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Australia Urged to Amend Laws that Lead to People with Mental Disabilities Being Detained Indefinitely

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On Friday 23 September the UN issued a news release urging Australia to amend the laws that lead to people being detained because of disability.

At the release of the report, Damian Griffis, CEO First Peoples Disability Network and spokesperson for DPO Australia was interviewed by Mark Colvin for ABC Radio National’s PM program. You can listen and read the transcript here.

Australia urged to amend laws that lead to people with mental disabilities being detained indefinitely
GENEVA (23 September 2016) – Australia violated the rights of a man with an intellectual disability who was deemed unfit to stand trial but was nevertheless detained in prison for more than 10 years, thereby “converting his disability into the core cause of his detention,” UN experts have found.

Marlon James Noble, an Aboriginal man who was charged in 2001 with child sex abuse in Western Australia, brought his complaint to the Geneva-based Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Under Western Australia’s Criminal Law (Mentally Impaired Defendants) Act of 1996, once a person is found unfit to plead, he or she can be held in custody for an unlimited period. They have no possibility to go before the courts unless or until they are deemed able to understand the notion of criminal responsibility. Mr. Noble, who denied the charges, was detained until his conditional release in November 2012.

In its findings, the Committee noted that throughout Mr. Noble’s detention, “the whole judicial procedure focused on his mental capacity to stand trial without giving him any possibility to plead not guilty and test the evidence submitted against him.”

“He therefore never had the opportunity to have the criminal charges against him determined and his status as an alleged sexual offender cleared,” the Committee members found, highlighting that the charges were never proven. In addition, the authorities did not provide adequate support to enable him to stand trial and plead not guilty.

Under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Australia has ratified, States are obliged to recognise that people with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with all others in all aspects of life.

Mr. Noble was detained for more than 10 years without knowing how long he would be in custody, the CRPD noted.

“Taking into account the irreparable psychological effects that indefinite detention may have on the detained person, the Committee considers that the indefinite detention he was subjected to amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment,” members wrote.

The CRPD called on Australia to provide Mr. Noble with an effective remedy and immediately revoke the 10 conditions of his release, which members found also constituted a violation of the Convention.

Australia is also obliged to take measures to prevent similar violations, including making the necessary amendments to the Mentally Impaired Defendants Act (WA) and all equivalent or related Federal or state laws.

ENDS

For further information:

Read the advisory online.

The CRPD Committee’s findings, known as Views, were published in full here on 22 September.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The CRPD Committee is composed of 18 independent human rights experts drawn from around the world. They serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. More information on the CRPD:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/CRPDIndex.aspx

Disabled People’s Organisations Australia Opposes Omnibus Bill Budget Changes

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Disabled People’s Organisations Australia (DPO Australia) recently made a submission to the Senate Committee on Economics to oppose budget measures contained in the ‘Omnibus Bill’ that will have a negative impact on people with disability.  These measures include:

  • Changes to the Newly Arrived Residents Waiting Period
  • Changes to backdating of Carers Allowance
  • Removal of the DSP for people in psychiatric confinement
  • Removal of the Energy Supplement for new welfare recipients

DPO Australia made four recommendations regarding the changes.

Access the full submission below:

New Name for Australia’s Peak Disability Alliance

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The ‘Australian Cross Disability Alliance’ is now ‘Disabled People’s Organisations Australia’.

The ‘Australian Cross Disability Alliance’ has changed its name to ‘Disabled People’s Organisations Australia’, or DPO Australia, to better reflect its membership of representative organisations of people with disability.

DPO Australia is an alliance of peak disability organisations made up of and governed by people with disability. Its member organisations are People with Disability Australia (PWDA), First Peoples Disability Network (Australia), National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) and Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA).

Gayle Rankine, Chairperson of First Peoples Disability Network said, “In changing our name, we acted on feedback from our members, constituents and stakeholders that ‘cross disability alliance’ wasn’t well understood. As direct representatives of people with disability, led by people with disability, the name DPO Australia accurately reflects our role as self-determining organisations of people with disability”.

“The name Disabled People’s Organisations Australia makes it much clearer to people with disability who we are, and this makes our engagement and representation of people with disability stronger” Acting President of PWDA, Bonnie Millen said. “The term ‘DPO’ is also well understood in Australia and internationally within the disability rights movement”.

“DPO Australia will continue to provide high level advice, to represent the views of people with disability, engage extensively with our members and stakeholders and undertake a range of activities to progress the rights of people with disability”, said Suresh Rajan, NEDA President. “We look forward to continuing our productive working relationships with governments and the disability and human rights communities within Australia and internationally.”

Karin Swift, WWDA President stated, “The United Nations has recently affirmed the central role of representative organisations of people with disability, or Disabled People’s Organisations, in progressing our rights. DPO Australia is part of the disability rights movement that places people with disability at the centre of decision-making in all aspects of our lives. This is known internationally through the motto, “Nothing About Us, Without Us”.

DPO Australia has appointed an interim Director, Therese Sands, who is a well-respected disability advocate, and who has been seconded to DPO Australia from her role as Co-Chief Executive Officer of PWDA.

Media Contact
El Gibbs
PWDA Media and Communication Manager
0408 682 867

Disabled People’s Organisations Australia is an alliance of four national Disabled People’s Organisations (organisations made up of and led by people with disability). The ACDA was founded by, and is made up of the First Peoples Disability Network Australia (FPDN) representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability, the National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) representing people with disability from a culturally and linguistically diverse background, People with Disability Australia (PWDA) a national cross disability organisation and Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA), the national organisation representing women and girls with disability.

People with Disability Australia (PWDA)
First Peoples Disability Network Australia (FPDN)
National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA)
Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)