Making progress, maintaining status quo or backsliding? Article 23 and Australia’s support for the right to parenthood for people with intellectual disabilities

Article 23 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) establishes the right of persons with disabilities to enjoy respect for home and the family, including the rights to marry, parent, and receive appropriate support to fulfil child‑rearing responsibilities without discrimination. This article critically examines empirical research and public inquiries conducted in Australia over the last 20 years to assess the implementation of Article 23. Taken together, the evidence indicates that progress has been patchy at best and Australia appears to have backslid in some areas. Persistent negative attitudes toward parenting by people with intellectual disabilities have a deleterious impact on autonomy, supported decision-making and the prospects of family preservation. Pioneering initiatives, such as Healthy Start, sparked momentum to address barriers to successful parenting but, over the last decade, these promising efforts appear to have stalled. Law and policy reform is urgently needed to address the ongoing sterilisation of people, notably girls and women, with intellectual disabilities, strengthen procedural safeguards and reasonable accommodation in child protection processes, and provide access to evidence-based, tailored, and inclusive family support services delivered by a disability-skilled workforce.