Statement by the Honourable Bob McMullan MP, Australian Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance to the United Nations' Second Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 2 September 2009.
(as delivered)
Mr President, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates,
It is my great pleasure to be here for the second session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Australia is committed to action domestically and internationally to uphold the rights of people with a disability. At the first Conference of States Party, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated: “It is now imperative that the obligations the Convention creates are implemented at the national level and take real effect in the lives of persons with disabilities. Changes in law, policies and programmes will be required, but even more, attitudes must change.”
The Australian Government fully supports the need to shift attitudes in the way people with disability are viewed and treated, and to focus on disability as a human rights issue. Ratification of the Convention provides States with a substantive and symbolic opportunity to raise awareness of the rights of people with disability to live life to their fullest potential.
In ratifying the Convention, it’s undoubtedly the case that the obligations of the Convention must be reflected in laws. For our part, no completely new piece of legislation was considered necessary. We undertook a comprehensive review of our laws, at all levels of government, to ensure that we gave effect fully to the obligations of the Convention and have strengthened existing legislative and policy mechanisms to promote the rights of people with disability and prevent discrimination.
Legislation is important to take us further down the path towards equality, but it does not mandate social change. Social attitudes and practices need to change in order to remove the barriers that prevent people with disability meeting their full life potential.
To this end, Australia is developing a National Disability Strategy. The new strategy will be one of the keys for the effective delivery of support and direction for disability policy, and the mainstreaming of disability issues. Australia will continue to strive to break down barriers, promote social inclusion and reduce the stigma attached to disability.
In addition to new laws and new policies, the processes taken to bring about change are also vitally important. They must – if we are to be true to the spirit of the Convention - involve people with disability. Furthermore, laws and policies can be of limited use in the absence of providing for monitoring and enforcement as required under Article 33. In this respect, the Australian Human Rights Commission has been empowered to exercise its conciliation powers regarding any allegations of violation of the Convention by the Australian Government. The Commission has also been empowered to prepare guidelines for the avoidance of any such acts and to report to the Attorney-General on the implementation of the Convention in Australia. As an independent advocate, the Commission performs a vital role in promoting rights and educating the wider community.
In particular, in addition to our activities at home, Australia is committed to showing leadership in international and regional cooperation in this area.
Australia is determined to make this issue a central feature of our overseas aid program. To this end we are putting in place measures that will improve the quality of life of children, women and men with disability, build the capacity of Disabled Peoples Organisations, and assist partner countries particularly in Asia and the Pacific to also implement the Convention. With the active input of people with disability from developing countries, Australia has put together a new strategy to guide its international development assistance in this regard entitled “Development for All”. Unless the needs of people with disability are met, it will not be possible to achieve the targets of the Millennium Development Goals.
In my capacity as Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, nothing has struck me as more important and rewarding than improving the lives of children with disability.
Let me recount a story in Samoa where I had the opportunity to meet several students with hearing impairment who were graduating from primary school. With the help of the Samoan and Australian Governments, they were the first young people with such profound hearing impariment to ever advance to secondary school in Samoa. They told me of their plans for the future, of the jobs they were planning to do and the ambitions they held for their lives. A development partnership has helped give these children a future they might not otherwise have had.
Distinguished delegates, we are all striving for best practice in implementation of the Convention. In doing so, it is imperative that we look to those who know best – people with disability – to help us succeed. Thank you.