That Australia develops a clear national policy and guidelines around right to life, including access to life supports that is consistent with and equivalent to people without disability in Australia.
That Australia ensures that the training of medical professionals includes education about the human rights of people with disability in respect to right to life and access to proper care and treatment to sustain life.
Article 11 — Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies
STATUS IN AUSTRALIA
Emergency management planning and response in Australia is generally conducted at a state and local level, with the Federal Government providing assistance broadly in developing emergency management capacity.101 Accordingly, emergency response plans vary significantly from locality to locality, with separate agencies responsible for emergency management. Further, emergency response and planning differs depending on the type of emergency involved. For example, bushfire-prone areas and floodplains have unique emergency response plans reflecting the nature of the emergency and the stakeholders involved.
Despite the publication of various local and state emergency response and mitigation plans, disability needs are often not explicitly factored into disaster response measures. Emergency procedures tend to focus on early warning systems, evacuation plans and building design, but fail to contain express provisions needed to protect the safety of people with different types of physical, intellectual, sensory or communication abilities on an equal basis with others.
There are as yet no specific measures in the National Disability Strategy to address emergency response strategies for people with disability. (See also Articles 4, 9 and 33)
Case Study
In the Victorian Bushfires in February, 2009, a number of people with disability died in the fires along with many other Victorians. In the case of one man, aged 57, who had used a wheelchair from childhood and lived with his parents, the Royal Commission reports indicate that the age of the parents, the father’s poor health, and the son’s physical limitations might have contributed to a delay in their evacuation once they had decided to leave.
Inaccessible Early Warning Systems (EWS)
People get emergency and disaster information from a wide array of information sources. However, EWS are typically relayed via standard radio and television broadcast, word of mouth and direct contact through emergency and community services workers. EWS information is not reliably made available in accessible formats or through multi-sensory platforms.102 The availability of inclusive information is at best ad hoc, location specific and dependent on the particular emergency service involved.
Issues identified include the heavy reliance upon emergency phone numbers, the absence of captioning and verbal descriptions in television updates, the near impossibility of getting emergency information in Auslan, the absence of a text message warning system and the failure to provide emergency service workers with communication aids or message boards.103
Inaccessible Emergency Facilities
There is an absence of accessible design concepts being incorporated into building codes regarding emergency structures and exits. As such, many people cannot access disaster relief efforts. Factors such as isolation, communication and mobility difficulties often prevent people with disability from reaching emergency rally points, evacuation transport collection locations and emergency shelters and many are prevented from receiving information about emergency facility locations and plans in the first place.
Lack of Inclusive Disaster Preparedness Planning and Consultation
Despite high-level government initiatives to include peak disability organisations in devising emergency management plans, many people with disability are still not actively involved or invited to be a part of the process to devise local humanitarian emergency and natural disaster plans.104
Information relating to emergency management consultations, information and procedures is rarely distributed in accessible formats.
Lack of Inclusive Planning in Reconstruction Efforts
Reconstruction and redevelopment after natural disasters is not used as an opportunity for implementing inclusive planning and design from the ground up. The cost of adapting accessible construction designs is estimated at a mere 0.5-1 percent of the cost of a total project.105 Accessible buildings, business, transportation and public spaces contribute significantly to community inclusion of people with disability.106 More specifically, an improved and more accessible built environment will significantly benefit disaster preparedness107 and help protect the safety of both people with disability and the community generally.108
Australia does not explicitly ensure that accessibility considerations are incorporated into building and reconstruction planning initiatives and guidelines. As such, universal planning guidelines that take into account accessibility issues for people with disability are not implemented when providing emergency humanitarian assistance or disaster relief.
Lack of Coordination
Disability support services are confused about the conflict in their duty of care to their staff and duty of care to their clients with disability in an emergency situation. Under Occupational Health and Safety policies, disability support services may refuse to send support staff to areas that are identified as being a high fire danger area on given days, leaving their clients with disability stranded without support.
In some contexts, disability support staff are not considered as ‘emergency personnel’ and may not be allowed to attend to their clients with disability in areas where people have been encouraged to evacuate.
