Australia ratifies UN convention

I found this here.

The Australian Government has officially ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Australia has become the 30th country to formally ratify the treaty, which was adopted in 2006 and reinforces and affirms the rights of people with a disability.

Ratification allows Australia to participate in the election of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which will implement the Convention that formally entered force in May.

"Australia has a long-standing commitment to upholding and safeguarding the rights of people with disability and ratifying the Convention sends this unequivocal message to the world," said Bill Shorten, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, in an 18 July media release.

The complete Convention can be viewed on the United Nations' UN Enable website.

The Federal Government also announced its intention to amend the Disability Discrimination Act during the Spring sitting of Parliament.

The Act will be amended to include recommendations from a 2004 Productivity Commission report.

The Government seeks to clarify the obligations of employers and service providers and remove discriminatory barriers, according to another 18 July media release.

The Productivity Commission report recommended that changes be made to the Act, introduced in 1992, to improve access to employment opportunities, allow disability organisations to make complaints in their own right, and improve the definition of terms such as 'direct discrimination'.

Go to the original article for links contained within the report.

Oh that sounds interesting... My brain can't quite process half of it just at the moment but does it say something in there about proper wages?? That's the thing that bugs me most....

Cas