Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Combined second and third periodic reports submitted by Macao, China under article 35 of the Convention, due in 2018 * , **

[Date received: 31 August 2018]

I.Introduction

1.The present report is the combined second and third periodic reports that the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (MSAR) is going to submit to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Committee) in relation to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Convention) in the MSAR. The period covered by the content of the Report is from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2017.

2.The report was prepared with reference to the guidelines (CRPD/C/2/3) adopted by the Committee and the guidelines by the Human Rights Committee regarding the format and content of reports to be submitted by State Parties to international human rights treaty bodies (HRI/GEN/2/Rev.6), with the information provided by the relevant departments and entities of the MSAR, including the commissions regarding human rights affairs. It is worth mentioning that regarding the Recommendation in paragraph 99 of the Committee’s concluding observations, the MSAR Government has carried out a public consultation on the compilation of the report covering all sectors of society, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and stakeholders related to the affairs of persons with disabilities, to propose comments and suggestions on the content of the report.

3.Whenever appropriate, the third part of China’s Core Document (HRI/CORE/CHN.MAC/2010) and the relevant information of the parts concerning the MSAR covered in China’s latest reports on human rights treaties and the relevant documents could be referred to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Their contents remain unchanged unless there are different observations in the report.

4.The information and data provided in the report mainly focus on the changes in law and measures related to the MSAR’s actual development within the period covered in the report and will be presented in a summarised and updated form. The Committee’s recommendations in its concluding observations will be addressed under the respective provisions of the Convention.

II.Implementation of General Provisions of the Convention (Articles 1–4)

Legal Protection in the MSAR

5.Personal dignity, equal rights and non-discrimination are protected by the Basic Law of the MSAR of the People’s Republic of China (BL). Its Article 38(3) expressly stipulates that persons with disabilities shall be taken care of and protected by the MSAR. Decree-Law 33/99/M on Regime of Disability Prevention, Rehabilitation and Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities establishes the basis for policies on prevention of disability and treatment, rehabilitation, social participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities.

6.Persons with disabilities can appeal or complain to the Legislative Assembly (LA) or the Commission against Corruption (CCAC) if their rights are infringed or they can resort to the administrative authority or the Court by means of administrative, civil or criminal proceedings for the protection of their legitimate rights and interests and the acquirement of remedy.

7.In general, the content regarding the MSAR’s legal protection system stated in the initial report remains valid.

8.Overall, the MSAR has achieved considerable progress at different levels in the protection of human rights. At the legislative level, Law 9/2011 on Regime of Disability Allowance and Free Health Care Services, Administrative Regulation (AR) 3/2011 on Assessment System of the Type and Degree of Disability, Registration and Issuance of the Disability Card, Law 2/2016 on Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence and Law 10/2017 on the Tertiary Education System Law have been adopted. Furthermore, the Macao Criminal Code (MCC) has been amended, establishing “sexual harassment” an autonomous crime and reinforcing the protection for children (Law 8/2017); the strengthening of the legal aid system (Law 13/2017) and the introduction of the Ten-Year Non-Tertiary Education Development Plan (2011–2020) and the Ten-Year Rehabilitation Programme Plan (2016–2025) (Ten-Year Plan) should also be underlined. The MSAR Government has also adopted measures for the promotion of gender equality and the support of vulnerable persons, such as persons with disabilities, children and women, and has launched dissemination and training activities for the dissemination of human rights, as well has carried out public consultations on major policies and legislative projects.

9.As regards the support for persons with disabilities, it is particularly worth mentioning that Law 9/2011establishes a system on the grant of disability allowance to MSAR permanent residents with disabilities and provides free health care services.

10.Nonetheless, the MSAR is aware that there is still room for improvement and the Government will continue to allocate resources for the full implementation of the Convention.

