Legal and Social Policy Assignment: Human Rights & Disability, SWK4110

This assignment examines the legal and social policy landscape concerning disability rights in Australia. It explores the intersection of Australian and international human rights law, focusing on the rights of people with disabilities and the legal frameworks designed to protect them, including the Disability Discrimination Act and the Guardianship Act. The report analyzes the role of the Australian Human Rights Commission and the National Disability Strategy. Furthermore, it delves into Australian guardianship law, its relationship with disability, and its limitations, considering the role of the Australian Guardianship and Administration Council. The assignment also addresses social policy by analyzing political donations in Australia and their potential influence on policy agendas, particularly concerning private business interests and their impact on governmental decisions.

Running head: LEGAL AND SOCIAL POLICY 1
Legal and Social Policy Assignment.
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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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.

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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

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that the heavy reliance on decision making by legal guardians could lead to difficulties with
inclusion and integration into the community (Salzman, 2010). According to Wehmeyer and
Shogren (2016), this lack of an opportunity for self-determination causes the disabled who are
under guardianship to lack skills that would increase their chance of employment.
Despite the Australian government’s efforts to better the lives of people living with a
disability, there are still many unresolved issues facing them. Face the facts: Disability Rights
reports that Australia is among the lowest in Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development countries for relative income for people living with disabilities. The employment
rates for people living with a disability are low. Another issue is that public transport is not
completely accessible to the disabled in Australia. The disabled complain of encountering
difficulty when they use the public means of transport. Finally, research has shown that more
than a 25% of reported cases of sexual assault involve people with disability (Face the facts:
Disability Rights | Australian Human Rights Commission, 2019).
Different Topic: Social Policy.
It is evident from the data that private business owners in Australia give donations to
political parties. This undertaking has a goal, which is to manipulate the government to work in
favour of their agendas. The private investors use government policy for private gain
(Hanrahan, Elvery, McGhee & Liddy, 2017).
It is also peculiar that despite the New South Wales ban on donations from property
developers, handsome donations are made by the said developers and construction companies.
It follows that these developers would use their upper hand to make sure that they get benefits
from the government.
Such private investors are the likes of Paul Marks. He gave 1.3 million dollars to the
liberty party. Paul Marks is the director of Nimrod resources, and the Abbott government
facilitated a gainful business agreement he signed with a company owned by the Chinese
government in 2015. The businessman gave donations to the Greens and also gave a large sum

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of money to their campaign purse. Mr Wood is an environmental lobbyist who seeks to impact
Australian environmental policies (Hanrahan et al. 2017).
The data set shows that donors donate to influence policies regarding taxation,
importation of goods, environmental policies, and advertising restriction among others.

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References
AGAC Project: Draft guidelines for represented persons (2018). Agac.org.au. Retrieved 20 April
2019, from https://agac.org.au/announcements/101-agac-project-draft-guidelines-for-
represented-persons
AGAC. (2018). About Us | Agac.org.au. Retrieved 20 April 2019, from
https://www.agac.org.au/about-us
Australian Human Rights Commission. (2012). know your rights: Disability
discrimination. Humanrights.gov.au. Retrieved 20 April 2019, from
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/know-your-rights-disability-discrimination
Carney, T. (1989). The limits and the social legacy of guardianship in Australia. Federal Law
Review, 18(4), 231-266.
Council of Australian Governments (2011). 2010–2020 National Disability Strategy.
Commonwealth of Australia
Face the facts: Disability Rights | Australian Human Rights Commission.
(2019). Humanrights.gov.au. Retrieved 21 April 2019, from
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/face-facts-disability-rights
Frolik, L. A. (2001). Promoting judicial acceptance and use of limited guardianship. Stetson L.
Rev., 31, 735.
Hanrahan C., Elvery, S. McGhee A. & Liddy M. (2017). New political donations data maps
industries' web of influence. ABC News. Retrieved 20 April 2019, from
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-09/political-donations-industry-dataset/
8229192
NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (2017). Australian guardianship tribunal system: lessons to
share with Canada. Retrieved 20 April 2019 from
https://www.ncat.nsw.gov.au/Documents/speeches_and_presentations/20171011_pap
er_schyvens_canadian_elder_law_conference.pdf

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Salzman, L. (2010). Rethinking guardianship (again): Substituted decision making as a violation
of the integration mandated of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. U. Colo. L.
Rev., 81, 157.
United Nations. (2019). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)). Un.org.
Retrieved 20 April 2019, from
https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-
persons-with-disabilities.html
Wehmeyer, M. L., & Shogren, K. A. (2016). Self-determination and choice. In Handbook of
evidence-based practices in intellectual and developmental disabilities (pp. 561-584).
Springer, Cham.
Legislation
The Guardianship Act (1987) No 257 NSW AustLII
The disability discrimination act (1992) DDA