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8 Speak Out August 2017
SPEECH PATHOLOGY AUSTRALIA has continued to promote
communication as a basic human right – this is central to our
vision as an Association, and in the forefront of much of our policy
and advocacy work.
In particular, SPA has argued that participation, education,
employment, access to public services and expression are all
basic human rights; however, thousands of people in Australia
may have these rights compromised on a daily basis because
a foundational right ‐ the opportunity to communicate – has not
been met. This failure is mirrored in services and supports at both
federal and state and territory level, and can be attributed to a
lack of acknowledgment of the critical role of communication
to participation and quality of life in Australia. It is clear there is
a need for greater acknowledgement of the rights of people to
communicate to their full potential, and for the barriers to full
participation in Australian society for people with communication
disability to be addressed.
Recently, SPA has had the opportunity to raise the awareness
of communication disability, and its impact on all aspects of a
person’s life, in a number of specific representations involving
human rights conventions. The following provides an overview of
some key work and submissions made.
United Nations Human Rights High
Commissioner for Human Rights,
Committee on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities
Draft General Comment on the right of persons with
disabilities to live independently and be included in the
community (article 19).
A submission was made in response to consultation on the
draft comments on Article 19 of the Convention of the Rights of
Persons with Disability (CRPD). As the ability to live independently
and be included in the community needs to be underpinned by
inclusive and accessible communities, SPA used this platform
to urge that communication access be recognised. We were
able to contend that in order to improve independent living
and community participation, barriers to both physical and
communication access need to be addressed.
SPA reinforced that ‘In order to build inclusive and accessible
communities, it is critical to remember that not all individuals with
disability have only physical or mobility limitations. Many people
also have problems with their speech, language, communication
that are permanent and impact on their functioning in everyday
life, and for some people, these are the only disabilities they
experience. In Australia, communication disability has long
remained “invisible”, with a lack of recognition of its impact
leading to people with communication disability being excluded
from being able to be involved in, and fully participate in, aspects
of life which are their right (e.g., voting, education, employment,
health care).’
SPA’s submission can be found on the Association website.
Resources for the
public advocacy submissions.
Committee on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (CRPD)
A list of issues [Australia] to be adopted during the 18th
Session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities
The CRPD is an international treaty that identifies the rights of
persons with disabilities. Those countries (State Parties) that have
adopted the convention have a range of general and specific
obligations regarding the implementation and monitoring of the
Convention, with periodic reporting. There is a formal process of
how the Committee of the CRPD considers how well a country is
implementing the intentions of the Convention, and includes the
following:
• Civil society organisations (peaks of NGO disability
organisations) provide a submission of the issues and
questions they wish the committee to ask of their country (for
us, Australia).
Promoting communication as part of
the human rights agenda
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