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Queensland Advocacy Incorporated

Queensland Advocacy Incorporated (Q A I) is an independent, community-based systems and legal advocacy organisation for people with disability in Queensland, Australia.

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Presentations at the ANZAPPL Congress 2018

QAI mental health lawyers Jo Sampford and Niamh Fields presented at the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatrist, Psychology and Law (ANZAPPL) Congress 2018.

Find their presentations below:

  • “Is this to be their fate for the indefinite future?” Judicial  interest in systemic issues in Queensland”, Niamh Fields
  • “Lost and found in translation: Cross-disciplinary conversations between lawyers and doctors”, Jo Sampford

 

  • 29 Nov, 2018
  • (0) Comments
  • By Rebekah L
  • Presentations

MEDIA RELEASE – Human Rights Bill supported as offering welcome protection for vulnerable Queenslanders

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26 November 2018

For immediate release

 

Human Rights Bill supported as offering welcome protection for vulnerable Queenslanders

 

Leading disability advocacy organisation Queensland Advocacy Incorporated (QAI) strongly supports the introduction of a Human Rights Act in Queensland. In QAI’s submission, provided to the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee (Committee) today, we confirm our support for the passage of the Human Rights Bill and call upon the Committee to recommend accordingly.

QAI Director Michelle O’Flynn noted the important protections that this Bill includes for people with disability in Queensland. ‘We are particularly excited by the inclusion of the economic, social and cultural rights to education and health in the Bill’, Ms O’Flynn said today. ‘These are fundamental human rights that are not equitably enjoyed by people with disability and mental illness in Queensland.’

While strongly supporting the inclusion of the right to education, Ms O’Flynn notes that QAI’s submission is proposing that this right is differently framed. ‘There is now a wealth of research supporting the benefits of an inclusive approach to education for all students and it is the approach that has been committed to at an international level and by both state and federal government. It is important that the drafting of this clause reflects this commitment and requires commitment to it.’

QAI is hopeful that the Committee will recommend strengthening the Bill by including an independent cause of action and a broad range of remedies for breaches of the Act to ensure that the human rights are enforceable and meaningful. QAI also makes submissions calling for recognition of the right to reasonable adjustments to ensure people with disability can enjoy equitable access justice. QAI also emphasises the importance of not limiting the Act in any way in its application, to ensure it offers full protection to all Queenslanders, particularly the most vulnerable, including children and prisoners.

‘On balance, while we note that this Bill is not perfect and that human rights legislation will never be a panacea, we are thrilled by the proposed introduction of this legislation and strongly support its passage at the earliest opportunity,’ Ms O’Flynn said. ‘We are also very hopeful that this Bill will garner bi-partisan support. Human rights belong to us all – they are above politics.’

Queensland Advocacy Incorporated (QAI) is an independent, community-based systems and individual advocacy organisation and a community legal service for people with disability. Our mission is to promote, protect and defend, through systems and individual advocacy, the fundamental needs and rights and lives of the most vulnerable people with disability in Queensland.

For more information, please visit the campaign website: humanrights4qld.com.au.

 

Media contact: Michelle O’Flynn and Emma Phillips: (07) 3844 4200

Information provided in this release is not intended to constitute legal advice and should not be construed as such. You should obtain your own legal advice before applying any information provided in this release to specific issues or situations.

  • 28 Nov, 2018
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  • By Admin
  • Latest news, Media releases

Australian Legacies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – 70 years on

A public forum on Human Rights Day

EVENT DETAILS

Monday 10 December 2018 10:00am – 3:00pm

Ballarat Technology Park Central

110 Lydiard St South Federation University, School of Mines Ballarat (SMB) Campus Ballarat, Victoria 3350

DESCRIPTION

Seventy years ago, on 10 December 1948, world leaders came to together to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It has ever since shaped the delivery of community services in Australia, providing a common vocabulary and framework for understanding the role of citizens and individuals in shaping our legal and community sector systems.

Australia played a prominent role in shaping the Declaration, through the efforts of Colonel William Roy Hodgson, who was part of the eight person group – along with Eleanor Roosevelt – that drafted the original Declaration.