Assessment System of the Type and Degree of Disability, Registration and Issuance of the Disability Card

11.In order to implement Law 9/2011, AR 3/2011 has been adopted to regulate the types and degrees of disabilities and their corresponding criteria for assessment. Additionally, Order of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture (SSAC) 45/2011, as amended by Order of the SSAC 104/2017, establishes Instruments and Methods for Classification of the Types and Degrees of Disability; Order of the Chief Executive (CE) 251/2011 sets forth the Formalities and the documents required for the application for Disability Allowance, the amount of allowance and the forms of issue. Between 2011 till 2017, there was approximately a total of 18,000 applicants for the disability assessment services.

12.Pursuant to the MSAR law, a person with disability is defined as a person who, by reasons of, congenital or acquired, loss or anomalism of psychological, intellectual, physical or anatomical structure or function susceptible of causing capability restrictions, may be in a disadvantaged situation that hinders his/her participation in normal activities, taking into account the age, gender and main social indicators (Article 2 of Decree-law 33/99/M).

13.Article 2 of AR 3/2011 classifies disability into 6 types and further defines them, namely, visual impairment, hearing impairment, speech impairment, physical disability, intellectual disability and mental disability and disability is classified into four degrees according to its degree of severity: mild disability, moderate disability, severe disability and very severe disability.

14.The applications for the Disability Assessment Registration Cards have to be made by persons with disabilities or their legitimate representatives or other people (under special circumstances) on their behalf. After receiving an application, the Social Welfare Bureau (SWB) must assess the applicant according to the criteria set up in the Annex of AR 3/2011 and pursuant to the Instruments and Methods for Classification of the Types and Degrees of Disability, with the assistance of other entities whenever necessary for determining the type and degree of the applicant’s disability. If the interested party does not agree to the result of the assessment, he/she may request for a review. If the SWB accepts the request for review, the Review Panel will conduct a review and submit its recommendation to the Director of the SWB for a final decision. If the interested party does not agree to the final decision, he/she may appeal to the Court (Articles 3(1) and (5), 4(1) to (3), 10, 12 to 14 of AR 3/2011).

15.The Disability Assessment Registration Cards are issued by the SWB, with a maximum of 5-year validity. They must contain the identification information of persons with disabilities as well as their types and degrees of disabilities. Nonetheless, if the related status of disability is considered to be irreversible, the period of validity could exceed 5 years (Articles 7(2) and 8 of AR 3/2011).

Rehabilitation Services – Ten-Year Rehabilitation Programme Plan 2016–2025

16.In order to implement the Convention, the Incheon Strategy of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Decree-law 33/99/M, the MSAR Government established a cross-departmental research team in 2013 for researching on, coordinating, following up and evaluating the whole development plan of the MSAR’s assistance for the rehabilitation and integration into the community of the persons with disabilities.

17.After the team had referred to the international development trend and advanced experience, analysed the rehabilitation services in Macao and the living conditions of the persons with disabilities and listened to the comments of persons with disabilities, their families and rehabilitation organisations, it formulated the Ten-Year Plan in 2016. The Plan underwent a public consultation for the opinions of different sectors of society.

18.The Ten-Year Plan was introduced, covering 13 service areas: disability prevention and diagnosis, medical rehabilitation, pre-school training and nurseries, education, employment and vocational rehabilitation, residential care, community support, social security, the development of self-help organisations for persons with disabilities, accessible construction (passages, facilities and transportation, information and the application of communication technology), recreational and cultural activities and public education. There are approximately 350 short-term (2016–2017), mid-term (2018–2020) and long-term (2021–2025) action plans, with the aim of stimulating the social integration of persons with disabilities by systematically promoting the sustainable development of rehabilitation services through the system.

19.The MSAR Government has been paying great attention to the Ten-Year Plan, which is led and which promotion is supervised by the CE whereas the Commission for Rehabilitation Affairs (CRA), composed of 15 representatives of relevant NGOs, is responsible for monitoring the execution of the Plan, expressing opinions and proposing recommendations for improvement.

