Disability Rights and Awareness

Editor: Justin Healey ISBN 978 1 921507 27 4 Year 2010 Price: $20.95		Disability Rights and Awareness Volume 316, Issues in Society One in 5 Australians has a disability. Although this figure represents a significant portion of Australia’s population, many struggle against direct and indirect discrimination in the form of barriers to basic assistance, services and social inclusion. This book provides an overview of the major disability groups (physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory, neurological, etc) and their core activity restrictions. It also explores the promotion of awareness and understanding; rights and protection under the Disability Discrimination Act; Australia’s inadequate disability support system and the proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme; the role of carers and families; accessibility issues; education rights for disabled students; employment of people with disabilities; and legal ethics issues including genetic screening, sterilisation and ‘wrongful life’ cases. Chapter 1: Disability Services and Support What is a disability?; Disability statistics; The way forward – a new disability policy framework for Australia; National disability insurance scheme – a possible model; The plan for a national disability insurance scheme; Shut out: the experience of people with disabilities and their families in Australia; The nature and impact of caring for family members with a disability in Australia. Chapter 2 Disability Discrimination and Rights Issues Living with a disability; Disability inequality in Australia; Disability discrimination; Who are people with a disability?; How is discrimination defined under the Disability Discrimination Act?; United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; How does the DDA define disability?; Australia’s disability laws need critical review; Disability access standards lauded; The accessible future – challenges and strategies to get there; Education rights for children with disabilities; Disability and bullying at school; Appropriate language; Business benefits of employing people with disability; Our society will be worse off if we reject Down syndrome children; For all the love, living with a disability is hard; Disability and ethics; The moral quandary of sterilising a child; Barring disabled migrants makes Australia the loser; Justice missing in wrongful life cases. Glossary; Fast Facts; Web Links; Index

		FAST FACTS from this volume
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of people with disability doubled between 1981 and 2003, to reach an estimated 3.9 million Australians. Almost every Australian has cared, or is caring, for a family member with a disability, or knows of a family doing so. With the number of Australians with a severe physical, intellectual and/or behavioural disability increasing, and the community’s capacity to provide informal care declining, it’s time to start planning properly for the future, as Australia did in the 1980s when compulsory superannuation was introduced. In the next 15 to 20 years, the size of this unfunded liability will grow significantly due to increasing incidence of disability at birth (older mothers, IVF and increased survival rates amongst very low birth-weight babies), increasing numbers of people with acquired brain injuries, people with disabilities living longer and others acquiring disabilities as they grow older. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities seeking work was 8.6% in 2003 compared with 5.0% for people without disabilities. 51% of female carers and 31% of males reported that they had been depressed for 6 months or more since they started caring. People with disabilities and their families, friends and carers reported daily instances of being segregated, excluded, marginalised and ignored. At best they reported being treated as different. At worst they reported experiencing exclusion and abuse, and being the subject of fear, ignorance and prejudice. It is estimated that in 2003 there were 474,600 primary carers providing care to a person because of disability or old age. 60% of carers reported that they cared for the person with a disability for more than 100 hours per week. 650 million people live with disability, says the World Health Organisation, with 80% of this number living in low-income countries, where the support services available are poor to non-existent. Under the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992, discrimin-ation against disabled people is illegal. The average weekly wage of the disabled community is $255, while for the non-disabled the average is $501. The Australian government signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities model in 2006. Compared to Australians without disability, people with disability are more likely to live in poverty, to have fewer educational qualifications, to be out of work and experience inequality. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures indicate that 20% of the Australian population, or more than 3 million people, have one or more disabilities; and that this proportion is increasing, in particular with the ageing of the population. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare predicts that, on average, men in Australia as they age can expect to live nearly 19 years of their lives with a disability (and more than 5 years with a ‘severe or profound’ disability) while women, living longer, can expect to experience nearly 21 years of disability and over 8 years of severe or profound disability. Around 1 in every 5 Australians, or over 3 million people, experience a mental disorder of some kind, with 170,000 experiencing at least one schizophrenic episode and up to 10% experiencing depressive disorders. 14% of the community, or around 2.6 million Australians, have a physical disability of some kind. Over 1 million Australians have a significant hearing impair-ment, with around 30,000 Australians totally deaf. Around 300,000 Australians have a substantial vision impairment (i.e. not correctable by glasses), with around 20,000 totally blind. Around 2% of the population, or 400,000 Australians, have an intellectual impairment. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol were adopted at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 13 December 2006, and entered into force internationally on 3 May 2008. People with a disability have poorer educational qualif-ications, have a higher rate of unemployment, earn lower wages on average, have a reduced life expectancy of up to 20 years, are 3 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. All new buildings will be required to have adequate disabled access under new broad standards aimed at evening things up for the disabled community. It is not always possible for children with disabilities to attend mainstream schools. It may be too hard for some mainstream schools to make the necessary adjustments for students with particular disabilities. If an education provider does not carry out its obligations to a person with a disability in line with the Education Standards, that person (or someone on his behalf) can make a formal complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission. 90% of employees with disability record productivity rates equal or greater than other workers. One in five of your customers is likely to be a person with disability. Knowledge of this growing market segment can assist your business to meet your customers’ needs effectively and grow your business. Of about 300 pregnancy terminations in NSW every year due to detected birth defects, 77% are associated with a chromosomal abnormality. The most common is Down syndrome. A Senate committee inquiry into the migration treatment of disability in Australia is revealing that Australia systematically discriminates against people with impairments. Under the Migration Act, people with impairments have their disability taken into consideration in meeting the health criteria as a condition of entry. The Disability Discrimination Act is suspended for the purposes of the Migration Act. As a result, disabled people are automatically excluded from consideration.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of people with disability doubled between 1981 and 2003, to reach an estimated 3.9 million Australians.
