Australian Human Rights Commission Submission to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – 25 July 2019 awareness about disability was a significant barrier to people with disability accessing justice.54 62. The Commission recommended, in its 2014 Equal Before the Law report, that each jurisdiction in Australia should develop a holistic, overarching response to ensuring equal recognition before the law and access to justice, through a Disability Justice Plan. This recommendation has not been widely implemented. The Commission considers that a Disability Justice Plan provides a framework to coordinate, inform and monitor: (i) the removal of barriers, (ii) the provision of procedural and gender- and age-appropriate accommodations, and (iii) the provision of appropriate training to those working in the field of administration of justice. Recommendation 28: All Australian governments develop Disability Justice Plans to detail the actions they will take to ensure access to justice for people with disability, including by: a. reviewing and amending civil and criminal legislation and procedural rules to ensure a duty to provide procedural accommodations in all legal proceedings; b. developing and implementing measures to ensure the same substantive and procedural guarantees for people with disability in the context of legal proceedings as for others c. developing assessment protocols to improve data collection and assist police, courts, and correctional institutions to identify the supports required to provide procedural guarantees and age appropriate accommodations d. developing and implementing measures to ensure people with disability can serve as jurors e. developing and implementing targeted measures to promote, support and empower people with disability to work in the justice system f. incorporating compulsory modules on working with people with disability into training programmes for those working in the field of the administration of justice. 4.9 Liberty and security of the person (CRPD art 14, CO 31–34, LOI 16–17) 63. The Commission is concerned that little progress has been made by the Australian Government in repealing legislation and withdrawing policies and practices listed in Issue 16 since these were first raised by the Committee in 2013. The Australian Government is yet to respond to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee’s report Inquiry into 19

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