20.In practice, Order of the CE 394/2016 established a Cross-Departmental Steering Task Force (Steering Task Force) for the organisation, coordination and facilitation of the implementation of the Ten-Year Plan. The Steering Task Force consists of the heads of the government departments, which are in charge of the affairs related to persons with disabilities in different areas, and it is headed by the SSAC and by the Director of the SWB. Additionally, there are Cross-Departmental Task Forces responsible for coordinating and launching cross-departmental cooperation projects in accordance with the instructions of the Steering Task Force.

21.Since the implementation of the Ten-Year Plan, all the departments have completed the 155 tasks of the first phase (2016–2017) on schedule and are implementing the 125 mid-term (2018–2020) measures in order. The aforementioned measures cover: medical, employment, community support, living, education and other areas and have attained a certain level of achievements. Detailed information will be provided in the concerned provisions of this report.

Competent Entities in the MSAR and Their Cooperation with Society

22.Being responsible for the promotion of the rehabilitation policies and ensuring the participation of persons with disabilities in them, the MSAR Government and NGOs have always been partners for cooperation.

23.At present, there are several commissions for the protection of rights and interests of persons with disabilities or other vulnerable groups as their aim, including the Council for Social Welfare (AR 33/2003), the Commission for Senior’s Citizen Affairs (Order of the CE 307/2007), the CRA (Order of the CE 239/2008) and the Commission for Women and Children Affairs (CWCA) (AR 27/2016). The MSAR Government has been encouraging NGOs to directly participate in public affairs and assist the Government with the formulation and implementation of policies through their participation in the relevant commissions. A human rights inter-departmental working group to follow up the implementation of human rights treaties and the UN treaty bodies’ recommendations in 2016 has been also set up.

24.In order to promote the broad participation in public affairs of different sectors of society, the Normative Guidelines for Public Policy Consultation was adopted in 2011 (Order of the CE 224/2011). Throughout these years, the proposed laws and policies related to the affairs of persons with disabilities that underwent public consultations included the Framework Law of the Elderly Rights and Guarantees (2012), the Macao Youth Policy (2012), the amendment to the MCC (2015), the Protection Mechanism for the Elderly, the amendment to the Special Education System and the Ten-Year Plan (2016).

III.Implementation of Specific Rights

Article 5 (Equality and non-discrimination)

25.As regards the recommendations in paragraph 89 of the Committee’s concluding observations, it should be reaffirmed that the principles of equality and non-discrimination are at the core of the MSAR’s legal system (please refer to paragraphs 78 and 100 and the subsequent paragraphs of Part III of China’s Core Document for more details).

26.Article 4 of Decree-law 33/99/M clearly stipulates that persons with disabilities shall enjoy the rights granted by law and shall have the same duties as all other persons, under conditions of full equality with the exception of the exercise or observance of those he/she is incapacitated for. Article 5(d) of the same Decree-law further stipulates that discrimination on the basis of disability should be eliminated and all the persons with disabilities should gradually have an appropriate physical environment and be provided with social and medical services, as well as to receive education, work and enjoy cultural life.

27.It is worth pointing out that in the MSAR, the CCAC also plays the role of an Ombudsman, prompting the protection of rights, freedom and individual interests and guaranteeing that the exercise of public powers abides by the criteria of justice, legality and efficiency. Law10/2000 on the Legal Framework of the CCAC, as amended by Law 4/2012, reinforces the Ombudsman’s supervision powers over administrative acts, including inquiries, issuance of recommendations, and correction of illegal or unfair administrative acts, particularly those that affect the exercise of human rights.

Articles 6 and 7 (Women with disabilities and children with disabilities)

28.Apart from stipulating special care for persons with disabilities, Article 38 of the BL also acknowledges special protection for women and minors.

