator the Hon John Faulkner and during a presentation at a recent one-day seminar for APS members of the Australian Employers Network on Disability, I outlined eight possible strategies by which employment of people with disability in the APS could be improved, drawing on our Workability report and the APS's own MAC report last year.

Employment for Indigenous people with disability : An initial draft report outlining issues and barriers to employment for Indigenous people with disability is currently being prepared. During this preparation phase, consultation with critical stakeholders is continuing.

Occupational health and safety and employees with disability: The development of a resource for employers which provides practical guidance on a range of workplace adjustments or accommodations for employees with mental illness is well underway. The consultant hired to develop the resource has met with employer peaks, disability peaks, employment service provider peaks, unions, employers and employees with mental illness to gather essential information to inform the development of the resource. As mentioned previously, this is a joint project with the Australian Safety Compensation Council and the project plan has been developed with a view that the resource will receive endorsement by both the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities and Heads of Workplace Compensation Authorities. A first draft of the resource has been developed and is ready for distribution to the Occupational Health and Safety and Employees with Disability Working Group for comment. This working group is co-hosted by the Commission and the Office of the Australian Safety and Compensation Council.

The Working Group is also in the final stages of developing a proposal, for submission to Government, outlining the potential benefits to be gained through the appointment of Diversity Field Officers to various industry groups and associations across Australia . During discussions on how to reach employers who had never previously considered hiring people with disability, or who in the first instance would like to discuss issues with a known and trusted contact, the Working group identified Diversity Field Officers as potentially playing this critical role in the provision of services and advice to Members and - through them - to employers.

Australian Fair Pay Commission: As a member of the Australian Fair Pay Commission's Disability Roundtable, we recently participated in a meeting examining the AFPC's proposed research agenda in relation to employees with disability employed in business services. We have also continued to raise concerns with the AFPC regarding the lack of any system or process to ensure fairness and consistency across wage assessment tools so that people performing the same job in different business services are paid an equivalent wage, and a fair wage, regardless of place of employment.

Audio description, captioning and media access

For more in this area see our captioning and media access page.

Departmental investigation into Media Access: We have had a number of meetings with disability groups, media representatives and the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy concerning the Departmental investigation into media access. We expect that a final report will be presented to the Minister by the end of the year and remain hopeful that the report will map out a number of expectations and mechanisms, including timeframes for negotiations, for achieving planned progress in the area of media access.

Free to air TV broadcasting: A temporary exemption providing for further increases in captioning levels on free to air television, to reach 85% over the next three years, was approved by the Commission last month.

Subscription TV: Following some earlier discussions between ASTRA and community groups the subscription TV broadcasters are further developing a draft proposal for future provision of captioning. Commissioner Innes met in October with representatives of industry and the community sector to discuss new proposals.

Cinema: We are still awaiting finalisation of arrangements to extend cinema access (captioning and audio description) to 12 new venues following the announcement earlier this year by the Minister for Ageing that some funds would be made available to assist a number of independent cinema's to improve access. Representatives from the larger cinema chains have also now forwarded a proposal for an expansion of cinema access and we expect to be involved in discussions on these proposals with the disability sector and cinema representatives over the next few weeks.

Accessible public transport

For more in this area see our transport page.

Five year review of standards : We are still awaiting finalisation of the report of the initial five year review of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport which is to be submitted to the Attorney and the Minister for Infrastructure.

Aviation issues: The Department of Infrastructure has now acted on one of the central recommendations of the forum convened earlier this year by Commissioner Innes and Parliamentary Secretary Shorten, in establishing an ongoing aviation access working group which will commence meeting this month. We have also contributed to a review of security screening procedures and met with CASA and Attorney-General's Department for preliminary discussion of options for resolving uncertainties in the relationship between access and air safety requirements.

Exemptions : The Commission approved a number of temporary exemptions for Regional Express Airlines on 9 October. A recommendation for further action on the exemption application from the Queensland and Western Australian Taxi Councils will now be able to be prepared.

Web accessibility

As foreshadowed in Commissioner Innes' press release earlier this year regarding major government documents not being made available in an accessible format on release, we have established a “WebWatch” page for listing of instances of concern which come to our attention. Commissioner Innes has been notifying heads of agencies or departments as well as the relevant Minister and the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) of listings including asking to be advised of remedial measures taken so that listings can be removed when appropriate. There has been considerable interest in this initiative and we will be discussing actions in this area further with AGIMO in the near future.

