How to meet with us

Government agencies seeking advice or input from the DPO Coalition must engage with us as a whole. Contacting one or two DPO members does not mean that you have engaged with the DPO Coalition. Anyone can ask to meet with us or bring items to our attention in relation to Article 4.3.

On this page you will find information about:

• Government obligations to meet with us;

• What you need to do to ask to meet with us;

• What happens when your meeting request is confirmed;

• Bringing an item to the attention of the DPO Coalition.

Government obligations to meet with us

The DPO Coalition is independent and works closely with the Government in line with Article 4.3 of the UNCRPD, which states: 

“In the development and implementation of legislation and policies to implement the present Convention, and in other decision-making processes concerning issues relating to persons with disabilities, States Parties shall closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative organisations”.

Process to meet with us

The process for seeking input from the DPO Coalition is as follows:

• Contact the DPO Coalition with your request at us-dpo@groups.io

• The Secretariat will send you a meeting request template (or you can download it this file from the link below) to complete and send back.

• Your meeting request will be considered, and you will be advised of the priority the DPO Coalition is able to give to your request.

• The Secretariat will offer you meeting dates and times to choose from.

Meeting Request Template open_in_new

Process for requesting a DPO Coalition representative(s)

• Contact the DPO Coalition with your request at us-dpo@groups.io Note that the DPO Coalition gives priority to requests that relate to Article 4.3.

• If you have Terms of Reference, these should be provided along with your request.

• Tell us what you are looking for from our representative(s) such as specific technical expertise and | or expertise from a specific disability perspective.

• Are there any decisions required relating to Article 4.3 of the Convention? [NB: Clarity on where decisions will be made advises whether a DPO governance person needs to be involved and what connection is required to DPO governance and decision-making processes].

• If you do not have Terms of Reference, tell us about the work involved, meeting fees, how you will meet reasonable accommodations, frequency of meetings and whether online or in-person. Our preference where possible, is to have two DPO Coalition representatives per representative opportunity.

• We require a minimum of six weeks from the time the request is received to select our representative(s).

• The requester will be advised of the name, contact details and reasonable accommodations required for representative(s) to participate. Any formal requirements of the representative(s) such as confidentiality agreement etc., or other contractual arrangements need to be provided at this time.