September has been a bit of a blur. It’s been an exhausting but exhilarating and rewarding time as I travelled to the United Nations in Geneva to represent the views of Australians with disability.
Australia has ratified an international treaty called the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Convention). As a signatory to the Convention, the Australian Government is required to report to an international committee of independent experts every four years. In doing so, it must outline the steps it is taking to advance, promote and protect the rights of people with disability across the country.
Australia was due to appear before the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Committee) for the second time on 12 and 13 September 2019. The Committee received a number of reports in advance of Australia’s appearance to help inform the review process, including a report that had been drafted by the Australian Government.
The mantra of the disability rights movement is “nothing about us without us”. To this end, it is absolutely critical that the Committee’s work is informed by the collective voice of people with lived experience of disability, and not just by the voice of government. To meet this need, a working group comprising disability representative organisations and disability advocacy organisations developed ‘Disability Rights Now 2019: the Australian civil society Shadow Report to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.’ This report speaks to the real-life circumstances and experiences of people with disability in Australia. It outlines areas where Australia is still failing to meet its obligations under the Convention and makes a number of recommendations around what needs to change.
The Committee carefully reviewed the reports it had received, which also included a report from Australia’s Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Ben Gauntlett. A delegation of representatives from the Australian Government, a delegation of individuals representing the civil society shadow report and representatives from the Australian Human Rights Commission then travelled to Geneva to speak to the Committee in person.
I was fortunate enough to have been selected to represent the voice of Australians with disability as part of the Civil Society Shadow Report Delegation. My fellow delegates were:
- Judy Huett
- Damian Griffis
- Noel Muller
- Sonia Hume
- Justen Thomas
- Kelly Cox
- Australia’s legislative and policy framework
- Employment of people with disability
- Forced treatment and restrictive practices
- Inclusive education
- Indefinite detention of people with disability
- Legal capacity
- Discrimination against migrants and refugees with disability
- The National Disability Insurance Scheme
- Violence against people with disability
- Forced sterilization of people with disability
- The participation of people with disability and the resourcing of disabled persons organisations (DPOs)
On Monday 9 September, our delegation participated in a closed dialogue with the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Each member of the delegation had an opportunity to make a one-minute opening statement to draw attention to a number of important human rights issues. Collectively, we spoke about:
Once we had made our statements, each Committee member had an opportunity to fire questions at us. All of the questions were asked in one cluster. We were then given the floor again and were expected to systematically respond to each question. It was a superb display of collaboration and coordination as we quickly, but effectively directed questions to members of the delegation who were best placed to respond.
On Wednesday 11 September, our delegation had an opportunity to host a formal side event which was attended by members of the Committee. This enabled us to delve into the issues raised in our Civil Society Shadow Report in greater detail and clarify any points the Committee may have been unclear on. One of the things this experience has given me is the ability to act and think very quickly on my feet. We only got to meet as a team to plan and prepare for our side event the night before, and the morning of the event itself. Not because we didn’t care enough to do it earlier, but because this was all the spare time we could find. Nobody ever would have known though, because it was pulled off very effectively. I am incredibly proud of how the entire delegation worked together to ensure the event was a success.
Outside of these formal appearances, we spent the rest of the week meeting with individual members of the Committee to brief them further on the issues outlined in our Civil Society Shadow Report. We tried to get a sense of the specific issues each Committee member would be interested in and sent along delegates who were best placed to speak to these issues. All of this work was building up to the constructive dialogue that would take place between the Committee and the Australian Government at the end of the week. In all of our interactions with the Committee, we were aiming to influence the questions they would direct to the Australian Government during the constructive dialogue. Influence we did! As we sat there and watched things unfold during the constructive dialogue, it was very apparent that the Committee had been listening to every word we’d said. We were filled with a sense of pride and achievement knowing that all of our hard work had paid off.
The constructive dialogue itself was broken up into three clusters of questions. The first Cluster covered articles 1 to 10 of the Convention. The second covered articles 10 to 20 of the Convention, and the third covered all remaining articles that were of relevance to the review process. Each cluster began with Committee members directing questions to the Australian Government. These questions could relate to any of the Convention articles covered in that cluster. Once the Committee had directed all of their questions to the Australian Government, the Australian Government delegation would then have 20 minutes to leave the room and determine how they would respond. They then had a further 20 minutes to provide their responses to the Committee.
Our delegation was able to be present during the constructive dialogue between the Committee and the Australian Government, but we weren’t allowed to say anything. This was difficult, especially when the Governments version of events didn’t quite match up with what we knew was really happening for people with disability in Australia. We had been told that we were able to email follow-up questions and comments to some of the Committee members while the constructive dialogue was taking place though. This then resulted in another brilliant display of teamwork as we communicated via our WhatsApp group in real time and determined which points we would communicate back to the Committee.
We flew back from Geneva the day after the constructive dialogue had concluded, and I think most of us were relieved to get on the plane for some rest. We then nervously awaited the release of the Committee’s concluding observations.
The concluding observations are handed down by the Committee once they have had an opportunity to properly evaluate all of the written and verbal evidence they have received throughout the review process. These observations outline what Australia is doing well, and what further steps still need to be taken to better advance, promote and protect the rights of people with disability in Australia.
The Committee handed down it’s concluding observations on 25 September, and our delegation was pretty thrilled with the result. While this is the end of the road in terms of our time in Geneva, things won’t stop here. The Concluding observations set the standard for what needs to change in order for the rights of Australians with disability to be properly upheld. They represent the beginning of a new journey. Our delegation will continue to work together to discuss next steps relating to Australia’s implementation of the Convention.