‘Signing up' – Toward Ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Graeme Innes AM, Human Rights Commissioner and Commissioner Responsible for Disability Discrimination

Deafness Forum Conference, Canberra, 24 May 2008.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet.

I wanted to start today with a story of a man who dared to dream, and who despite significant barriers and negative attitudes of the time, put those dreams into action.

Laurent Clerc, was a Deaf man. He was born in France in 1785. He did not attend school until he was 12 years old, and until that time had no language and no education.

By 1816, he was a teacher, teaching the highest class in the French Institute for the Deaf and Mute. Impressed with his success and his teaching methods, a visiting American, Mr Gallaudet invited him to America to help him establish a school for the deaf there. Laurent knew that the work involved would be enormous. But he was greatly motivated by his empathy for deaf Americans who had no sign language and at that time were receiving no education, and were largely excluded from society. The rest is history. He became the first Deaf teacher in North America . He was greatly loved and respected for his contribution to both learning and teaching in sign language by both the hearing and the deaf, training many future teachers and administrators.

Laurent, who himself studied many foreign languages, advised his students to be bilingual, to appreciate both sign language and their national language and to aim to excel to the maximum of their capabilities. In a speech in 1864, on the opening of what is now Gallaudet University for the Deaf in the US, he welcomed the opening of the Masters in Arts degree, and mused that Deaf people one day, might perhaps even earn higher degrees in Law, Philosophy and Divinity. Truly an inspiring figure who cared about furthering the rights and opportunities of others, and who dared to dream.

So – some 145 years later - how are we going in turning dreams to reality?

My topic today is the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, which is an international treaty enshrining the rights of people with disability all around the world.

It is the culmination of the dreams of many people over a long period of time. Since the early 1980's many people had c alled for the UN to draft a treaty recognising the rights of people with a disability - with little success. Some people refused to give up their dreams though, and in December 2001, the United Nations General Assembly finally agreed to develop a disability convention.

On 3 May 2008, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities came into force, 30 days after the required number of countries had ratified it.

According to United Nations officials, the speed at which the Convention and its Optional Protocol came into force, is due to strong international commitment as well as advocacy by organisations of people with disability, who were instrumental in influencing the drafting of the Convention.

I think it's important to talk about the Convention at these kinds of conferences because I think it's vital for all people to be aware of, and understand human rights, and how they impact on the everyday lives of people. Indeed, earlier this year, HREOC adopted as its new corporate mission ‘human rights - everyone, everywhere, every day'. Human rights give people the freedom they need to achieve their dreams.

In that context, the Convention and its Optional Protocol reaffirm the crucial role that human rights in general play in creating fair and equal societies founded upon freedom, justice, development and peace.  They have the potential to improve lives of some 650 million people with disability around the world. 

As the Secretary-General of the UN himself said at a ceremony marking the Convention's entry into force, we celebrate this milestone in 2008 -- the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration for Human Rights. The UN's theme of this anniversary is “Dignity and justice for all of us”. There can be no better way to give meaning to this slogan than through the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

What is the status of the Convention for Australia at the moment?

Whilst Australia lined up with 80 other countries at the UN Headquarters in New York to sign the UN Convention in March 2007, it has not yet ratified it, which means that the Convention is not yet legally binding on Australia .

As some of you are aware, however, the Australian Government is currently conducting processes to enable the Government to consider ratifying. It is therefore an important period to influence public policy for those of us interested in promoting the rights of people who with disability – including, the rights of people who are Deaf and hard of hearing.

I will talk a bit about what's in the Convention, what steps are needed before it becomes binding in Australia , and why Australia should ratify it.

So what does the UN Convention actually say?

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights convention which sets out the fundamental human rights of people with disability.

In addition there is an Optional Protocol to the Convention, which sets up a procedure for bringing complaints to the UN if rights in the Convention are breached.

The Convention reaffirms that all people with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms - civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, and rights to development .

It outlaws discrimination in all areas of life, including employment, education, health services, transportation and access to justice.

