Physical Disability Australia has the core value of social justice, it drives everything we do as an organisation.
February 20 is World Social Justice Day, a United Nations sanctioned event that aims to promote “Social justice as an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations. We uphold the principles of social justice when we promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants. We advance social justice when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability.”
Social justice is about advocating to alleviate disadvantage through campaigning for social change by striving for equality. It is important to celebrate Social Justice because it drives us to do better by the disadvantaged and marginalised. Advocacy is a key role for PDA.
PDA integrates social justice into all of our activities by promoting equality for all people living with a physical disability in Australia, we seek to help create a fair and equitable society that is accessible for ALL. By being a voice for our community on issues affecting our lives we champion Social Justice, take our recent Queensland Rail campaign as an example of how we practice social justice.
My name is Jonathan Shar, I am the PDA Director for NSW and I study a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Social Justice. I chose this major because it will enable me to advocate on behalf of people with disabilities and to be able to strive for equality of people regardless of their ability, this semester I will be studying 2 courses. One on Law, Human Rights and Global Governance the other on Human Rights, Policy and the Law. These courses will enhance my ability to represent your concerns on the state and national level.
Locally in NSW, an example of Social Justice is the Stand by Me campaign to protect funding for disability advocacy. Advocacy is a key part of Social Justice, giving a voice to the voiceless and the disadvantaged is key to preserve the rights of people with disabilities. Their online petition on change.org has already attracted over 30,800 signatures. You can sign the petition here.
Physical Disability Australia wishes you a Happy World Social Justice Day!
Jonathan Shar
St Ives, NSW
