Calling for an ambitious Disability Equity and Rights strategy

One in every six people on the planet lives with a disability. People with disabilities form the largest minority group in the world. 80% of people with disabilities live in developing countries, comprising at least 700million people in the Indo-Pacific region.   

In our region and around the world, people with disabilities are among the poorest and most marginalised across all communities. The World Bank estimates that 20 per cent of the world’s poorest people live with disability. As a result, they are often the people who feel the effects of adversity most harshly and are least likely to be included and supported through efforts to respond.   

At the halfway mark, people with disabilities are the group left farthest behind in progress made so far toward Agenda 2030. And they risk falling yet further behind in the face of escalating climate crisis and ongoing economic upheaval. 

Australia has been a global leader in disability inclusive development for more than a decade. Our leadership has supported people with disabilities to be included in society and development efforts directly and has also resulted in many other countries and development actors improving their own approach to disability inclusive development.  

But Australia’s leadership in this space has been hollowing out over recent years, with gaps in implementation from strategy to program level, a lack of strategic direction and stagnant funding.  

As the needs of people with disabilities in our region increase, and the move toward equity over tick box inclusion grows, we must go beyond commitments and pockets of good practice, and resource ambitious approaches in line with the disability movement’s priorities that will shift the dial toward disability equity and rights in our region.  

Meaningful action on disability equity, particularly where it intersects with gender equality and other inequalities, will ensure Australia’s development efforts reach those experiencing the most acute forms of poverty within our region and globally. Mandatory requirements, targets and resourcing are essential to making this a reality, working in complement together.  

We call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for International Development and the Pacific to ensure the strategy is:  

• Ambitious: Set a 2030 target of 10 per cent of ODA being allocated to initiatives with disability equity as a principal objective, according to the OECD Development Assistance Committee Disability policy marker.  

• Accountable: Require that all in-country programs over $3m have a disability objective, and that 80 per cent of programs effectively address disability equity.  

• Resourced: Increase the central disability allocation to $20m per annum with annual increases thereafter in line with overall budget increases.