The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(CRPD) was ratified by Australia in 2008, stating that governments have an
obligation to ensure that people with disability can enjoy rich and fulfilling
lives equal to others in society.
The
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is underpinned by the rights
enshrined in the CRPD, using a person-centred approach. It is designed to provide access to supports that
are deemed “reasonable and necessary” to ensure people with disability are
fully supported to live “ordinary” lives, equal to the rest of the community.
When launched, it was widely declared that “no person would be
worse off.” The Australian Government promised that state and territory funded
supports for people with disability would be maintained as people transitioned
into the NDIS.
Our history
DPO Australia is an alliance of four national peak
organisations made up of, led and governed by people with disability. The alliance members are People with
Disability Australia (PWDA), Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA), National
Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) and First Peoples Disability Network
(Australia) (FPDN).
People with Disability Australia (PWDA) and Touching Base Inc.
(Touching Base) have a long history working together with the aim of realising
the sexual rights of people with disability.
PWDA is a leading disability rights, advocacy and
representative organisation of and for all people with disability. We are the
only national, cross-disability peak organisation and we represent the
interests of people with all kinds of disability.
Touching Base developed out of the need to assist people
with disability and sex workers to connect with each other, focusing on access,
discrimination, human rights and legal issues and attitudinal barriers. Touching Base has brought the disability sector and
the sex industry together in respectful and meaningful ways, through education,
policy development and training workshops for disability workers and sex
workers. They have been active since October 2000, and have been formally recognised in the NSW Parliament for their work in this area over the last 20 years.
Our issue
Historically people with disability have been subjected to
societal beliefs that we are either asexual or hypersexual, while constantly being
denied full autonomy over our own bodies.
The NDIS have further perpetuated this stigma by failing to
develop or produce a clear and comprehensive sexuality policy for NDIS
participants that encompasses and supports individual sexual needs and goals at
all life and development stages.
A sexuality policy should be positively framed and place sex,
sexuality and relationships within the context of disability supports. The
policy should include a broad range of goals an NDIS participant may seek to include
in their NDIS plan. These goals might include: appropriate disability-inclusive
sexuality and relationships education; information and resources to support
individual learning needs; support for dating and social sexual engagements; access
to adaptive sex toys; access to sex therapy or utilising sexual services from
sex workers.
Our concern
We are
concerned about the absence of a comprehensive policy framework on sexuality. A
comprehensive NDIS policy recognises, encompasses and supports the types and range
of professional support some people with disability may need to use to express
their sexuality, and to have the opportunity for fulfilling sexual experiences
in life.
The benefits of sexual expression for
people with disability
People
with disability choose to date, have casual sexual partners, enjoy loving
partnerships, choose celibacy, marry, and decide to be parents or not, just
like others in the community. There are also a myriad ways people with disability
can enjoy sexual expression.
The
benefits of fulfilling sexual needs and goals can positively contribute to the
overall quality of life and self-esteem for individuals, as well as meeting a
range of other emotional, psychological, physical and social needs.
Additionally,
some people with disability are in need of specific support to learn about
their sexuality and sexual capacity after a significant injury, illness or
sexual assault, increase their experience, knowledge and acceptance about changes
in their own bodies and abilities, and to gain confidence and social skills to
enjoy a positive sexuality.
Why support is needed
The
professional services of a wide range of educators, including allied health
professionals and sex therapists, can play an integral role in supporting an
individual’s capacity to develop life skills necessary to engage in healthy and
consenting sexual and romantic relationships.
Professional[1] and ethical codes of
conduct[2] clearly state that sex therapists[3] are not allowed to touch
their patients and clients in an intimate or sexual manner.[4]
This is
in contrast to sex workers who can and do provide mutually consenting physical
contact. While accessing services of sex workers may not be for everyone, this
option should not be denied nor dismissed on the basis of disability, or the
moral beliefs of third parties.
Sex
workers, especially within Australia, have already been recognised as being
able to provide professional sexual services for a wide range of people with
disability. Their skill-set can complement sex education and sex therapy and
allow an individual to practice, experience and enjoy a range of activities in
a safe and supportive environment.[5]
Giving
people with disability the right to exercise choice and control over the
supports they need to achieve the goals they’ve identified is the primary
objective the community expects the NDIS to deliver on.
