SPEECH TO THE DISABILITY AND AGE DISCRIMINATION LAW REFORM SUMMIT

Sydney

Thursday, 30 July 2009

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First, may I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we meet on – and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.

Good morning and thank you for your welcome.

It is a great pleasure to be here at the start of this important summit on disability and age discrimination law reforms.

The issues you will consider over the next two days highlight the circumstances and consequences of disability and age discrimination, particularly in the key area of employment.

What we do then as policy makers, academics, service providers and employers can make a difference to older Australians and those with a disability.

The impact of structural reforms can play an important role in creating opportunities that give people a “fair go”. Such reforms can also generate powerful attitudinal changes across the broader community which promote respect for the capacity and value of each and every person.

Likewise, I am sure this Summit will be productive for attendees as it provides an opportunity to discuss specific examples of how employers have implemented reforms in their workplaces - this demonstrates not only best practice for promoting diversity in the workplace but also illustrates how these changes can be made and the benefits that can be gained from making workplaces more accessible.

Identifying and removing barriers that contribute to exclusion is integral to the Australian Government’s social inclusion agenda.

By protecting and promoting human rights, this agenda can only be strengthened.

On that basis, I would like to speak about what the Rudd Government is doing at both an international and domestic level, to address disability and age discrimination.

Disabilities Convention and the Optional Protocol

The purpose of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities is simple – it recognises the need to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.

Australia ratified the Convention in July last year and in doing so, was one of the first developed countries to do so.

In its entirety, the Convention takes a broad approach to disabilities. It embraces civil and political rights and the economic, social and cultural rights of people with disabilities. In relation to the latter, it talks about the notion of progressive development, where improvements are made as resources permit.

This approach demonstrates a significant step forward by the international community in recognising both the rights and capacity of people with a disability.

It is encouraging that there has been a steady stream of developed countries ratifying the Convention – there are now 62 countries that have joined the Convention.

The United Kingdom ratified in June, and Belgium earlier this month. Germany, Sweden, and our regional neighbours, New Zealand and the Cook Islands are also members.

It is also pleasing to note that Professor Ron McCallum AO, an eminent Australian industrial law expert, who himself has a vision impairment, was elected to fill one of the 12 positions on the Committee.  I am sure that Ron will make a lasting contribution to advancing the rights of people with disability.

I am also pleased to advise today that the Governor‑General will consider shortly a recommendation from the Government that Australia become a party to the Optional Protocol to the Disabilities Convention.

This significant step forward comes just one year after Australia became a party to the Disabilities Convention.

This swift action by the Rudd Government demonstrates not only our real commitment to assisting people with disability but also our serious commitment to demonstrate leadership in this area at an international level.

The Protocol provides for the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to receive and investigate complaints from individuals and groups of individuals after they have exhausted domestic remedies.

Accession to the Protocol is important.

It not only permits international scrutiny of our laws and practices, but also demonstrates our commitment to re-engage with the international community and to provide leadership in our region.

We will join the 40 countries that have now acceded to or ratified the Protocol and I am sure our leadership on this issue will provide a good example for other countries to also become a party to the Protocol.

Turning from these significant international measures, it is also important to look at what is being done at the domestic level to implement these obligations.

The Disabilities Convention is wide-ranging and, in the Australian context, all levels of Government have a role to play.

For its part the Australian Government is taking the lead with the development of the National Disability Strategy.

Under the direction of my ministerial colleagues, Jenny Macklin and Bill Shorten, the new strategy will be one of the keys for the effective delivery of support and direction for disability policy and highlight disability issues generally.

No doubt Bill will have more to say about that this morning.

In April I also declared the Disabilities Convention, under section 47 of the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, to be an international human rights instrument.

The declaration took effect on 29 June, and enables the Commission to inquire into and review the implementation of the Convention and report to me.

Amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992, which has been in place for almost seventeen years, has been an important part of the structural and attitudinal changes I referred to earlier.