Exemptions

For more in this area see our exemptions page.

See the sections of this update on transport and media access.

Action plans

Commissioner Innes has recently participated in workshops conducted by several State governments on more effective use of disability action plans, including the launch of a new action plan framework for NSW. We have also held discussions with a number of large national private sector organisations seeking to develop innovative ways of improving access to their services and providing better employment opportunities for people with a disability.

International co-operation

As part of our work to facilitate and support “…capacity-building, including through the exchange and sharing of information, experiences, training programmes and best practices” (Article 32 (b), Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), Commissioner Innes I recently gave a keynote address at the international conference Disability, Disadvantage and Development on using the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a tool for progress. We also attended the associated Disability and Development Policy Roundtable meeting to discuss emerging issues form the conference and identify urgent priorities for action. We also recently met with the CEO of the Pacific Disability Forum, Setareki Macanawai, to discuss emerging issues and work in the Pacific for people with disability and Disabled People's organisations in particular.

The Australian Government is also in the process of developing a disability strategy for Australia 's overseas aid program (AusAID) to define what actions will be taken to assist people with disabilities. During the initial consultation phase, we attended and provided feedback at the Sydney consultation session. More recently we were able to provide feedback on AusAID's draft Disability Strategy while attending the Australian Disability and Development Consortium's “Disability and Development Roundtable” meeting. In particular we urged representatives of AusAID's Disability Taskforce to consider a stronger emphasis on a human-rights based approach to development and increased focus on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities throughout the Strategy.

We have also commenced discussions with the New Zealand Human Rights Commission on possibilities for co-operation in development of strategies for implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities now that New Zealand has also ratified.

Indigenous people with disability

Preparatory work is continuing on the cross unit (SJU and DRU) project examining the impact of hearing impairment and deafness in Indigenous communities.

Violence against women

We recently met with the Chair of the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and Children, Libby Lloyd, and other members of the Council, to discuss issues of concern to women and children with disability to be addressed in the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children to be delivered to Government by December this year. Given the higher rate of violence and abuse against women with disability; the high rates of violence of women with disability in aged care and disability services; the scarcity of appropriate services to protect and support women with disability; continuing practice of unlawful and unauthorised sterilisation of women and girls with disability across Australia; lack of appropriate education for women and girls with disability; and lack of representation of women with disability on the membership of the Council, we urged the Council to consider the formation of a Working Group of Women with Disability to work with the Council in the development of the National Plan. We argued that an appointed Working Group, rather than ad hoc consultation process, was necessary to ensure that the perspective of women with disability is included in the development of the Plan and that the Plan responds to the needs of women and girls with disability from both prevention and response perspectives.

Recent meetings / speeches / media

Human Rights Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Disability Discrimination, Graeme Innes

As at 3 November 2008

Date	Event
8 Aug	Attorney-General's advisers re access to premises and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
8 Aug	Media Access Australia
19 Aug	Ian Silk, Chair, Disability Investment Group
19 Aug	Australian Hearing Services re indigenous issues
20 Aug	Launch Human Rights Indicators for People with Disability, Brisbane
21 Aug	Interview the Australian re employment and disabilty
25 Aug	Interview SMH re access to government documents
26 Aug	Open Vic govt workshop on action plans
28 Aug	Radio interviews re accessibility of govt documents
3 Sep	Meeting with Communications Alliance
4 Sep	Meeting with DBDCE re media access review
5 Sep	National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy advisory committee
5 Sep	Attorney-General's and Minister for Innovation's advisers re access to premises
10 Sep	Launch NSW govt action plan guidelines
10 Sep	Forum on HIV and employment
12 Sep	SMH re local election accessibility
16 Sep	Cinema access forum, Melbourne
18 Sep	Meeting Schizophrenia Fellowship
20 Sep	Meeting National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and Children
20 Sep	Meeting Secretary, Attorney-General's Department
24 Sep	Employers Network on Disability forum for Australian Public Service
29 Sep	Disability, disadvantage and development conference
7 Oct	Disability advocacy network conference
10 Oct	Disability and listening workshop, UNSW
10 Oct	Meetings on hearing access issues
16 Oct	ASTRA and deafness sector representatives re subscription TV access
22 Oct	Vision Australia re National Disability Strategy, Canberra
23 Oct	Disability and carers council, Canberra
27 Oct-3 Nov	Meetings re Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, New York

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