Final Australian Government briefing before heading to the United Nations in NY

Today we had our final briefing with the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Australian Government (Mika Kontiainen, DFAT and George Sotiropoulos, DSS) before departing for the United Nations Conference of States Parties 12.

We met the new Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Ben Gauntlett via teleconference. He will be attending COSP12.

The Australian Government will support 12 Civil Society events during the UN meetings, including the one by Speech Pathology Australia/International Communication Project.

We were encouraged to remember that attendance at COSP is about encouraging and influencing governments about the global implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons of Disabilities (download here) and we are there to represent the views and rights of people with disabilities.

Relevant Twitter hashtags and handles: #COSP12 #UNCOSP #CRPD #COSP12Aus
International Communication Project member associations at COSP12: @SpeechPathAus @IcommunicationP @RCSLT @ASHAWeb
#SpeakUp4CommRights
Australian delegation: @SharynneMcLeod @GailMSpa @SPAPresident @TheraBees @JessMcLeod4