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Canada's Disability Minister is urging Australian parliamentarians to focus on the rights of the disabled population when debating how to fund support for the sector.
Carla Qualtrough is visiting Australia this week to meet with federal politicians and attend the International Initiative on Disability Leadership conference.
The funding of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been the subject of political debate in recent weeks, with the Federal Government floating the prospect of raising taxes to help pay for it, should the Senate continue to block the Coalition's omnibus savings bill.
Treasurer Scott Morrison has pledged to divert $3 billion of savings from the bill to the NDIS, but the Nick Xenophon Team remains opposed to the bill amid concerns from disability groups.
Ms Qualtrough said governments should consider the bigger picture when debating funding for disability support.
"You have to take a whole-of-government approach to this I would say for sure," Ms Qualtrough said.
"I think you need again to fundamentally shift the conversation to one of citizenship and full rights and full participation."
The former Paralympian, who has been visually impaired since birth, is working on Canada's first national accessibility legislation for people with disabilities.
"We really want to focus on the barriers that exist for people with impairments or disabilities that stop full inclusion in society," she said.
"Whether it's the built environment, whether it's services or programs or employment, so any area that there's some kind of functional barrier to full participation, that's what's going to be covered by this law."
Ms Qualtrough said she had had to deal with accessibility issues throughout her life.
"I don't have mobility issues but I certainly have difficulty finding my way around places. One of the biggest barriers that I've faced is our attitudinal barriers, assumptions people make about what someone can and cannot do because of what they perceive someone's disability to be or someone's limitations to be."
She said the legislation would focus on placing expectations on Canadian banks, telecommunications services, the rail and airline systems and federal government employers.
"Say a bank, we will tell a bank what policies it has to have in place, the practices it has to pursue in terms of hiring, the built environment standards, what it's physical space has to look like and of course what kind of customer service it has to give people with disabilities.
"If that's not being provided there will be a system of penalties, there'll be a compliance regime."
Topics: disabilities, health-policy, australia, canada