Submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission on ‘Free and equal: An Australian conversation on human rights'

This submission is made by Dr Nicola Fortune and Associate Professor Hannah Badland on behalf of investigators within the Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health (CRE-DH) funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Summary of CRE-DH recommendations

The CRE-DH welcomes the planned reform process to strengthen Australia’s human rights legislative structure. In the context of this reform process, we recommend that:

· a monitoring and reporting framework, supported by appropriate data, should form an integral part of Australia’s human rights legislative structure, and should be used to support effective accountability mechanisms;

· legislation should articulate the obligations of governments, organisations, and all Australians in relation to respecting, protecting and fulfilling the human rights of people with disability;

· legislation should require proactive measures be taken to fulfil human rights for people with disability and reduce current inequities;

· there should be a requirement to consider the human rights of people with disability in the context of developing or reviewing laws, policies and practices across all government portfolios and at all levels of government;

· legislation should recognise the diversity of the population with disability, including the multiple identities individuals hold (e.g., Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, LGBTI+, cultural and linguistic background) that influence their experience of human rights in Australia.

· legislation should not be limited to the human rights of Australian citizens with disability, but encompass the human rights of all people with disability, including refugees and those who come to Australia or seek to visit or migrate to Australia.

· all aspects of the discrimination complaints process should be made accessible, and accommodations should be provided to assist people with disability in making complaints and accessing justice through the court system.

· reform of the human rights legislative structure, including development of a monitoring and reporting framework as part of this, should be informed by broad consultation with people with disability and their representative organisations.

Further information

https://credh.org.au/reports-and-submissions/