Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, and Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services, Bill Shorten, today announced that Australia will accede to the Optional Protocol on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Protocol provides a mechanism for Australians to make complaints to the United Nations Disabilities Committee in the event that all domestic remedies have been exhausted.

“This demonstrates the Government’s real commitment to people with a disability as well as demonstrating our serious commitment to leadership in this area at an international level,” Mr McClelland said.

This action follows the Rudd Government’s ratification of the Convention in July 2008 making it one of the first Western countries to do so.

In addition, the Attorney-General recently declared the Convention under the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Act 1986 to enable the Australian Human Rights Commission to conciliate complaints based on breaches of the Convention.

“Accession to the Protocol demonstrates Australia’s commitment to recognising both the rights and capacity of people with disabilities,” Mr Shorten said.

Australia joins more than 40 other nations around the world who have acceded to or ratified the Optional Protocol.