Guidelines on the rights of people with disability in health and disability care during COVID-19

Report from the Australian Human Rights Commission. August 2020.

Report from the Australian Human Rights Commission.

August 2020.

Policy responses to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and associated disease, COVID-19, including isolation and social distancing measures, may in certain circumstances have a greater impact on some people with disability, particularly those who rely on carers and other support people, and those who live or work in high-risk environments.

Treatment protocols for medical practitioners, health and disability support workers may, in certain circumstances, also have the potential to discriminate against people with disability. In some cases, it may be necessary to treat people with disability differently in order to ensure ‘disability neutrality’. It requires rules to be questioned, differences acknowledged, and reasonable accommodations made rather than ignored, so as to enable equality of opportunity and not just merely equality of treatment.

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