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)

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…

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…