Almost every Australian has cared, or is caring, for a family member with a disability, or knows of a family doing so.
With the number of Australians with a severe physical, intellectual and/or behavioural disability increasing, and the community’s capacity to provide informal care declining, it’s time to start planning properly for the future, as Australia did in the 1980s when compulsory superannuation was introduced.
In the next 15 to 20 years, the size of this unfunded liability will grow significantly due to increasing incidence of disability at birth (older mothers, IVF and increased survival rates amongst very low birth-weight babies), increasing numbers of people with acquired brain injuries, people with disabilities living longer and others acquiring disabilities as they grow older.
The unemployment rate for people with disabilities seeking work was 8.6% in 2003 compared with 5.0% for people without disabilities.
51% of female carers and 31% of males reported that they had been depressed for 6 months or more since they started caring.
People with disabilities and their families, friends and carers reported daily instances of being segregated, excluded, marginalised and ignored. At best they reported being treated as different. At worst they reported experiencing exclusion and abuse, and being the subject of fear, ignorance and prejudice.
It is estimated that in 2003 there were 474,600 primary carers providing care to a person because of disability or old age.
60% of carers reported that they cared for the person with a disability for more than 100 hours per week.
650 million people live with disability, says the World Health Organisation, with 80% of this number living in low-income countries, where the support services available are poor to non-existent.
Under the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992, discrimin-ation against disabled people is illegal.
The average weekly wage of the disabled community is $255, while for the non-disabled the average is $501.
The Australian government signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities model in 2006.
Compared to Australians without disability, people with disability are more likely to live in poverty, to have fewer educational qualifications, to be out of work and experience inequality.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures indicate that 20% of the Australian population, or more than 3 million people, have one or more disabilities; and that this proportion is increasing, in particular with the ageing of the population.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare predicts that, on average, men in Australia as they age can expect to live nearly 19 years of their lives with a disability (and more than 5 years with a ‘severe or profound’ disability) while women, living longer, can expect to experience nearly 21 years of disability and over 8 years of severe or profound disability.
Around 1 in every 5 Australians, or over 3 million people, experience a mental disorder of some kind, with 170,000 experiencing at least one schizophrenic episode and up to 10% experiencing depressive disorders.
14% of the community, or around 2.6 million Australians, have a physical disability of some kind.
Over 1 million Australians have a significant hearing impair-ment, with around 30,000 Australians totally deaf.
Around 300,000 Australians have a substantial vision impairment (i.e. not correctable by glasses), with around 20,000 totally blind.
Around 2% of the population, or 400,000 Australians, have an intellectual impairment.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol were adopted at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 13 December 2006, and entered into force internationally on 3 May 2008.
People with a disability have poorer educational qualif-ications, have a higher rate of unemployment, earn lower wages on average, have a reduced life expectancy of up to 20 years, are 3 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.
All new buildings will be required to have adequate disabled access under new broad standards aimed at evening things up for the disabled community.
It is not always possible for children with disabilities to attend mainstream schools. It may be too hard for some mainstream schools to make the necessary adjustments for students with particular disabilities.
If an education provider does not carry out its obligations to a person with a disability in line with the Education Standards, that person (or someone on his behalf) can make a formal complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
90% of employees with disability record productivity rates equal or greater than other workers.
One in five of your customers is likely to be a person with disability. Knowledge of this growing market segment can assist your business to meet your customers’ needs effectively and grow your business.
Of about 300 pregnancy terminations in NSW every year due to detected birth defects, 77% are associated with a chromosomal abnormality. The most common is Down syndrome.
A Senate committee inquiry into the migration treatment of disability in Australia is revealing that Australia systematically discriminates against people with impairments.
Under the Migration Act, people with impairments have their disability taken into consideration in meeting the health criteria as a condition of entry. The Disability Discrimination Act is suspended for the purposes of the Migration Act. As a result, disabled people are automatically excluded from consideration.