Speech to Australia's Network on Disability International Day Function

 Click here to download presentation slide 

I acknowledge the traditional owners of this land.

*Slide with contact details*

I've pondered for a while how to theme this speech. After all, it’s my last international day as Commissioner, as my term concludes in July next year. And 2013 - a huge year of change and increased media exposure - has been a galactic year for the disability sector. So I've settled on The Doctor.

*Slide David Tennant as the Doctor*

After all, it’s the fiftieth anniversary this year, and at next years AND function you may have another Time Lord to take you through the year's events.

It's been a huge year for disability. For the first time in my memory- and that's a long time- disability has moved far more to the centre of mainstream conversation. It's as though we've cleaned one small spot on a dirty wall, and the difference is stark. As usual I've crowd-sourced this speech, so thanks for that analogy, and the many other suggestions.

*Slide The Tardis*

Let's jump in the Tardis, and go back to January.

*Slide picture of Thomas the Tank Engine*

The highlight for January was the decision in Innes v Railcorp. I won that case, and Railcorp finally accepted their responsibility to tell us where we are on trains. Have you noticed the improvement? I certainly have, and I'm working with them to keep it going.  That precedent is now set across the country, so DDA complaints will be easier if announcements are not made on other public transport.

*Slide of Governor General and link*

In March the Governor-General launched the Australian Human Rights Commission's Twenty Years: Twenty Stories series. These five-minute films, which show how people with disabilities have used the DDA to change our lives, and the lives of many others, have been screened around the country. I have bookmarks showing this link, and if you give me a business card tonight I'll mail you the DVD for Christmas.

One of those stories is of a WA Aboriginal man with cognitive disability, who spent a decade in prison without being convicted of a crime. This prompted the Commission's work on access to justice for people with disability- our report will come out early next year.

*Cartoon re NDIS*

April saw Australia- through our Parliament - decide to pay more tax- a half a percent increase in the Medicare levy to help fund the NDIS. 73 % of Australians supported this change- the highest vote we'll get in favour of a tax for some time I'm thinking.  Bernie Brookes of Myer complained that the levy increase was "something they would have spent with us." 2.1 million tweets, and more on Facebook, expressed their outrage.  And when Myer made a Claytons apology, 37'000 of you supported my challenge to Myer to be part of the solution by committing to employ people with disability as 10 % of their workforce by the end of 2015.

*Slide photo of Julia Gillard taken by Sophie Dean*

On 1 July, the National Disability Insurance Scheme commenced. Described as the biggest change in the Australian disability sector ever, it will start to move us up the ladder of correlation between disability and poverty. At present we come last amongst OECD countries. Hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities, and our families, will be appropriately supported, and enabled to take our rightful place in mainstream society in jobs, culture, and other community activities. We will gain choice and control. And the picture which Sophie Dean took of the then Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and Julia Gillard’s tears in Parliament, remain etched in our memories. Pleasingly, that photo won the Yooralla Media Award just a couple of weeks ago.

But it wasn't all positive. Inappropriate use of negative disability language during election campaigns, and the famous Kevin Rudd pat on the head for a woman who used a wheelchair, showed that patronisation is still alive and well. As did the AFL football players who thought it was appropriate to set fire to the clothing of a short stature man who was providing entertainment during post-finals activities.

In June, the government announced a Law Reform Commission inquiry into the way capacity of people with disability is assessed, which will hopefully lead to far more decisions being made by us than about us.

*Slide of Braille book*

The world passed a treaty in Marrakesh making an exception to Copyright Law, so that books in braille, audio or electronic formats could be shared across borders. Once countries sign, the book famine will end for people with print disability.

*Slide of UN Disco*

Australia appeared before the UN Expert Committee for the Disability Convention or DisCo as I call it. We were congratulated for some of the moves we busted, but we certainly didn't win Dancing with the Stars.

*Slide employment cartoon*

Recent ABS data showed that employment of people with disabilities decreased between 2009 and 2011, as did Australian Public Service employment. In fact, there are less people with disability in the workforce now than there were twenty years ago. This is a tragic and shameful situation, both for people with disabilities, and the Australian economy as a whole. Organisations such as ANZ and Westpac stood out, and many others in this room did very well. But we still have a long way to go.

*Slide showing a CAPTCHA*

Yesterday Telstra announced that it was joining the Kill CAPTCHA's campaign, with a programme to remove all CAPTCHA's from its websites. For those non-techies amongst us, CAPTCHA's are those fuzzy letters on your computer screen that block bots from accessing websites. Sadly, though, they also block me and other people who use screen readers. So join Telstra in this campaign.

And just a couple of weeks ago, fashion chain Globalize thought it was ok to sell a t-shirt with R E T A R D E printed across the front. A word with which kids with disabilities are bullied in playgrounds throughout Australia. Protests against this disability hate speech occurred outside the store, and hit national media. The T-shirt has been withdrawn from sale.

*Slide of RESPECTE t-shirt*

But look what has taken its place!

This year’s ride in the Tardis has been big- a roller coaster. I've been there. So have you. In fact, we've been there, done that, and bought the hate speech t-shirt. At least I have, and you can as well.

Thanks for being with me on the ride. Have a great International Day.