Examining Australia's Performance in Realising CRPD Obligations in Health Through the Lens of COVID-19

Abstract

The CPRD sets out a number of obligations with respect to ensuring people with disability have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health without discrimination on the basis of disability. Yet, people with disability still face significant health inequities and these have been thrown into sharp relief within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter explores the Australian experience of reform to disability services and the degree to which CRPD obligations on health have been implemented. In so doing we identify a number of gaps and argue that better attention to these may have mitigated some of the worse impacts of the pandemic. Further, more effectively implementing the CRPD should help to prevent inequities in the face of future health emergencies.