The human rights approach

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted by the United Nations in 2006. The CRPD confirmed that people with disability are entitled to exactly the same human rights as all people. Human rights are conditions that allow people to live free from discrimination, harassment or fear, and include the right to: 

• life
• health
• education
• employment
• equal treatment before the law
• privacy
• freedom from torture or inhuman treatment
• marriage and having children.^1,2 

In Australia today we follow the human rights model. This model says that everyone has an entitlement to full and equal rights across every part of life, no matter their impairment. The human rights model: 

• states that disability is a natural part of being human
• governments are responsible for removing social and other barriers and making sure that people with disability get the fair and appropriate supports they need so that their human rights are upheld on the same level as everyone else in society.^3,4.5

This more modern approach replaces the outdated idea that people with disability need looking after or a medical fix. How we think and talk about disability matters: 

• If people with disability are seen as ‘ill’ or ‘different’ it can lead to discrimination and exclusion. 
• If people with disability are seen as equal members of the community, we can focus on removing barriers and ways to support their inclusion. 

A key difference between the human rights model and the social model is that the human rights model keeps a focus on the way society disables people, while also acknowledging the daily impact of a person’s impairment, like chronic pain or the need for mobility aids, and how those things affect their life.⁶