Legal and Social Policy Assignment

Running head: LEGAL AND SOCIAL POLICY 1
Legal and Social Policy Assignment.
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LEGAL AND SOCIAL POLICY 2
Topic One: Human Rights
People living with disabilities are predisposed to discrimination due to their inherent
disability to fight for their fundamental rights and freedoms. This has occasioned the enactment
of laws by states and international organisations to ensure that the rights of the
aforementioned persons are not infringed on. For instance, the United Nations has a
convention ratified by its member states, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (United Nations, 2019). Australia has a commission whose mandate is to ensure the
protection of the rights of people living with disabilities, the Australian Human Rights
Commission.
The disability discrimination act (1992) of Australia protects the disabled from unfair
treatment. The Guardianship Act (1987) Act criminalises discrimination against the disabled.
This is in line with the principles under the United Nations Convention which was ratified by
Australia in 2008. The convention provides that states should ensure non-discrimination of the
disabled. The criminalisation of their unfair treatment by Australian statute fulfils the
requirement of the convention that provides for countries to adopt or enact legislation and
instruments for implementation of rights. According to the Australian Human Rights
Commission (2012), persons experiencing discrimination due to their disability have a right to
register their complaints directly with the commission.
The National Disability Strategy 2010-2020 is an instrument created by the Australian
government to ensure compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (Council of Australian Governments, 2011). The strategy has come up with six
guidelines to facilitate its goal. These guidelines are; “rights protection, justice and legislation,
economic security, personal and community support, learning and skills, health and well-being
and finally, inclusive and accessible communities”. The guidelines comply with the requirement
of the convention.
The intersection between Australian and international human rights about people living
with disabilities is that both should seek to protect the said persons from discrimination and
unfair treatment.

LEGAL AND SOCIAL POLICY 3
Also, both insist on the need for equal rights and opportunities. They highlight that
there should not be a gap in terms of employment between the disabled and the rest of the
population,
Finally, both sets if laws insist that persons living with disabilities ought to be included in
the community and considered in the determination of issues that they are subject to.
Topic Two: Australian Law
Guardianship law deals with the protection of rights of “intellectually disadvantaged
persons or anyone with diminished functional capacity”, who is above the age of 16 years
(Carney, 1989). According to Frolik (2001), determination of a guardianship application is made
by a judge, only after one has proven to satisfy the legal standard of intellectual incapacity and
that the person would benefit from acquiring a guardian. The Guardianship Act (1987) was
enacted as a result of activism by people living with disabilities. The Act serves to protect the
rights of a disabled person who are under the care of a guardian.
The Guardianship Act also provides for the Australian Guardianship Tribunal. The NSW
Civil & Administrative Tribunal (2017) reports that the tribunal's function is to appoint
guardians to make legally valid decisions for people with disabilities. Decisions made by the
guardians relate to issues of health, lifestyle and finances. According to the Guardianship Act,
the guardian has to give the disabled person’s interests paramount consideration. The
restriction of the persons’ right to make a decision or take action should be limited. The
guardian has a duty to protect the person from neglect and unfair treatment. The guardian
should not ignore the disabled person's views and opinions.
Another body that must protect people living with disabilities is the Australian
Guardianship and Administration Council (AGAC, 2018). The main aim of the council is to guide
the state and territory tribunals to ensure the maximum participation of the person subject to
applications for guardianship in the decision-making process (
AGAC Project: Draft guidelines for
represented persons, 2018). Draft guidelines for Australian Tribunals emphasize that state and
territory tribunals must consider the views of the disabled person. However, there is a concern