Translating the Convention into a domestic context

In this step we explore the importance of the international human rights framework in local contexts, and the challenges that remain in creating change at the national, local and personal levels.

Therese Sands, a systemic advocate for People with Disability Australia (PWDA), explains that the human rights framework must underpin advocacy work. Within an Australian context, she sees human rights as providing her with a range of tools and processes to pursue advocacy, including:

• The Disability Discrimination Act
• Complaints process to the Australian Human Rights Commission
• Complaints to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disability
• Appearing before a UN Committee to talk about the violation of rights in Australia

Talking points

• What is the usefulness of human rights frameworks at the national, local and personal levels?
• What are some of the challenges of applying human rights frameworks in a domestic context?
• Are there recent examples of human rights frameworks successfully being applied in your own local context? (You may need to do some research for this one.)

This ends the Basics for Week 2. In the next step, we Expand our interests by unpacking the development and implementation of disability discrimination acts.