That Australia develops nationally consistent measures for the collection and public reporting of disaggregated data across the full range of obligations contained in the CRPD.
Australia’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) agency is AusAID. The key measures for implementing obligations under Article 32 are outlined in Development for All: Towards a disability-inclusive Australian aid program 2009-2014.656Development for All aims to change the way that Australian international development assistance addresses disability.
Improving the lives of people with disability became one of the ten core development objectives of Australia’s aid program in 2011, giving recognition to the fact that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be achieved without addressing the situation of people with disability.
Development for All and the inclusion of disability as a core development objective, have been widely welcomed and supported by disability inclusive development advocates and Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPOs) in Australia and recipient countries. However, Australia has only committed to increase its ODA to just 0.5 percent of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2015–16, while other donor countries intend to give 1 percent of GNI in ODA by 2015. Its commitment to provide $30.2 million over four years to support developing countries improve quality of life for people with disability,657 is a mere 0.02 percent of ODA in 2010–11.
People with disability have been appointed to the Disability Reference Group (DRG) to advise AusAID on the implementation of Development for All. This expertise and leadership from people with disability, including from a regional DPO has been significant in raising the profile of disability inclusive development. However, the DRG does not currently include a representative from a national DPO from recipient countries or from Australia.
Development for All has not resulted in people with disability being employed in key leadership and critical advice positions within AusAID.
Development for All outlines the need to partner with DPOs in recipient countries, but has failed to meaningfully engage with Australian DPOs who partner and work closely with DPOs in developing countries. This has an impact on the ability of Australian DPOs to strengthen advocacy to increase the priority on disability inclusive development.