29.As regards legal protection for women and children, Law 8/2017 amended the MCC by including the “crime of sexual harassment” (Article 164-A), criminalising harassment acts related to sexually-involved physical contact, with 1 year’s imprisonment or a fine of 120 days as the maximum penalty. Should aggravated circumstances occur (Article 171), including the circumstance in which the victim has 14 but is under 16 years of age or is incapable or has a low capacity due to illness, physical or mental deficiency, the said penalty shall be aggravated by one-third. In relation to sexual harassment whose victims are minors under 14 years of age, the new provision of the “crime of child sexual assault” (Article 166(4) (a)) is applicable, with 3 years’ imprisonment as the maximum penalty.

30.In addition, Law 8/2017 also amended the relevant provisions of the MCC by establishing “child pornography” as an autonomous crime, with 1 to 8 years’ imprisonment as penalty (Article 170-A) and broadening the scope of the crime of child prostitution and other crimes of sexual self-determination aiming at reinforcing the protection for children (Articles 166, 169-A and 170).

31.Respecting the equal rights and interests of women and safeguarding children’s healthy development is one of the signs of a region’s development and progress. The MSAR Government included the affairs of children’s rights and interests in the “Consultative Commission for Women Affairs” and changed its name to the CWCA for assisting the Government in the comprehensive development of women and children-related tasks, safeguarding opportunities, rights and dignity that women and children are entitle to. This body is led by the SSAC and the Director of the SWB and is composed of the representatives of public departments in the social service, legal affairs, labour, public security, health care, culture and education areas, and 15 representatives of NGOs and publicly acknowledged outstanding members of the community (AR 27/2016).

32.Under the CWCA are the Task Force for the “Follow-Up of Macao Women’s Developmental Objectives” and the “Task Force for Monitoring of Children’s Rights and Interests”. With Macao’s actual situation as the basis, the former Task Force has “gender equality, comprehensive development” as its general objective and has set objectives for the development of women in 8 areas including “gender mainstreaming, the participation of women in decision-making, women and training in education, women and health care, the safety of women and law, women and social welfare, women and the economy, women, the media and culture”. Twenty-one policy objectives are included in the stated objectives, also covering disabilities issues, with a total of 79 short-term, mid-term and long-term measures. Additionally, the “Macao Women Database” (http://database.camc.gov.mo/#/category/1) has been established and the “Macao Children Database” is being built. According to the CWCA data, there were 5,743 women with disabilities and 687 children with disabilities as of 2017.

33.The MSAR has been paying special attention to the early development of children with disabilities and has been devoted to offering conditions and special assistance which are suitable for their personal development. The principle of the best interests of the child constitutes the cornerstone for all the laws and regulations or policies related to minors.

34.In 2016, the MSAR Government established the Children Comprehensive Evaluation Centre, which is run by a cross-departmental coordination team for the provision of a one-stop comprehensive assessment service for the development of children who are 6 years old or below so as to reach the objectives of early intervention for children concerning early detection, early evaluation, early diagnosis and early treatment.

35. Furthermore, the Centre also aims at minimising the amount of time required for awaiting medical diagnoses, functional evaluation, treatment services, educational placement and social services and assisting the families in resolving the problems, which they encounter during the process. Since the establishment of the Centre, the amount of time required for the assessments has been shortened from a year to within a month in average and over 2,000 cases have been handled as of 2017.

36.In addition, in 2017, the Government established the Children Rehabilitation and Treatment Centre with an aim to follow up children’s rehabilitation and treatment after their assessment in a faster and efficient manner. Since the establishment of the Centre, the amount of time required for awaiting treatment has been considerably shortened, with that for speech therapy shortened from 18 months to 6 months, that for occupational therapy shortened from 15 months to 3 months and treatment and rehabilitation training of over 2,000 times has been provided as of 2017.

37.In order to ease the treatment and training demands of 0 to 3 years old children with special needs, the SWB cooperated with the family integrated service centre, run by a NGO, and introduced service plans with life training and family, as the basis for assisting the relevant families with mastering the techniques of educating and training children at home.

