The Diplomacy Training Program, in partnership with Youth Law Australia and Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, are delivering a series of Child Rights webinarsThe webinars cover various aspects of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in discussion with Australiaand international child rights experts.

In its Concluding Observations on Australia’s 5th and 6th reports, the UN CRC Committee referred to previous recommendations on the need for the Government to ensure respect for the views of the child, the inadequacy of efforts to Close the Gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, the need to ensure that all children with disabilities have access to inclusive education, and to invest more in improving education at the early childhood, primary and secondary levels.

In Webinar 19, titled “Children’s Rights and the Right to Education“, QAI’s systems advocate Sophie Wiggans outlined the barriers that many students with disability in Queensland experience when seeking access to an inclusive education, concerns present in all states in Australia. Sophie described QAI’s advocacy using the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and touched on the relevance of using the CRC as a tool to protect all children’s right to education as defined by the UN CRPD and CRC committees.

Fellow presenter, Dr Jonathon Sargeant from Australian Catholic University, focused on the recommendation in the Concluding Observations to “… Enhance children’s meaningful and empowered participation in the family, in the community and in schools, paying particular attention to girls, children with disabilities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children”. He also commented on the shortcomings in current practices in the provision of education, highlighting the failure of Closing the Gap measures.

Watch the webinar recording here

View more information on the webinar series