Disadvantaged People in Austrlalia

It is important to distinguish between the categories of disabled people because each category has a different status under the law and the rights of each may differ mental illness is a condition which seriously impairs, the mental functioning of a person, an is characterized delusions, hallucinations, serious disorder of thought form.

A mental disorder refers to a short-term episode of mental illness. Such as depression and stress caused by a traumatic event, such as the death of a loved one or a divorce.

Intellectually disabled finds learning more difficult than most people. Intellectual disability may stem from brain damage, dementia, or senile decay.

Physically disabled people are those who are unable to perform one or more physical functions because disease or impairment.

People with these disabilities encounter many disadvantages in Australian society, apart from the fact that they are ill and disabled.

Despite legislation designed to prevent discrimination based on a person’s disability, the disabled will face significant prejudice in a range of situations. This may take the form of direct discrimination or indirect discrimination

Discrimination can take place almost anywhere, education institutions, public areas. Authorities failing to provide services that avoid discriminating heighten this discrimination.

Many disabled people are reliant on other to care for them. This can lead to feelings of powerlessness, isolation and frustration because they lack control of their own lives. Disabled people often have difficulty enforcing these rights because they are ignorant of their rights, they are in care of people who abuse their rights or they don’t have the resources to enforce rights even when they know they are being violated.

Disabled people also face disadvantage in terms of their treatment. Current treatments, such as heavy medication, have been described as being worse than the illness itself. Associated with this is the fact that the mentally ill have practical limitations in accessing information both in relation to their treatment and also in terms of protecting their rights within the general community. Many people with disabilities have difficulty finding appropriate accommodation that allows them independence and the ability to lead normal lives.

The disabled also face significant financial disadvantage, as they are often unable to work and social security payments may be inadequate. Poverty represents a double disadvantage for those suffering from disability.

Disabled people may face significant disadvantage in the operation of the criminal justice system. Knowledge of the legal process may be lacking or unclear, access to adequate legal representation may be uncertain, and a lack of understanding of the consequences of the legal process may result in severe disadvantage, for example, pleading guilty or answering police questions without a legal representative present.

Mechanisms including legislation and community bodies been established in both state and federal parliaments in effort to combat disadvantages against the disabled. Most important are the anti-discrimination, mental health and guardianship legislation.

The main statutory protection offered to disabled people derives from the legislation above. They provide a basic outline that discrimination on the grounds of a disability is against the law:

· In employment

· Purchasing goods and services

· Obtaining accommodation

· In education

· Public areas and registered clubs

These laws allow complaints to made about matters covered by the Federal Disability Discrimination

Act 1992 through the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, and the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 through the Anti-Discrimination Board. At both Federal and State level, matters are conciliated.

The laws collectively call for employers and service providers to make reasonable adjustments, such as providing lifts and ramps. Reasonable adjustments do not have to be made if they would cause ‘unjustifiable hardship’. The effectiveness of anti-discrimination laws can be examined by the case Finney vs. The Hill Grammar School in 2000. in 1999, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission found that Scarlett Finney, a seven year old girl with spina bifida, was rejected admission into the school because it did not have adequate facilities to cater to her special circumstance. The Commission said that Hills Grammar had made negative assumptions about