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
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.