38.In terms of financial assistance, the amount of allowance granted to all the children under 4 years old is correspondent to that of special disability allowance disregarding their degrees of disability (Article 7(6) of Law 9/2011 and Article 4(6) of AR 3/2011).

Article 8 (Awareness-raising)

39.To enhance the dissemination of the rights of persons with disabilities, the SWB, the Legal Affairs Bureau (LAB), the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (CMAB), the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (EYAB), the CRA and the working group formed by individuals with disabilities launched educational campaigns related to the Convention with the slogan of “Equal Opportunities for an Inclusive Society!” for dissemination in 2010.

40.Throughout these years, apart from organising activities for the International Rehabilitation Day every year, continuously and broadly disseminating the Convention through multimedia, pamphlets, articles in relation to the rights of persons with disabilities and displaying posters in offices, the MSAR Government has also organised activities for disseminating the knowledge of the relevant law (e.g. quizzes, posters and video clips, design contests, introductory sessions for public servants), awareness campaigns at schools (e.g. exhibitions and interactive games, student counselling, sessions for teaching staff) and sponsored NGOs in the organisation of community promotion activities. The total number of participants in the relevant activities increased from 5,735 in 2012 to 24,404 in 2017 and the amount of allowance sponsored by the SWB increased from MOP$319,030 to MOP$704,206.

41.In 2014, the “Subsidy Scheme for Supporting Family Members with Autism/Down Syndrome and Community Education Activities” has been introduced to support institutions in their promotion of community education and family support activities.

42. As regards school, the EYAB has been subsidising counselling institutions in their organisation of activities with different themes for facilitating the healthy growth and whole-person development of students. Among these activities, the activity with the “Integration of Persons with Disabilities and the Able-bodied”, as the theme, should be underscore, with 580 sessions and the participation of 29,925 person-times between 2010 and 2017.

43.For assessing the effectiveness of dissemination, the MSAR Government entrusted an academic institution to conduct an “Attitudinal Study on Macao Citizens towards Persons with Disabilities and Their Understanding of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” in 2015 and adopted specific strategies according to the study. These strategies included the increase of the dissemination of information regarding the Convention through the internet, the co-organisation of more promotional activities with rehabilitation institutions and schools, the increase in relevant subsidies and so forth.

44.The SWB produced pamphlets of “How to Receive Persons with Disabilities” in 2016 so that frontline staff could offer persons with disabilities appropriate assistance. Furthermore, pamphlets of the “Knowing about Barrier-Free Facilities” were produced in 2017, so as to raise public understanding and cherish assistive tools and accessible facilities for persons with disabilities.

Article 9 (Accessibility) and Article 20 (Personal mobility)

45.The legal provisions regarding accessibility in the initial report are still accurate.

46.The MSAR deeply understands the great importance of the construction of a barrier-free environment for the integration of persons with disabilities into the community and has been continuously optimising barrier-free facilities at public venues, including accessible bathrooms, lifts, slopes, wheelchair pathways, route for the blind or elevating platform, keypads for the use of wheelchair users in lifts, tactile warning strips along the pathways in public places, low-levelled counter top as the design for public reception desks and so forth. Furthermore, lifts with Braille buttons and keyboards and sound signals for wheelchair users have been introduced to the majority of footbridges. Pavements are laid with tactile guide paths and there are electronic audible traffic lights for indicating crossing directions with vibrations. Additionally, in relation to public services, the provision of services to persons with disabilities will be prioritised or assistance by designated staff will be provided depending on the circumstances.

47.For further optimising barrier-free facilities, the MSAR Government established a Cross-Departmental Working Group in 2016 and cooperated with NGOs and associations of persons with disabilities in the enactment of the Barrier-free Universal Design Building Guidelines of the MSAR (Guidelines) for supplementing Law 9/83/M on Elimination of Construction Barriers. The Guidelines will be implemented in 2018. All the new public constructions and government-subsidised projects were suggested to follow the Guidelines in their construction work and all the public departments were encouraged to gradually optimise barrier-free support facilities pursuant to the Guidelines.

