What is a disability?
‘Disability’ is a hard word to define. It basically covers physical, mental and intellectual problems that put restrictions on a person’s participation in their society. Disabilities can be genetic, or caused by an illness or accident. Some disabilities are on-going, while others may not be permanent. Most people think of wheelchairs when they think of disabilities, but a person’s disability might not be obvious. You can’t tell someone has a mental illness, diabetes or a heart condition just by looking at them.
Who does it affect?
650 million people live with disability, says the World Health Organisation, with 80 per cent of this number living in low-income countries, where the support services available are poor to non-existent. In Australia, 3.9 million people are disabled, which is a 15 per cent slice of our population. Elderly people and aborigines are even more likely to be affected, with 37 percent of Indigenous Australians suffering from disability or long term health problems
Discrimination:
Discrimination does not just take the form of harassment. People often assume that those suffering from disability are stupid, weak, or incapable. Some avoid eye contact and pretend disabled people don’t exist. Others make cruel taunts or laugh at disabled people, especially those with a mental or behavioural handicap. Isolation can be a big problem for people suffering from disability.
Under the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992, discrimination against disabled people is illegal. This legislation applies to people or groups who deny access to public spaces or transport, hire and fire based on disability, or refuse to provide enabling tools in the workplace.
Sadly, figures show that disability discrimination in Australia is on the rise, with a 17 per cent increase in complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission since 2007, and a 98 per cent increase since 2004. Common complaints are of bosses who won’t hire disabled staff, or who refuse to pay for the special needs of their disabled employees.
Education and poverty:
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that disabled people are less likely to access university, or participate in the workforce.16 per cent of people with disabilities left school before or during Year 8, which means that, even if medical and transport issues are overcome, they do not have a high enough level of education to seek employment. Disabled people are therefore more likely to be unemployed and to live in government housing. The average weekly wage of the disabled community is $255, while for the non-disabled the average is $501.
A large portion of disabled people are dependent on government payments. The maximum disability payment available from Centrelink is $281 per week, although small discounts for housing expenses such as electricity have been introduced. This sum may have to cover medication and specialist fees, rent, transport needs and groceries.
In order to qualify for a disability pension, the person’s level of disability has to be assessed by Centrelink. The assessment system was made tougher in 2006, resulting in some Australians being told they were no longer “disabled enough” to receive benefits. Now, to be considered disabled, you need ‘20 points of impairment’ as judged by Centrelink’s system, and must be unable to work (or be retrained for government appointed work) for more than fifteen hours per week.
Participation in society:
Participation within the community requires that you can reach the community first. Under the Disability Discrimination Act, all public buildings must have disability access. However, this does not include places such as restaurants and bars, or other small businesses where hardship would be experienced by creating access.
Getting to the buildings can be a pain too. Public buses, trains, ferries and major airlines must all provide disability access. However, school buses are excluded from the Act, because it was considered too costly. On top of all the other obstacles, disabled students often have to make special arrangements just to get to school every day.
Disability access can also relate to the internet and media for those suffering from vision or hearing impairments. Braille writing to aid the legally blind and captioning of television and movies for hearing impaired are improving access, but need to be more common in public spaces.
What’s being done?
The Australian government signed the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities model in 2006. Soon after they began work on the National Disability Strategy to aid people with disability, their families and carers. 1.8 billion dollars has been allocated to boost in-home support, assist with accommodation, and increase community participation.
In 2008, the Federal government pledged a further 100 million dollars to disability services. Disability organisations are advising the government on how to administer the changes. Public meetings with disabled people and carers are being held in each capital city to determine what the biggest needs are and how to approach them.
How do I know this?
UN enable website,
www.un.org/disabilities/, viewed Oct 31, 2008.
‘International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health’
www.aihw.gov.au/disability/icf/index.cfm, viewed Oct 31, 2008.
World Health Organisation website,
www.who.int/nmh/a5817/en/, viewed Oct 22, 2008.
‘Developing a National Disability Strategy for Australia’
www.facs.gov.au/disability/nds_discussion_paper/
foreword.htm, viewed Oct 31, 2008.
Centrelink website:
www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/
qual_how_dsp.htm, viewed Oct 22, 2008.
The Age news website, ‘Disability discrimination
complaints up’
news.theage.com.au/national/disability-discrimination-complaints-up-20081028-5af3.html ,
viewed Oct 31, 2008.
Australian Human Rights Commission website:
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/
WWW_3/www_3.html#s4 viewed Oct 31, 2008.
