This lecture transcript discusses human rights issues related to people with disabilities in Australia, focusing on concepts of discrimination, legislation, and social justice. Findings from recent federal inquiries into homeless children and mental illness highlight major deficits in services for people with disabilities. (Author/DB)

A study involving police officers in Western Australia (n=138) and Pennsylvania (n=168) revealed that officers responded differently to crimes involving persons with mental retardation. In some cases, police were more tolerant of the disability, in others they were less tolerant. Response patterns were not different for Australian and Pennsylvania…

This paper examines the use of the Disability Discrimination Act (Commonwealth of Australia, 1992) by parents seeking access for their deaf children to native sign language in the classroom. It reviews a number of cases in which Australian parents have claimed indirect discrimination by educational authorities over their children's lack of access…

Seventeen Supreme Court Judges, District Court Judges, and Magistrates in Western Australia were surveyed to examine perceptions concerning overrepresentation of individuals with intellectual disability in the criminal justice system. The judiciary felt these individuals had several characteristics that would disadvantage them in contacts with the…

Presents a brief overview of the sociological forces shaping the discourse of disability; examines the part that public libraries have played, or failed to play, in addressing issues of exclusion as they relate to people with disabilities. Focuses on Australia's deaf community and its particular informational needs. The low impact of the…

Australian laws and regulations such as the Disability Services Act reflect the importance of ensuring that persons with disabilities receive appropriate services. A tension exists, however, between policy formulation and service provision, which is influenced by disagreements on government's role in service funding, lobby groups, and the tendency…

Comparison of the attitudes of German high school students (n=119) with earlier studies of Irish and Australian students found German students more confident at meeting a person with mental disabilities, more interested in policy changes to ensure better services, less positive about general social integration, and very negative about…

Over the past decade, a growing number of complaints have been made against Australian education authorities over the language of instruction used to teach deaf children. The complaints, made under the "Disability Discrimination Act", were lodged with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission for investigation and possible…

This article provides an overview of the development of disability employment policy and rehabilitation services in Australia. In particular, it focuses on recent legislative and policy changes that attempt to address the high rates of welfare dependency, low employment rates and workplace discrimination experienced by people with disabilities. An…

The aim of this paper is to critique the dichotomy between the legal regulation of disability discrimination in Australia, particularly in the State of New South Wales, and inclusion policy as espoused by public education authorities. It is argued that the law and inclusion policy are aiming at different outcomes. As a result, through legal…

This article discusses the impact of legislative and special education policy on the educational enrollment of students with a disability across Australia. Enrollment trends in New South Wales and Victoria are examined and discussed within the context of their respective special education policies, disability discrimination legislation, and…

When a child with a disability behaves in a manner which threatens the safety of other children and staff in the school, school authorities are faced with a dilemma. The balance between the competing interests of individuals and the school community is never more clearly seen than in such a situation. The child has a right to participate equally…

This paper outlines a collaborative research project between six teacher training universities in Australia and South Africa which investigated preservice teachers' acceptance of and social interactions with people with a disability. Preservice teachers (n=2,850) were asked to complete a 20-item Interactions with Disabled Person Scale and twelve…

Written from the point of view of an Australian professional woman with a degenerative visual impairment, this paper, part of an ongoing investigation into disability, equity programs, and the labor market in Australia, discusses the social and employment problems facing women with disabilities and presents four case studies of Australian visually…