Countries similar to Australia (including Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and South Africa), have national laws or constitutional protections in place that safeguard basic human rights and freedoms.
Whilst Queensland, Victoria and the ACT have their own human rights legislation, no consistent national protection exists to protect all Australians. Instead, Australia has traditionally relied on parliament and existing legislation to protect rights, rather than formally enshrining them in law.
For the disability community, this has real impacts.
People with disability continue to face discrimination, restrictive practices, barriers to housing and healthcare, exclusion from employment and education and challenges accessing justice. Without stronger legal protections, disability rights can too easily be treated as policy issues instead of enforceable rights.
This is particularly important during major reform or political change, when decisions may be made without full consideration of the rights and actual lived experiences of people with disability.
Whilst a national Human Rights Act wouldn’t solve every issue overnight, it could create stronger accountability by ensuring governments and public institutions are guided by human rights in the creation of laws and policies, and decision making. It would also provide clearer direction if rights were breached.
Human rights are not abstract legal concepts. They are protections that support dignity, independence, equality and full participation in Australian life.
This week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie introduced a Bill into Parliament to establish a national Human Rights Act, supported by Helen Haines MP. The proposal follows earlier recommendations from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights calling for stronger national protections.
Last month, Hugh de Kretser, President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, also spoke about the need for a Human Rights Act and the role it could play in areas such as healthcare, housing and education.
To learn more or to support the campaign, visit Human Rights Act:
Recognised from the 27th May until the 3rd June, this annual event provides all Australians with the opportunity to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements and to explore how we can all contribute to achieving reconciliation in our country.
To recognise National Reconciliation Week, events and activities will be held Australia-wide.
This monthly newsletter will provide updates on the issues that matter the most to our community and the work that we are doing to create positive change.
We hope that you enjoy this new format and find it valuable and interesting.
If you are a PDA Member and didn’t receive this email, please email promotion@pda.org.au and we’ll make sure that it hits your inbox.
If you’re not yet a PDA member and want to sign up for our FREE MEMBERSHIP, please head across to www.pda.org.au/membership/ to become part of our community and to be kept in the loop around what we’re doing.
With the House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability having commenced an inquiry in regards to this subject, we are putting together responses from our members and the wider disability community to support our submission.
If you have a story or concerns to share around the accessibility and affordability of medical specialists, we encourage you to get in touch with us by emailing team@pda.org.au or by leaving a comment below.
Together let’s work towards positive change.
PDA recently made a submission to the QLD Government’s Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) as part of the review of the Disability Parking Permit Scheme.
You can read this by going to:
With so many people asking “what does this actually mean for me?”, we broke it all down in a practical, easy-to-understand way – cutting through the noise and focusing on what really matters.
Presented by PDA CEO Suzanne Gearing and PDA President Paul Williamson, the session also included live Q&A, shared community concerns, and provided valuable feedback to help strengthen our advocacy to government and media.
The recording is now live on our YouTube channel:
Take a look to see how the Budget may impact you.
And while you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe – it’s free and you’ll be the first to know when new webinar recordings are released.
To help make sense of it all, we’re hosting a FREE WEBINAR tomorrow, Thursday May 14 at 4:30pm AEST:
Presented by PDA CEO Suzanne Gearing and PDA President Paul Williamson, this practical and easy-to-understand session will break down the key Budget measures and explain what they could mean for you.
We’ll cut through the complexity so you don’t have to.
Join us, ask questions, share your concerns, and help shape the message we take to government and the media.
FREE for PDA Members and Friends.
We look forward to having you with us.
To register, please go to:
Presented by PDA’s CEO, Suzanne Gearing, and PDA President, Paul Williamson, this webinar will work through the Budget so you don’t have to.
Join us for a fast, practical webinar where we cut through the headlines, unpack the key measures, and spotlight the areas where the detail is still vague or missing.
Why attend?
Because the Budget shouldn’t be something you have to decode on your own.
We’ll help you understand what’s been announced, what’s still unclear, and how the Budget could affect you personally.
Just as importantly, we want to hear from you. We’ll gather your views, reactions, and concerns to help shape our message to government and the media.
Register by going to:
There are a lot of benefits in becoming a PDA member.
With physical disability making up a huge *76.8% of Australia’s reported 5.5 million disabled, PDA represents the vast majority of our country’s disability community – over 4.2 million in fact.
As well as Australians living with physical disability, we also welcome their families, friends, carers, support workers, providers and anyone with a supportive interest as PDA members.
We’ve been around since 1995 and are one of a very small handful of Australian disability organisations that actually has members and board representation in every Australian state and territory.
This gives us a national footprint and allows PDA to have its finger firmly on the pulse of disability in our country.
It is through this representation that our strong voice is heard and that we are included in Australia’s disability conversation.
As an organisation run by people with physical disability for people with physical disability, PDA also truly understands and stands for the needs, rights and consideration of its members.
We put disability rights at the forefront of all that we do.
So, if you haven’t signed up for FREE PDA MEMBERSHIP yet, what’s stopping you?
Go to
Join today.
You’ll be glad that you did.
Bond University (in conjunction with Professor Michelle McLean -Editor-in-Chief, Ms Elmarie Stander, Assistant Professor Jaclyn Szkwara, Associate Professor Allan Stirling, Dr Priya Iyer, Associate Professor Tanisha Jowsey, Dr Thomas Titus and PDA’s Ambassador, Dinesh Palipana) has had an invaluable resource published to support and inform those affected by spinal cord injury.
Stemming from an initial idea by Dinesh Palipana and Thomas Titus to create ‘something’ that would be useful to everyone affected by and involved with spinal cord injury, this publication contains information, resources, research and most importantly, personal, lived experiences, in one place.
The direct link to the book is:
www.bond.studium.pub/life-well-lived-with-spinal-cord-injuries
1800 732 674