As is the case with any new area of regulation, however, it is necessary to review laws to ensure that they are operating effectively in practice.

In 2004, the Productivity Commission reported that the Disability Discrimination Act was operating well but recommended a number of minor changes.

As you may be aware, I am pleased to report that many of these recommendations, as well as other minor changes, have now come into effect following passage of the Disability Discrimination and Other Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill through Parliament on 25 June.

These amendments make the operation of the Disability Discrimination Act clearer, more comprehensive and more effective.

A key amendment was to make clear that employers, service-providers and Governments have a positive duty to make reasonable adjustments in their practices or environments to take account of a person’s impairment.

This was the original intention of the Act to ensure people with a disability are able to access services or facilities, undertake their study or do their work.  Of course, this is balanced by ensuring that such adjustments are not required where they would impose an unjustifiable hardship.

Obligations regarding assistance animals, such as guide dogs, have also been clarified, including amendments to make it easier to determine what is an assistance animal, the rules governing their identification and providing for State and Territory accreditation of assistance animals.

Other Amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Laws

A number of other amendments to improve Australia’s anti-discrimination system were also made.

A key change which this audience may be aware of is the amendment to remove the dominant reason test from the Age Discrimination Act.

This will strengthen the provision by providing that a person’s age only needs to be a reason – rather than the reason - for the discrimination in order to be deemed unlawful.

The prejudice of discriminating on the basis of age is no longer acceptable.  For example, if one of the reasons for denying employment is that the candidate is considered too old – that is likely to be unlawful.

The Government has also brought the Act into line with the approach used in other Federal anti‑discrimination Acts in order to create national consistency.

Our amendments also included improvements to the discrimination complaints procedure, and formally changed the name of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

These are tangible results of the Government’s commitment to eliminating discrimination – where thoughtlessness, and at worse, bias, may deny individuals their basic human rights.

Of course, many businesses and employers have already adjusted their thinking and practices to better accommodate people with a disability, and to make use of the skills of employees of all ages.

It is important that this inclusive approach continues.

Access to Premises Standards

In addition to addressing discrimination, the Government has also been progressing the development of Disability Standards for Access to Premises.

Last year, I tabled in Parliament draft Access Standards, developed jointly with Minister Kim Carr, and referred the Standards to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs for consideration.

The Government supports the introduction of consistent and enforceable building access standards to remove some unnecessary constraints by improving building access and protection for people with a disability.

This will also create certainty for building owners and managers. In particular by complying with the Standards they will know that they have also satisfied their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act.

The Committee reported on the draft Premises Standards last month and I am pleased it confirmed the appropriateness of the Government’s proposals by recommending that the Standards be finalised without delay.

The Committee, chaired by Mark Dreyfus QC, has done an outstanding job reviewing the draft documents and hearing and assessing the views of a wide cross section of the public who are likely to be affected.

The Committee also made some other important recommendations which the Government is now considering with a view to tabling the finalised standards in Parliament as soon as possible.

In addition to progressing work on the Premises Standards, both Minister Albanese and I are keen to see progress on the review of Standards for Accessible Public Transport which commenced some time ago.

We expect the final report on the review in the near future – this report will provide useful information on the operation of these standards to improve accessibility of public transport.

Conclusion

Through its broad social inclusion agenda, the Government is progressing a range of other measures including employment support reforms, consideration of the role of carers, and the National Human Rights Consultation.

What stands out in all this work is the value of collaboration – working with individuals, the community, business and other stakeholders.

That notion of collaboration applies equally to this Summit.

Summits such as this are not only about capturing insight and putting forward views, they also offer useful opportunities to cooperate in order to help build the type of structures that protect the vulnerable.

On that basis, I very much look forward to hearing your conclusions and recommendations.

It is important that the momentum continues - people with disability and older Australians have much to offer our community if they are given the chance and we must work harder to fully include them in the social, economic and cultural life of the country so that they can enjoy the same opportunities as their fellow Australians.

It is with great pleasure that I now declare the Summit officially open.

Thank you.