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Barrier to Employment Removed for Disabled Australians After Ratifying International Disability Treaty
By Andrea Shettle, MSW | August 20, 2008
Until now, Australians with disabilities who wanted to enter the workforce for the first time had to worry that even asking for referral to employment services could lose them their benefits before they had actually found a job. But according to eGov monitor ("Helping more disabled Australians into work"), the government is now removing that barrier: people who receive a Disability Support Pension and who wish to seek employment will simply be matched to the type of employment services that they need. Their benefit package will no longer be automatically reviewed.
This policy change comes soon after Australia ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) last month. The CRPD is the first legally-binding international agreement among countries to protect the human rights of people with disabilities. The treaty protects a wide range of human rights including the right to liberty; the right to privacy; the right to receive information in accessible formats (e.g., sign language, Braille, etc.); the right to respect for physical and mental integrity; and many more.
Australia is now one of 34 countries that have ratified the CRPD; another 96 countries have officially declared interest in ratifying the treaty in the future. Countries that ratify the treaty are legally obligated to create new laws as needed to improve protections for the human rights covered in the CRPD and to abolish old laws that violate them.
It is not clear whether the recent change in policy is in response to Australia’s ratification of the CRPD. However, Article 27 of the CRPD does protect the rights of people with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to work and employment.
Read more about Australia’s change in policy and what it might mean for Australians with disabilities at:
http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/20099
Learn more about the CRPD and Optional Protocol by skimming the RatifyNow FAQ.
Find out if your country has signed or ratified the CRPD at http://www.un.org/disabilities/countries.asp?navid=12&pid=166
Learn how you can become involved with the global campaign to promote the ratification and implementation of the CRPD and Optional Protocol in your country and elsewhere.
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