Upholding the rights of Australians with disability to vote
April 21, 2022
For many years Down Syndrome Australia has been advocating for change to discriminatory laws about voting for people with a disability. Australian laws must recognise that people with disability enjoy the right to vote on an equal basis with their fellow Australians.
Every Australian should have the right to have their say in the election. We have joined 65 organisations and experts to call out discriminatory laws that prevent people with disability from exercising their right to vote. We are calling on the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition to commit to ensuring Australia’s laws recognise and protect people with disability’s right to vote.
Australian laws must recognise that people with disability enjoy the right to vote on an equal basis with their fellow Australians. Casting a vote and having your say on who governs our country is a fundamental constitutional right, an internationally-protected human right and a hallmark of democracy.
It’s been nearly a decade since the Australian Law Reform Commission recommended that the Federal Government take action to protect people with disability’s right to vote in elections. Between 2008-2012, more than 28,000 people were removed from Australia’s electoral roll due to archaic and offensive “unsound mind” provisions.
Today we are calling for the leaders of both major parties to publicly commitment to urgent law reform.
Read the open letter here.