Dr. Iris Elliott:

The Disability Act 2005 predates the UNCRPD so it has never been UNCRPD-compliant just because of a timeline. There have been calls for a fundamental review since the Act was commenced because it was already regarded as quite an inadequate piece of legislation and basic rights were not provided for in certain areas. For example, in the provision of support services, a very minimalist approach was taken. A root-and-branch review is required but IHREC has also taken the view that a number of key pieces of legislation need to be reviewed together such as the EPSEN Act 2004 and the Disability Act 2005. We are always concerned that people's psychosocial disabilities are in some ways still segregated from the rest of the disability community and, therefore, the long-awaited reform of the Mental Health Act is critical. We have provided a range of commentary around the limitations of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 and the amendment Act. Therefore, that is part of it as well. As Dr. McDonagh referred to, the lack of progress around the protection of liberty safeguards legislation is profoundly worrying. The Inspection of Places of Detention Bill needs to progress as well. That would be the only thing I would caution the Senator about. IHREC can provide a commentary around that where we would say that these are the key core pieces of legislation and they all need to be reviewed and reviewed in a very transparent human rights and equality-compliant manner. We are very happy to assist in terms of the methodology that should be used in that and how it should be publicly reported and how disabled people should be part of that process.