As an outcome from last year’s World Conference on Indigenous People, Governments have committed themselves to promote and protect the rights of indigenous persons with disabilities and to improve their social and economic conditions.

The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues estimates that the number of indigenous persons with disabilities in the world today could be as high as 54 million.

In response to this international call, the Government of Australia in collaboration with the ILO convened an interactive dialogue entitled “Indigenous People with Disabilities – Access to Training and Employment” to identify ways to promote the rights of indigenous peoples with disabilities and their access to training, decent work and employment as well as livelihoods.

The event began with the presentation of findings from a new report commissioned by the ILO which provides the first overview of the available data regarding access to employment for indigenous women and men with disabilities. Although not an exhaustive report on the issue, it provides one of the first attempts to better define the challenges and encourages critical improvements to existing research and data collection on this issue.

The reports’ author and ILO consultant, Minerva Rivas Velarde, stated that one of the main difficulties in preparing the report was insufficient data on the population size, location, geographical mobility and living conditions of indigenous persons with disabilities globally. This is particularly problematic in low income countries and the global south where many indigenous peoples with disabilities live.

“Most of the academic literature on this topic until now has been produced almost exclusively in high-income countries. Mindful of this uneven representation, we had to exercise caution in interpreting the information gathered” Ms. Velarde said.

The main findings of the report indicate that indigenous persons with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed, to live in poverty and lack access to training and education, as well as to healthcare and rehabilitation.

Furthermore, indigenous persons with disabilities are less likely to participate and to benefit from employment and preparation for work programmes than non-indigenous persons with disabilities. Also a prescriptive one-size-fits-all approach to enhancing training and employment for indigenous persons with disabilities is not feasible, since the situations of indigenous persons vary from region to region and from country to country.

In addressing the challenges in Australia, Mike Fordham, Assistant Secretary of Remote Attendance Strategies Branch from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, stated that communities of indigenous people are large but widely dispersed making delivery of and access to services very difficult. He said that “many indigenous people who have a disability are not identified as such so services are not in place, especially in remote areas.”

Mr. Fordham said that traditionally in Australia “service for persons with disabilities had been provided by charitable organizations”. However, this is now changing with the recent introduction of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) which gives people more choice and control over how, when and where supports are provided over one’s lifetime.

One problem that Mr. Fordham highlighted was that many indigenous peoples are not using these services because they find them culturally inappropriate. “People are saying that they are not friendly, it is too clinical, and not available in places where they live.”

On behalf of the Indigenous Persons with Disabilities Global Network, Setareki S. Macanawai, its Chairperson, said that “as a person with disabilities, we don’t know quite where we fit in.” Mr. Macanawai said that “indigenous persons with disabilities are often excluded from work which puts us in a very difficult situation - adding a gender dimension makes the situation even worse.”

Mr. Macanawai said that there is a lack of data on indigenous people with disabilities because they fall into the gaps that exist in standard surveys and that data collection tools are inadequate. He went on to state that “our key request is that we are at the table: consulted, involved and engaged.” Even with international instruments, like the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and the ILO’s Convention 169, without the full participation of indigenous peoples with disabilities these rights – at school, at work, in society - will only remain a dream.”

In her statement to the group, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples Rights, stated that indigenous people generally “lack the support they need to rise above their situation.” Ms. Tauli-Corpuz said indigenous people with disabilities often face tremendous difficulties in looking for employment or receiving services or even having their language recognised. “Employment opportunities are really important and the right to social protection is crucial in changing these intolerable conditions. We are leaving behind a whole section of the population.”

It was clear from the energetic discussion and presentations that this was a positive step forward, albeit a recent development, and that the issue of indigenous people with disabilities has made its way onto the UN’s agenda and is being discussed in many forums. Some people expressed concern over the slow pace of change since indigenous peoples with disabilities have a universal right to decent work and livelihoods, as recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2007).

At the conclusion of the event, the representatives present were appreciative of the ILO’s efforts in convening this meeting and for its action in commissioning this important study although it findings showed that indigenous persons with disabilities worldwide are more likely than non-indigenous persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples without disabilities to face barriers to employment, training, adequate accommodation, education and health services; often resulting in poverty traps and cycles of marginalization.

There was a call for more work in this area and for an improvement in surveys and data collection tools to explore the basic notions underlying the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples with a view to reaching common understandings and approaches, and the need for greater participation of indigenous peoples with disabilities on issues that directly affect their lives.