The Settlement Council of Australia (SCOA) and the National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) are grateful for the opportunity to make a joint submission in response to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) Review.
We welcome the Australian Government’s commitment to reviewing and modernising the DDA as part of the government’s response to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
We recognise that the DDA serves as an important piece of legislation, providing a legal framework to challenge discrimination and promote equal rights. However, we also acknowledge that for many individuals and communities from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, especially newly arrived migrants and people from refugee backgrounds, the DDA presents several limitations.
Despite its important role in protecting people with disability, many people from migrant and refugee backgrounds are not familiar with the DDA due to factors such as language barriers, limited access to information, and the demands of resettlement, which often leave people with limited time, energy, and resources to engage with legal or policy frameworks.
Many people in these communities experience intersectional barriers and compounded marginalisation, arising not only from their disability, but also from factors such as race, ethnicity, or migration status. These overlapping power systems, including racism, ableism, sexism, classism, and restrictive migration regimes, can significantly restrict access to, and participation in, employment, education, and public life.