Communications rights, disability, and law: The convention on the rights of persons with disabilities in national perspective

Abstract

Communications and media are now recognised as a vital area of disability, especially when it comes to digital technology. In this article, I discuss the way that rights to communication, articulated in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), played out in the 2006-2016 period. I trace the evolution of communications as a part of human rights internationally, and then how these rights are considerably advanced with a new formulation in the CRPD. I also analyse the interplay between these communications rights in the CRPD with the law, policy, and regulation at the national level, using the case of Australia. In particular, I discuss a key element of communications rights - universal service (or the entitlement of everyone to telecommunications, and in the present conjuncture, mobile phones and broadband internet). I find that while the CRPD is a useful tool, it has fallen well short in terms of force in the Australian context. In particular, a key obstacle is a striking lack of a comprehensive, overarching legal and policy framework on communications rights. In this situation, I suggest it is imperative to build a comprehensive national legal framework, underpinned by contemporary understandings of disability, and the CRPD, to achieve communications rights for people with disabilities and everyone.