Speak Out August 2017

Association news

Promoting communication as part of the human rights agenda

able to contend that in order to improve independent living and community participation, barriers to both physical and communication access need to be addressed. SPA reinforced that ‘In order to build inclusive and accessible communities, it is critical to remember that not all individuals with disability have only physical or mobility limitations. Many people also have problems with their speech, language, communication that are permanent and impact on their functioning in everyday life, and for some people, these are the only disabilities they experience. In Australia, communication disability has long remained “invisible”, with a lack of recognition of its impact leading to people with communication disability being excluded from being able to be involved in, and fully participate in, aspects of life which are their right (e.g., voting, education, employment, health care).’ SPA’s submission can be found on the Association website. www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au Resources for the public advocacy submissions. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) A list of issues [Australia] to be adopted during the 18th Session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The CRPD is an international treaty that identifies the rights of persons with disabilities. Those countries (State Parties) that have adopted the convention have a range of general and specific obligations regarding the implementation and monitoring of the Convention, with periodic reporting. There is a formal process of how the Committee of the CRPD considers how well a country is implementing the intentions of the Convention, and includes the following: • Civil society organisations (peaks of NGO disability organisations) provide a submission of the issues and questions they wish the committee to ask of their country (for us, Australia).

SPEECH PATHOLOGY AUSTRALIA has continued to promote communication as a basic human right – this is central to our vision as an Association, and in the forefront of much of our policy and advocacy work. In particular, SPA has argued that participation, education, employment, access to public services and expression are all basic human rights; however, thousands of people in Australia may have these rights compromised on a daily basis because a foundational right ‐ the opportunity to communicate – has not been met. This failure is mirrored in services and supports at both federal and state and territory level, and can be attributed to a lack of acknowledgment of the critical role of communication to participation and quality of life in Australia. It is clear there is a need for greater acknowledgement of the rights of people to communicate to their full potential, and for the barriers to full participation in Australian society for people with communication disability to be addressed. Recently, SPA has had the opportunity to raise the awareness of communication disability, and its impact on all aspects of a person’s life, in a number of specific representations involving human rights conventions. The following provides an overview of some key work and submissions made. United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner for Human Rights, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Draft General Comment on the right of persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community (article 19). A submission was made in response to consultation on the draft comments on Article 19 of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD). As the ability to live independently and be included in the community needs to be underpinned by inclusive and accessible communities, SPA used this platform to urge that communication access be recognised. We were

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August 2017 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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