106 Michelle L. Bonati
Attorney-General’s Department, 1986). This approach took new consideration for
how people with disability should be afforded opportunities to be a part of society,
but was limited by the focus on integration (i.e. fitting into society with supports)
rather than inclusion (i.e. changing society to accommodate and accept the diver-
sity of its people).
Under pressure from self-advocates and disability rights organisations, the
Australian government enacted legislation in recognition that people with disabil-
ities and their associates experience discrimination (WWDA, n.d.). The Disability
Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1992 made it illegal to discriminate against someone
who has a disability in several aspects of life, including employment, education,
and accommodation (Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department, 1992). The
passage of the DDA represented a historic movement forward for the protection of
rights of Australian people with disabilities.
Other significant pieces of legislation, evaluation reports, and policies followed
the enactment of the DDA, bringing us into the current era of reforms and efforts
aimed at improving social inclusion for people with disability, including those with
ASD. These included the development of Disability Standards under the DDA
(1992). Most importantly to the current direction of disability policy related to social
inclusion is the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CPRD)
(UN, 2006), which is an international instrument ratified by Australia in 2008. The
CPRD prompted the landmark Shut Out Report, which detailed the persistent social
exclusion that people with disability in Australia experience (FaHCSIA, 2009).
Two national disability strategies, the Commonwealth Disability Strategy of 1994
(Commonwealth Department of Social Services, 1994) and the National Disability
Strategy 2010-2020 (Commonwealth Council of Australian Governments, 2011),
International Year
of Disabled
Persons 1981
Disability Standards
for Accessible Public
Transport 2002
National Disability
Strategy
2010–2020
Review of Disability
Standards for
Education Final
Report 2015
Willing to Work
Report 2016
Disability Care and
Support Report
2011
The National
Disability Insurance
Scheme Act
2013
National Disability
Insurance Scheme
2013 (Rollout to be
complete 2020)
Review of
Accessible
Transport Standards
Final Report 2015
Disability Standards
for Education 2005
UN Convention on
the Rights of
Persons with
Disability 2006
Australia ratifies
CRPD 2008 and
Optional Protocol
2009
Shut Out Report
2009
Handicapped
Persons Review &
the New Directions
Report 1985
Disability Services
Act 1986
Disability
Discrimination Act
1992
Commonwealth
Disability Strategy
1994
FIGURE 8.2 The timeline of efforts to strengthen human rights related to social
inclusion for people with disability in Australia