New South Wales Consolidated Acts New South Wales Consolidated Acts(Sections 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13)
Persons with disabilities have the same basic human rights as other members of Australian society. They also have the rights needed to ensure that their specific needs are met. Their rights, which apply irrespective of the nature, origin, type or degree of disability, include the following:
(a) persons with disabilities are individuals who have the inherent right to respect for their human worth and dignity,
(b) persons with disabilities have the right to live in and be part of the community,
(c) persons with disabilities have the right to realise their individual capacities for physical, social, emotional and intellectual development,
(d) persons with disabilities have the same rights as other members of Australian society to services which will support their attaining a reasonable quality of life,
(e) persons with disabilities have the right to choose their own lifestyle and to have access to information, provided in a manner appropriate to their disability and cultural background, necessary to allow informed choice,
(f) persons with disabilities have the same right as other members of Australian society to participate in the decisions which affect their lives,
(g) persons with disabilities receiving services have the same right as other members of Australian society to receive those services in a manner which results in the least restriction of their rights and opportunities,
(h) persons with disabilities have the right to pursue any grievance in relation to services without fear of the services being discontinued or recrimination from service providers,
(i) persons with disabilities have the right to protection from neglect, abuse and exploitation.
Services and programs of services must apply the principles set out in clause 1. In particular, they must be designed and administered so as to achieve the following:
(a) to have as their focus the achievement of positive outcomes for persons with disabilities, such as increased independence, employment opportunities and integration into the community,
(b) to contribute to ensuring that the conditions of the everyday life of persons with disabilities are the same as, or as close as possible to, norms and patterns which are valued in the general community,
(c) to form part of local co-ordinated service systems and other services generally available to members of the community, wherever possible,
(d) to meet the individual needs and goals of the persons with disabilities receiving services,
(e) to meet the needs of persons with disabilities who experience an additional disadvantage as a result of their gender, ethnic origin or Aboriginality,
(f) to promote recognition of the competence of, and enhance the image of, persons with disabilities,
(g) to promote the participation of persons with disabilities in the life of the local community through maximum physical and social integration in that community,
(h) to ensure that no single organisation providing services exercises control over all or most aspects of the life of a person with disabilities,
(i) to ensure that organisations providing services (whether specifically to persons with disabilities or generally to members of the community) are accountable to persons with disabilities who use them, the advocates of those persons, the State and the community generally for the provision of information from which the quality of those services can be judged,
(j) to provide opportunities for persons with disabilities to reach goals and enjoy lifestyles which are valued by the community generally and are appropriate to their chronological age,
(k) to ensure that persons with disabilities participate in the decisions that affect their lives,
(l) to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to advocacy support where necessary to ensure adequate participation in decision-making about the services they receive,
(m) to recognise the importance of preserving the family relationships and the cultural and linguistic environments of persons with disabilities,
(n) to ensure that appropriate avenues exist for persons with disabilities to raise and have resolved any grievances about services, and to ensure that a person raising any such grievance does not suffer any reprisal,
(o) to provide persons with disabilities with, and encourage them to make use of, avenues for participating in the planning and operation of services and programs which they receive and to provide opportunities for consultation in relation to the development of major policy and program changes,
(p) to respect the rights of persons with disabilities to privacy and confidentiality.