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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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Australian Human Rights Scorecard Released Ahead of UN Review

QAI is one of over 200 organisations which have co-authored and endorsed the Australian Human Rights Scorecard, which was published today by the Human Rights Law Centre, Kingsford Legal Centre and Caxton Legal Centre.

 

The report was prepared ahead of a United Nations Human Rights Council review of Australia, and identifies 22 key areas of concern for the review. You can find the media release on the report here and the full report here.

 

Below is an extract from the report on People with Disability.

 

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY

The National Disability Strategy (NDS) is Australia’s policy framework to implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2019, the CRPD Committee raised serious concerns about the lack of implementation, funding and oversight of the NDS.

 

The new NDS must be properly resourced through a robust National Disability Agreement between all levels of Government. Transparent monitoring and evaluation of outcomes for people with disability must be linked to accountability measures across Governments, ensuring targets are met. People with disability, and their representative organisations, must also be positioned at the centre of the NDS’s development, implementation and monitoring.

 

Legislation regulating legal capacity remains problematic. Australia’s Interpretative Declarations to CRPD Articles 12, 17 and 18 prevent reform and allow human rights violations. No progress has been made towards a national Supported Decision-Making Framework. Despite persistent UN recommendations, behaviour management,  involuntary treatments and restrictive practices occur across a range of settings.

 

Australia must withdraw CRPD Interpretative Declarations before 2026 and modify, repeal or nullify laws, policies and practices which deny or diminish equal recognition before the law. Australia must eliminate restrictive practices, involuntary treatment, forced sterilisation and medically unnecessary interventions of people with disability.

 

People with disability, particularly women, experience significant violence and abuse.

 

The Disability Royal Commission must address the systemic drivers of this violence and establish national mechanisms for redress, complaint and oversight.

  • 9 Apr, 2020
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line drawing of gavel

Mistake of Fact Submission

QAI made a submission to the Queensland Law Reform Commission Inquiry into the Mistake of Fact defence.

Initial Recommendations

Retain mistake of fact defence, because some people with intellectual impairment can misinterpret, for example, body language, or verbal cues if CALD, but:

  • A proper evidentiary basis must exist before the court directs a jury on this defence e.g. where the woman has shown little or no outward manifestation of any lack of consent (as opposed to where there is evidence of accused’s use of force/violence, and resistance by complainant).
  • Provide clearer guidance in the legislation for what constitutes a “reasonable” basis for an accused to believe in consent
  • Provide guidance for jury directions that explain the above.

You can read the full submission here.

  • 24 Oct, 2019
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control dials

QAI Submission: Recording Mental Health Review Tribunal hearings

The Mental Health Review Tribunal is conducting a project regarding the Electronic Recording of Tribunal hearings. They asked for feedback from patients, support persons, legal representatives, advocates, clinicians, family members and carers, or anyone else about how they feel about audio recording Tribunal hearings. Up until now, the only official record taken of the hearing has been the handwritten notes of the Tribunal members.

QAI made its submission on 11 March 2019.

We submitted that Tribunal hearings should be audio recorded for the following reasons:

  • To ensure an accurate record of proceedings;
  • To assist Tribunal members with the preparation of a statement of reasons and improve their quality. The large number of hearings, the similar nature of successive case details, and reliance on personal memory and handwritten notes can impede accurate recollection of hearings from which to prepare a statement of reasons, sometimes many days or weeks after the hearing has taken place;
  • To assist in clarification of issues, even in the absence of a request for a statement of reasons, for example, discrepancies in limited community treatment conditions or reasons for an adjournment;
  • To enable legal representatives to properly consider prospects of appeal, particularly where clients were not represented at the Tribunal hearing;
  • To improve both Tribunal and legal representative engagement in hearings, who are currently occupied in taking detailed notes of the hearing;
  • To improve client engagement and understanding of the process and their treating team’s reasons for making certain recommendations, which may ultimately improve their recovery;
  • To facilitate natural justice and transparency;
  • To support training and professional development of Tribunal staff.

Our recommendations were that:

QAI’s position is that Mental Health Review Tribunal hearings be audio-recorded.

This change to Tribunal process must be accompanied by education for patients about why proceedings are recorded and how that recording may be accessed and used. This education has to occur long before the hearing and will likely have to happen through clinicians, Independent Patient Rights Advisors, and legal advisors.

