Participation and service access rights for people with intellectual disability: A role for law?

BACKGROUND: Supported decision-making and personal budgets for services are the new paradigms. METHOD: Supported decision-making proposals from the Australian State of Victoria are analysed against international trends to determine the viability of laws reflecting new international norms of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006 (CRPD). RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: The article concludes that it is desirable to pursue supported decision-making and allied legal reforms, but the contribution of the law is small and the new supported decision-making paradigms have similarities to old paternalist guardianship, as well as possible unintended consequences. It is suggested that realising the equality, support, protection, and socioeconomic service aspirations of the CRPD raise important practical challenges for governments, for service providers, for families, and-centrally-for people with intellectual disability (ID).This article examines the limited contribution law can make to this enterprise.