Austrians bring research down under
New Zealand’s approach to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the focus of two Austrian researchers who made the Law School their base earlier in March.
Eva Nachtschatt and Alexander Lamplmayr, from the University of Innsbruck, are undertaking a comparative research project looking at how Austria, Germany, New Zealand and Australia have each put into practice key aspects of the convention.
“We are specifically looking at articles 4.3 and 33.3 which require that people with disabilities are actively involved and consulted when it comes to developing and implementing legislation and policies relating to the Convention,” says Eva.
Associate Professor Petra Butler from the New Zealand Centre for Public Law arranged their visit and set up meetings with a range of organisations including the Human Rights Commission, the Office for Disability Issues and the Office of the Ombudsman.
Alexander says New Zealand was an obvious choice for their research project as it was one of the leading countries in negotiating and ratifying the convention in 2008. From here they will head to the University of New South Wales to enable a comparison of two common law systems.
Coming from a town surrounded by mountains, Eva and Alexander have enjoyed their brief stay in the compact seaside capital.
“Wellington is a beautiful city with its old houses up next to skyscrapers. And working in this beautiful old building that’s also a museum – it’s very impressive,” says Eva.
The pair hope to complete their research in 2016.