Our submission to the Royal Commission on Inclusion
May 17, 2021
Inclusion is important because it gives me a sense of belonging. Involvement in the community shows that people with disabilities can contribute to their society. We are capable and creative!
– Ms Naomi Lake (DSA Health Ambassador)
This week Down Syndrome Australia provided the Disability Royal Commission with a submission on Inclusion. We believe it is critical that the Royal Commission acknowledge that segregation is a form of discrimination.
We recommend the implementation of the six actions to end segregation as outlined in the Disabled People’s Organisations Australia Position Paper. The Position Paper is supported by 42 disability rights and advocacy organisations, including Down Syndrome Australia, calling for an end to the segregation of disabled people in Australia.
The first action includes ensuring that the human rights model of disability and the principles of equality and non-discrimination underpin the development, implementation, and review of law, policy and practice frameworks through the provision of training and guidance to policy makers and legislators at all levels of government, to law reform bodies, to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights and to the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), the NDIS Commission and the Disability Royal Commission.
An inclusive society values and celebrates difference. It is free from both interpersonal and structural forms of stigma, prejudice and discrimination. In an inclusive society, all people, including those with disability, can access all aspects of social, economic, political and cultural life.
Read our submission to the Royal Commission on Inclusion in PDF here.
Read our submission to the Royal Commission on Inclusion in Word here.