​Yesterday (Wednesday 15^th June) DFAT presented on their foreign $18m program supporting foreign DPO’s.  They were introduced with the U.K as a model of best practice.  The Australian govt was very proud of the program, and it was positioned within the key themes of the conference of support for marginalised groups, people with intellectual disability and people with mental illness.

I made the following points on the program in the presence of a number of other countries government representatives.

·       AFDO is the Asia Pacific Chair of DPI

·       Our members include Inclusion Australia and Mental Health Australia’s Consumer Council

·       If the Australian government is supporting foreign DPO’s it should as part of the process to use the expertise of our organisations many of whom have 3 decades of experience in being a DPO

·       That our organisations provided the platform for current IDA President, Maryanne Diamond (Past CEO of both BCA & AFDO), future President Colin Allen (Deaf Australia) and current DPI Executive Member Trevor Carroll.

·       The leader of our International Committee Frank Hall-Bentick has a stellar reputation internationally after contributing for many decades on the international program.

·       It would send a great message and the program would be better for it to include our Disability Australia members in the program.

Mika from DFAT agreed and said it was a short-fall of their program and that Finland did a much better job of including their own DPO’s.

Update from Disabled People’s International (DPI)

Today, June 15 was the second day of the 9th Conference of States Parties to CRPD. Besides the General Debate and the Round Tables, there were several side-events that took place. Disabled People's International (DPI) co-sponsored and spoke at two of these side-events.

1.     "How Can Digital Societies Contribute to Achieving the SDGs for Persons with Disabilities?"

Organiser: SCRPD/DESA, IDPP

Co-sponsor: DPI

Dorodi Sharma of DPI spoke at this side-event. In her presentation, she highlighted that people with disabilities need to be at the centre of technological advances pertaining to them. She urged on the need to question who is producing the digital information on disability, who is controlling it, and to what end is it being used. How is ICT for development ensuring that the needs of the most marginalised are addressed, Sharma asked. She also spoke about access to and affordability of the digital solutions for people with disabilities.

The recording of this side-event can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/1PuN5gW 

2.     "How Regional Collaboration can Lead to More Effective Implementation of Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the 2030 Development Agenda"

            Organiser: International Foundation for Electoral Systems

Co-sponsor: DPI

Senarath Attanayake of Sri Lanka spoke at this event. He shared his experiences of being a person with disability in active politics in Sri Lanka. Attanayake is the first and longest serving member with a disability in Sri Lanka and and has been actively engaged in politics for over 20 years. Mohammad Ali Loutfy of DPI Lebanon represented DPI at this side-event.

Also, below are the inputs from Mr. Matthew Wright, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (DPI Australia) who participated in the following 3 side-events:

1.     "Promoting the rights of persons with psycho-social and intellectual disability"

As the representative of DPI Asia Pacific Mr. Wright raised that we people with disability are chronically disempowered. Suffering from decades of segregation in institutions and worse. In order to survive we have become therefore invisible, and necessarily compliant with our situation. So used to having no choice we have become out of touch with exercising freedom. So used to having freedom promised then ripped away we now just assume it easier not to exercise choice in the first place.In segregating people with disability that society has created strong interests groups like segregated education and institutions with influence, power and resources to keep people with disability captured within their services.

In Australia, the great hope for people with disability is the National Disability Insurance Scheme which gives power to people with disability.  However our ability to exercise choice and get out of institutions is still difficult because of chronic disempowerment. 

In this session Mr. Robert George Martin from New Zealand, the newly elected member of the CRPD Committee shared his personal experience of being in an institution and called for the world wide closure of institutions.

2.     "Our Voice Matters: A Global Self Advocacy Strategy"

In this session as the representative for DPI Asia Pacific, Mr. Wright called into question the untenable funding model that DPO’s are funded by the very governments that:

·       They must assess (their government) without fear or favour

·       They must bring to light unpleasant episodes of abuse and neglect in institutions

·       They must work against traditional service providers to lead community inclusion

No regulatory body would endure the conflict of interest that Disabled People's Organisations endure stating that our organisations funding must be quarantined from government influence.

3.     "The Indefinite Detention of People with Disability in Australia"

In this session as the representative for DPI Asia Pacific, Mr. Wright challenged the mix of support for indigenous Australians with disability, including a rationing scheme that forced indigenous Australians to operate under a voucher system for their social welfare, unlike any other Australian and in violation of their human rights. This is despite comprehensive studies showing they had nill effect. The lack of support for a united position of indigenous leaders to conduct forums to discuss Australian Constitutional Recognition. The appalling Australian employment record of both people with disability 27^th of 29 OECD countries combined with the equally poor employment rates for indigenous Australians