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Video by Commissioner Graeme Innes to National Museum of Australia marking International Day of People with Disability.
More on the Disability work of the Australian Human Rights Commission is online at https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/disability-rights
TRANSCRIPT
Thanks for the opportunity to provide this International Day of People with Disability message.
I hope you're having a great day and enjoying the exhibition at the Museum.
Our calendar is full of International Days. But the International Day of People with Disability is a particularly important one.
Firstly, because it's very relevant to the 20% of Australians with disability. One in five in our community.
Secondly, because it symbolises the importance of changing community attitudes towards people with disability. For too long, people with disability have been excluded from our community because we're not understood.
Or regarded as objects of pity or charity. But today, we seek to be equal members of society. As co-workers, family members, friends and colleagues.
And disability discrimination law requires that we be treated equally and given access to all areas of public life.
So what can the museum do to achieve those goals?
Well, you can employ us.
And you can provide access to us on an equal basis as everyone else. You can do this by making your facilities physically accessible. By making your information available to everyone, not just those who read and write in print. And by ensuring that we can move around with safety and dignity in your buildings and exhibitions.
As people with disability, we're not heroes and we're not victims. We're agents of our own destiny.
Organisations like yours, with the support of their staff, can ensure - by providing services on an equal basis with everyone else - that this aspiration becomes a reality.
I hope you've been enjoying the stories about how people with disability through our advocacy have changed our lives and the lives of many others in our communities.
These are from the '20 Years, 20 Stories' series, launched by the Human Rights Commission earlier this year.
Enjoy the films and have a great International Day!