Patients (and their legal guardian) should, at least to begin with, have the ability to opt out of having their hearings recorded. While there was a difference of opinion between lawyers whether recording hearings was an access to justice issue which could not be opted out of, ultimately, the balance of opinion was that given the Tribunal was a therapeutic jurisprudence in which sensitive issues were being raised in a closed hearing, the patient should have the right to choose whether their hearing is recorded provided they have capacity to do so. In circumstances where the client lacks capacity, it may be appropriate for the Tribunal to rely on clinical evidence on whether recording hearings would cause serious harm to the health of the person, similar to a confidentiality order. It is noted that as time goes by, and recording hearings becomes more understood, accepted and widespread, this will become less of an issue. The ability to opt out might be limited to an initial 12-24 month roll out period following which recording hearings becomes compulsory.

At the least, recordings should be available to the Tribunal panel, the parties to the hearing, their legal representatives and any formally appointed guardian/attorney. There may be a case for allowing other people to have access to the recording, for example, the treating team or a non-legal representative, subject to the reason for the request and person’s privacy.

Recordings should be provided to the patient (and their legal representative and guardian/attorney) for free or at nominal cost.

There needs to be a clear written process for requesting and obtaining recordings. The process must include: any time limits on requests (we submit any time limits should be generous and based on genuine administrative limitations or burdens, which can be overcome by a legitimate reason for requesting the recording); and timeframes within which the Tribunal must respond to requests.

Audio-recordings should be available in a variety of formats to maximise accessibility and privacy, eg, deaf clients may need a transcription, while some clients might want to just listen to their recording so that they do not have to keep a CD with them.

We would support the provision of oral statements of reasons included as part of the audio recording of the hearing, to take place of written statements of reasons.

  • 11 Mar, 2019
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  • By Rebekah L
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Ministerial back-flip on disability pension a lifesaver

QAI Media release

December 2018

Ministerial backflip on pension is a lifesaver for people with disability.

 

The Australian Federation of Disability Organizations (AFDO), the Disability Advocacy Network of Australia (DANA) and QAI went to Canberra last week to convince federal politicians to oppose the 2019 budget measure.   Their work, with support from many others, has saved lives.  Department of Social Services Minister Fletcher has reversed the policy measure in response.  Essential income support to people with disabilities who exit prison will be available to them still.

Prisoners with disabilities who exit jail ordinarily move straight back onto the Disability Support Pension (DSP) if they serve less than two years in prison, but the Federal Government planned to change that by reducing the suspension time  to 13 weeks.    DSS would have implemented the budget measure from 1 January 2019.

People with intellectual disability are imprisoned at about five times the rate of the general population in Australia and their socioeconomic circumstances after release from prison are more indicative of re-offending than the prison term itself.1  Making people reapply for the DSP is the same as taking income support away, and the consequences are devastating.

Research tells us that the first six weeks out of prison are the hardest: a place to live, food, and finding work depend on getting income support.  The suicide rate of released prisoners spikes around six weeks.  Access to an income, and the related ability to obtain appropriate housing and necessities has a direct impact on whether a person re-offender, breaches parole or self-harms.

 

  • 17 Dec, 2018
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  • By Nick Collyer
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Graph showing the over representation of people with intellectual disabilities in Queensland justice system

Inquiry into imprisonment and recidivism – Queensland Productivity Commission

The Queensland Government asked the Queensland Productivity Commission to determine how government resources and policies may be best used to reduce imprisonment and recidivism to improve outcomes for the community.

QAI had a lot to say about this, having published editions of  Disabled Justice in 2007 and 2014.   Ten percent of prisoners in this state have intellectual disability.  That’s five times the rate of the general population.  Up to 30% of prisoners have some form of disability.   Recidivism of Queensland prisoners who have intellectual disabilities is twice that of other prisoners:  general recidivism is 38%, but 68% of prisoners with intellectual disability return to jail.

QAI’s submission to the Queensland Productivity Commission

 

 

  • 12 Dec, 2018
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  • By Nick Collyer
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MEDIA RELEASE – Human Rights Bill supported as offering welcome protection for vulnerable Queenslanders

Printer friendly version PDF

 

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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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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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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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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Inquiry into Wage Theft

Inquiry into Wage Theft

  • 31 Oct, 2018
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  • By Nick Collyer
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  • Event Date: 10/10/2019


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