For this public session on World Human Rights Day we return to Hodgson’s place of education, the former School of Mines in Ballarat, now Federation University Australia, to remember and acknowledge the leadership role that Australia has played historically in championing human rights.

This is not the story of one man, however. The session will provide a platform for exploring the various ways in which the concept and operation of ‘human rights’ are playing out in Australian society.

With sessions focussing on contemporary law, disabilities, education and children’s rights, join community advocates, researchers, community sector, legal professionals, and citizens in discussing and planning for a future that honours the legacy of rights.

A collaboration between Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and the Collaborative Research Centre in Australian History, at Federation University Australia.

#HumanRights70 #StandUpForHumanRights

PROGRAM

1. Legacies of Human Rights – Australia and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – 70 years ago today

  • Professor Andrew Hope, Dean, School of Arts, Federation University
  • Professor Keir Reeves, Director, Collaborative Research Centre in Australian History, Federation University

2. Human Rights in Australia today

  • Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR)
  • Keynote Speaker tbc

3. Human Rights of People with Disabilities: from conventions to practice – how far have we travelled?

  • Dr Marg Camilleri (Federation University). Justice responses to disability
  • Dr Rachel Hale (Federation University). Upholding human rights principles in the oversight of disability and correctional services

4. Education and access – in discussion with students, teachers and advocates

  • Dr Verity Archer (Federation University)
  • Joanne Humphries (Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare)
  • Rhiannon Smith (Federation University, and Department of Health and Human Services)

5. Rights, children, and records – institutional Care and Human Rights

  • Assoc. Prof. Jacqueline Wilson (Federation University)
  • Frank Golding (Vice-President, Care Leavers’ Australasia Network)
  • Assoc. Prof. Joanne Evans (Monash University)
  • More to be confirmed

6. Advocacy, reform and next steps for Human Rights in Australia

  • Emma Phillips, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR)

Federation University’s Technology Park Central is a fully accessible venue. If you have any disability access or support requirements in order for you to participate in this event, please contact CRCAH@federation.edu.au

For any questions please contact CRCAH@federation.edu.au

Federation University’s SMB Campus is in the Ballarat Central Business District, at the end of Lydiard St South. It is within walking distance of the Ballarat Railway Station, follow this link for a map of the route from the Station. Street parking is available in surrounding areas, or in the nearby Central Square Carpar

For more information please visit Eventbrite and/or facebook.

  • 16 Nov, 2018
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  • By Admin
  • Latest news

Response by QAI to the Queensland Government’s review of the operation of the Forensic Disability Act 2011 (Qld)

Queensland Advocacy Incorporated (QAI) thanks the Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors (Department) for tabling their review of the Forensic Disability Act 2011 (Qld) (FDA) on 9 October 2018 (FDA Review). We acknowledge that the FDA Review annexes the independent review of the Queensland Forensic Disability Service System prepared for the Department (FDSS Review) by the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology and thank the Department for facilitating that
review.

We take this opportunity to respond to the FDA and FDSS review.

Response by QAI to the review of the operation of the FDA – FINAL 20181109

  • 9 Nov, 2018
  • (0) Comments
  • By Rebekah L
  • Submissions
Upwards reaching arms labelled with key tenants of human rights. Prosperity, equality, freedom, justice and hope.

Human Rights Bill Submission Making Tool and Resources

We are encouraging Queenslanders to make submissions to the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee in support of a Human Rights Bill. We understand this process can be difficult, time consuming and pose significant challenges for some resulting in important voices not being heard.  The below link provides guides, resources and a submission making tool to simplify the process where possible.

 

https://www.humanrights4qld.com.au/make_a_submission

  • 8 Nov, 2018
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  • By Admin
  • Latest news, Resources, Submissions

Inquiry into the Future of Petitioning in the House

Submission by QAI: Inquiry into the future of petitioning in the House

  • 8 Nov, 2018
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  • By Admin
  • Latest news, Submissions
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Events
  • Love, Sex & Family - A Human Rights Forum & AGM

  • Event Date: 10/10/2019


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