‘Don’t look past us’: Greens senator criticises ‘ableist’ disability awareness campaign
Highlights
- A new International Day of People with Disability campaign calls on Australians to “look beyond disability”.
- Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John rebuked the new Australian campaign, calling it “garbage”.
- One Twitter user said “all people do is #LookBeyond us”.
In a post shared on social media, the campaign said: “We want to acknowledge and celebrate disability, but also encourage the community to #lookbeyond and discover the talents, skills and interests of individuals with disability across Australia”.
The senator, who lives with a disability and is a disability rights advocate, called on Australians to try something “radical” instead of “looking beyond disability”.
The campaign and its slogan “look beyond disability” has also faced criticism by some in the community, labelling it “ableist” and “problematic”.
With a handful of individuals sharing their experiences of living with a disability in comments shared on social media.
Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, 14 February 2019. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas via APP Image
A spokesperson from the Department of Social Services told SBS News that the campaign was intended to be a “conversation starter”.
The spokesperson said they wanted “people to listen and learn from lived experience of disability, whether it’s visible or invisible”.
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