Written by Jeremy Muir – CEO, Physical Disability Australia
Yesterday was International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD).
As a person that lives with a disability, I didn’t celebrate the day or attend any IDPwD events.
Leading up to yesterday and now the day after, I have been trying to reflect on why I wasn’t able to embrace the occasion?
I acquired my disability in 1983, 2 years after the first IDPwD was declared, and 44 years ago. In 1992, Australia brought into law the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), with a set of subsequent DDA standards to follow. Australia ratified the Conventions of the Rights of People with Disability (CRPD) in 2008 and in 2010 the first National Disability Strategy was endorsed by all incumbent governments. In 2013 the NDIS commenced, and was touted as one of the greatest social reforms for people with disabilities.
On the surface, from a legislative and policy perspective, all the of the afore mentioned give the impression that people with disabilities in Australia should be fully accepted in Australian society. It’s also not lost on me that Australia, as a Nation, positions disability in a far better place than many other countries. However, we should be experiencing full participation in all aspects of life – including education, employment, healthcare, recreation, housing and financial stability.
Now, I could list a range of statistics here that indicate that this is not the case, and in my current role I get to see these numbers on a regular basis. But this is more of a personal post, so here is a link: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia/contents/about
So why have I been struggling to embrace the IDPwD?
I acknowledge that there are many people with disabilities in Australia who will have many varied experiences when talking about their own lives. Some will do so with positivity and others respond with a more negative tone, leaving others somewhere in between. Me, I’m ambivalent.
I experience discrimination on a regular basis. I witness vitriol thrown at my colleagues and friends because of their disability. I read the lateral violence that comes our way, and I see the impact it has on us.
We are in the trenches fighting for the rights of people with disability, or re-fighting battles we thought we had won 40, 30, 20, 10 years ago, and it appears that we have reached a plateau at the most.
I want to believe in us, in Australian society, in the people, in government. I want to get to the point where we no longer have to fight for our inalienable rights. I want a Human Rights Act. I want to stop and take a breath and say, “job done.”
Maybe then I will be able to fully embrace the IDPwD or, better yet, there will no longer be a need for this day!?