It challenges all societies to eliminate negative attitudes and obstacles which act as barriers to the enjoyment of the human rights of persons with disabilities.  The Convention therefore has something for all us to fulfil.

Does the Convention have anything specific to people who are Deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing?

It's important to recognise all rights in the Convention are relevant – for example translating the general obligations countries must fulfil would mean Governments would need to:

• adopt all appropriate laws and other measures to ensure that the rights of people who are Deaf and hard of hearing are respected and promoted
• ensure policies and programs and services take into consideration their needs
• promote their rights to education, employment and participation in all aspects of community and political life;
• ensure emergency and safety planning takes into consideration their needs and
• take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability

If you are here today as a service provider, the Convention has something for you - it requires governments to promote research and development of new technologies, aids, devices and assistive technologies suitable for people with disability – especially affordable technologies - and to promote their availability and use.

It also requires governments to promote training of professionals and staff working with people with disabilities about the rights in the Convention so they can better provide the assistance and services guaranteed by those rights.

One article of particular interest to many of you here is Article 21 which deals with Freedom of expression and opinion and access to information. It requires countries to take appropriate steps to make sure people with disability have the right to say what they think and share their ideas just like other people can. It makes clear that this includes being free to ask for, get and share information and ideas through sign languages or other types of communication.

It says that some steps that countries should take to achieve this include:

• providing public information in a range of formats in a timely way and at no extra cost;
• letting people use sign language and other types of communication when they deal with government agencies;
• urging the private sector to provide information and services in accessible ways;
• encouraging the media and Internet providers to make their services accessible to people with disability; and (importantly)
• accepting and taking steps to promote the use of sign languages.

I'm sure Laurent Clerc would have been proud!

Why is it important to ratify?

Some might be asking, will ratification of an international instrument really change anything in the day to day lives of people with a disability in Australia ? After all, we already have the Disability Discrimination Act and are doing pretty well right?

However, ratification is important and I think it would be a mistake to underestimate the potential value to the disability and human rights advocacy sector.

The Convention was developed with a high level of positive collaboration between the Australian Government and people with disability. There are high expectations that Australia will move quickly to ratify the Convention and maintain its international reputation as an active supporter of the Convention.

For example it would

• affirm Australia 's respect for the dignity and rights of people with disability at the highest international levels
• put the human rights of people with disabilities at the forefront of the national political, government and community agenda, and helps drive cultural change
• benefit the whole of the Australian community through promoting universal design
• provide a rights framework to advance access by people with disability to a fair share of public goods and services and full citizenship
• provide an international benchmark and will ensure Australia is accountable in how it protects and promotes the rights of people with disabilities
• provide a human rights framework that will, over time, raise awareness, inform laws, regulations, policy and program delivery; and
• provide governments, disability sector, industry and service providers with a clear framework for ensuring people with disability are treated fairly and equitably in all aspects of life.

The signing of the Convention by the Australian government was an important symbolic step for disability rights in Australia .

Ratification of the Convention is a legal step. It will make a real statement to the world about the seriousness with which we treat rights for people with disabilities and will reinforce the national laws we have in place.

What steps are needed before Australia could ratify the Convention?

The Australian Government has now commenced the processes that will enable it to make an informed decision on whether or not to ratify the Convention. .  The effect of ratification is to affirm Australia 's intention to be bound by the Convention's articles.

In June 2007 the Commission hosted a two day workshop for key disability advocacy organisations and advisory councils. The Background paper and notes from the workshop are I think required reading for anyone interested in contributing to advocating the for the ratification of the Convention. They are available from the Commission's website.

A co-ordination task force drawn from interested disability peak and advocacy organisations has been established to work towards ratification of the Convention. It includes representatives from AFDO, People with Disability Australia, Queensland Advocacy, the network of disability advisory councils and the National Association of Community Legal Centres.

As I mentioned, on 30 March 2007, the Australian Government signed the Convention. At that time it did not sign the Optional Protocol. However in a News Release on 3 May 2008, the Australian Government flagged that it will also be consulting the States and Territories on whether Australia should also sign the Optional Protocol.

