Australia will allow complaints mechanism for UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities

From The Age in Australia:

Australia has cleared the way for people to take complaints about disability discrimination policies to the United Nations — including prospective migrants with disabled children.

The Rudd Government announced July 30 that a year after signing the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, it intends to agree to the optional protocol that establishes a complaints mechanism for breaches of the treaty.

People will only be able to take their complaints to the UN disabilities committee if they have exhausted all possible avenues of redress inside Australia.

"Accession to the protocol is important," Attorney-General Robert McClelland will say in a speech to be delivered today. "It not only permits international scrutiny of our laws and practices, but also demonstrates our commitment to re-engage with the international community and to provide leadership in our region."

One potential area where Australia could come under international scrutiny is its migration laws, which are exempt from its disability discrimination laws.

Last year, the Government came under pressure after it was revealed that German doctor Bernhard Moeller, who had been working in Horsham in rural Victoria, was refused permanent residency because he had a son with Down syndrome.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans intervened and overturned the decision.

Following the controversy, the Government set up a joint standing committee inquiry into the health requirements in the Migration Act, to be chaired by Victorian MP Michael Danby. Its terms of reference are still being finalised.

Article 18 of the UN convention recognises the rights of people with disabilities to "liberty of movement, to freedom to choose their residence and to a nationality".

But when Australia signed the convention last July, it did so with a number of "declarations". One of these sought to exempt Australia from article 18 of the convention because of the country’s migration laws.

Australia’s declaration states its "understanding that the convention does not create a right for a person to enter or remain in a country of which he or she is not a national, nor impact on Australia’s health requirements for non-nationals seeking to enter or remain in Australia, where these requirements are based on legitimate, objective and reasonable criteria".

Lawyers have questioned whether this declaration is consistent with the convention.