Our call for change
The Commonwealth Government
and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) are out of touch with
current practices, and are unaware of the high levels of community support for
people with disability to exercise choice and control over the supports we need
to achieve the goals we identify.
Previously, state-based
disability financial support systems allowed for people with disability to
access sexual services according to their individual needs and goals.[6] Our sexual
autonomy was supported through clear policy and procedures.
We were not meant to be worse
off under the NDIS but this is one area where we are.
We call on the NDIA to develop
a comprehensive sexuality policy to continue reasonable and necessary support
for sexual expression through NDIS funding.
The
community supports the change
The community supports our call for change.
The undersigned endorse our position
statement above, and expects the NDIS to support people with disability to
develop to our full potential in all areas of our life – including supporting our
sexual expression.
The undersigned want the NDIA to develop a
comprehensive sexuality policy to allow for all levels of sexual education and
support to be provided, according to our individual needs and goals.
Endorsements
Organisations
ACON (NSW)
ACT Council of Social Service
Advocacy for Inclusion
AIDS Action Council of the ACT
Australian Centre for Disability Law
Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations
Australian Society of Sex Educators, Researchers and Therapists NSW
Family Advocacy
Family Planning NSW
Migrant Women’s Lobby Group (SA)
Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association of NSW
National Council of Single Mothers and their Children Inc.
National LGBTI Health Alliance
Northcott
Physical Disability Council of NSW
Public Health Association of Australia
Queensland Advocacy Inc.
Queensland AIDS Council
Queensland Voice for Mental Health Inc.
Respect Inc. (QLD)
Scarlett Alliance, Australian Sex Workers Association
Self Advocacy Sydney Inc.
Sex Work, Education, Advocacy & Rights Western Australia
Sex Workers Outreach Program, Northern Territory AIDS and Hepatitis
Council
Sex Workers Outreach Project Inc. (NSW)
Sex Workers Reference Group, Northern Territory AIDS and Hepatitis
Council
Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT Inc.
SHINE SA
SHQ and People First Program (WA)
SIN (SA)
Society of Australian Sexologists
Tasmanian Council on AIDS, Hepatitis and Related Diseases
Thorne Harbour Health (VIC)
True Relationships & Reproductive Health (QLD)
Vixen
Collective (Victoria’s peer only sex worker organisation)
WA Council of Social Service
Women in Adult and Vocational Education
Women with Disabilities ACT
Women’s Electoral Lobby Inc. Australia
Working It Out (TAS)
YWCA Australia
Individuals
Basil Donovan,
MD FAHMS, FAFPHM, FRCPI, FAChSHM, FRCP
Professor and Head, Sexual Health Program, The Kirby
Institute, University of New South Wales; NHMRC Practitioner Fellow
Eva Cox AO
Adjunct Professor, University of Technology Sydney
Helen Meekosha
Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, University
of New South Wales
Emeritus Mayor Peter Woods OAM
Ambassador United Cities and Local Governments (Asia
Pacific) and Patron Local Government NSW
Sue Salthouse
Disability Rights Advocate and 2015 ACT Citizen of the Year
Endnotes
[1] Society
of Australian Sexologists (2014), A Code
of Ethics and Practice for Members and Accredited Members of the Society of
Australian Sexologists Ltd, retrieved from: https://societyaustraliansexologists.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/SAS-Code-of-Ethics-and-Practice-2014.pdf
[2]Australian Society of Sex Educators, Researchers and Therapists (2019), Professional Code of Ethics and Conduct,
retrieved from: https://www.assertnsw.org.au/code-of-ethics.htm
[3]Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (2017), PAFCA Code of Ethics, retrieved from: https://www.pacfa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/PACFA-Code-of-Ethics-2017.pdf
[4]Australian Counselling Association (2014), Code
of Ethics and Practice of the Association for Counsellors in Australia,
retrieved from: https://www.theaca.net.au/documents/ACA%20Code%20of%20Ethics%20and%20Practice%20Ver15.pdf
[5] Wotton,
R. (2016), Sex workers who provide
services to clients with disability in New South Wales, Australia. University
of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, retrieved from: https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/16875/1/Wotton_RW_thesis.pdf
[6] See for example, NSW Department of Family and Community Services (2016), Sexuality and Relationships Guidelines, https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/590660/117-Sexuality_and_Relationship_Guidelines-accessible.pdf
Click here to download this statement as a word document.