The decision on ratification of the Convention and its Protocol will depend on the length of time it takes for, and the outcomes of, consultation with the States and Territories, and the community.

The consultation process for the National Interest Analysis – to which some of you may have contributed- is now finished.

However the Convention and the National Interest Analysis will be tabled in Federal Parliament and then be referred to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (or JSCOT) for inquiry and report.

It is important that people continue to engage with the process – including making submissions to JSCOT and continuing to make representations to your representatives in Federal and State and Territory governments.

The Former Attorney-General noted that there has already been extensive consultation with States and Territories in the development of the Australian Government contribution to the formulation of the Convention so in his view there should be no reason for excessive delay.

AFDO has undertaken valuable work to date in developing sector contributions to the NIA in providing support for a taskforce campaigning for ratification.

Anyone of course can write to their local MP, or to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties - or even send them a video in sign language! - saying why the Government should ratify the Convention. It's important that the Government knows how strong the Australian community's support is for human rights.

A large part of considering ratification involves undertaking a National Interest Analysis (NIA). The NIA is a six-page document which will assess whether ratification of the Convention is in Australia 's broader national interest by analysing the impact ratification is likely to have on Australia and on Australians living with a disability.  The NIA is being jointly prepared by the Attorney-General's Department and the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and there has been consultation with the disability sector, human rights organisations, industry stakeholders, the States and Territories and the broader community.

These contributions must then be assessed by the Office of International Law in the Federal Attorney-General's Department, and the Treaties Secretariat in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) may also be prepared by Government if the treaty could affect business regulation or restrict competition. I should add that don't expect a RIS to be required in this case.

The treaty, NIA and RIS (if undertaken) are then tabled in both houses of Federal Parliament, and referred to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT), which is a cross-party Parliamentary Committee. JSCOT examines and reports to Parliament on the treaty (usually within 15 or 20 parliamentary sitting days), and in doing so can take submissions and hold public hearings, and can make recommendations. There is thus a further opportunity for the disability sector to make representations to JSCOT about why it would be beneficial to sign the Convention. You could start preparing submissions to JSCOT now, as it is likely that the Convention would be tabled in the not too distant future, and it is always better to be prepared!

After JSCOT makes its recommendations – that may require a formal Government response, which also needs to be tabled in Parliament. Cabinet Ministers then decide if Australia will ratify the Convention, and if it will lodge any reservations, understandings, or declarations about its interpretation of the treaty. If they decide to ratify, the Minister for Foreign Affairs would sign the instrument of ratification and, deposit it with the United Nations, and it would come become binding on Australia 30 days later.

Why should Australia ratify sooner rather than later?

In the coming months, there will also be moves to establish a new UN treaty body - the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - to meet regularly to make sure that the Convention is followed, and to answer questions and guide countries and communities in protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Every country that has agreed to be bound by the Convention must provide a report to the Committee setting out what they have done to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The Committee will work with experts and groups around the world to make sure the rights of people with disabilities are promoted. It will be made up of independent experts.

The Convention requires the Secretary-General of the UN to call a meeting of countries who are party to the Convention no later than six months after the Convention comes into force – this means before 3 November 2008.

Now of course you have to have ratified the Convention to be on the Committee.

Well, I too have a dream -- wouldn't it be great if Australia could be at the meeting of States party, and even better if it could be represented on that Committee!

Conclusion

There are currently 26 ratifications of the Convention, and 16 ratifications of the Protocol. However Australia has not yet ratified, and it is important that we keep pressing for Australia to follow through on its excellent contributions to the drafting of the Convention with concrete action in ratifying it as soon as possible.

Many disability advocacy groups are already actively involved in the ratification campaign but it is important that service providers, human rights advocates and the broader community organisations also get behind it as the consultation process evolves.

I want to encourage you to realise the power of dreams, and to recognise the importance of human rights to help people achieve their dreams. We need to continue to press the Australian Government to ratify the Convention and to work hard at ensuring Australia implements these rights in a meaningful way - so that we can truly have human rights for everyone, everywhere, every day.