48.In order to enhance the knowledge and execution abilities of government departments and engineering and construction professionals about the Guidelines, the SWB has been organising training and explanatory meetings. It is worth pointing out that the explanatory meetings were conducted in a barrier-free exchange manner, with the use of the Induction Loop System, sign language interpretation, stenography, magnifiers so as to enable the attendees to understand the proactive function and significance of barrier-free equipment for the social participation of persons with disabilities.

49.For the facilitation of the mobility of persons with disabilities, concerning public transportation, the contracts granted to public bus services clearly stipulates that at least 10% of their total number of operating vehicles have to be able to accommodate wheelchairs and these buses have to be marked on the outside for identification, with doors that allow easy alighting and boarding, wide enough corridors, sufficient handrails, facilities to secure wheelchairs, wheelchair transition boards and so forth.

50.The MSAR Government has progressively encouraged bus companies to replace old buses with new ones that are low-floor, low-emission and with wheelchair spaces. As of 2017, buses with wheelchair parking spaces accounted for over 50% of all operating buses while low-floor buses, over 60%. Furthermore, at least 4 designated seats should be reserved for persons with disabilities, pregnant women and others on each bus; audio-visual broadcasting facilities that provide bus route information should be installed, with visual information displayed in traditional Chinese and Portuguese, and audio broadcast in Cantonese, Portuguese, Mandarin and English.

51.In relation to taxi services, the care provided for persons with disabilities includes free transportation for the guide dogs of blind passengers and taxi drivers are obliged to assist passengers with special needs in getting on and off the taxis and placing their luggage (including their wheelchairs) in the trunks. In addition, for the benefit of passengers with needs to acquire point-to-point pick-up services through telephone, mobile applications and web pages, special taxis launched their services in 2017, with audio-taximeters and embossed cards that indicate the registration numbers of the vehicles installed inside the taxis. At present, there are 5 barrier-free taxis in the operating fleet.

52.As regards the assurance of individual mobility, a Cross-Departmental Working Group for coordinating and optimising the support system for the service of assistive tools and strengthening the dissemination of relevant information was established in 2016. The SWB has also planned to conduct a research on the demand for and planning of the service of assistive tools; introduced an assistive tool subsidising plan and cooperated with NGOs in the establishment of assistive tools resources services. At present, persons with disabilities in financial hardship may apply for subsidies for the purchase of assistive equipment or devices (Article 8(1) of AR 6/2007, the Allowance System for Individual and Family in Poverty Condition). Please refer to the following table for the situation of the issuance of the related allowance by the SWB between 2010 and 2017.

Support for Persons with Disabilities in Their Purchase of Assistive Equipment or Devices
Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
No. of Families	19	16	18	26	19	12	15	10
No. of Persons	19	17	18	26	28	12	15	12
Amount (MOP$)	224 840	201 134	315 560	595 748	301 246	343 567	313 392	383 850

Source : SWB.

Article 10 (Right to life) and Article 14 (Liberty and security of the person)

53.The legal framework regarding these provisions mentioned in the initial report are still accurate.

54.Disability itself does not justify the deprivation of freedom or any other act that restricts freedom and those acts constitute criminal offences pursuant to the MCC. It is worth emphasizing that the crime of exposure or abandonment is specifically referred to persons with disabilities and the related penalty is 1 to 5 years’ imprisonment. Should the perpetrator be the victim’s lineal ascendant, descendant, adopter or adoptee, the penalty shall then be aggravated to 2 to 5 years’ imprisonment; if the fact results in a serious harm to the physical integrity of the victim, the perpetrator shall be punished with 2 to 8 years’ imprisonment and if the fact results in the death of the victim, the perpetrator shall be punished with 5 to 15 years’ imprisonment (Article 135 of the MCC).

55.As mentioned in the initial report, the victims of violent crimes or their families (under the circumstances when the victims have deceased) may apply for a special subsidy even if the identity of the perpetrator of the relevant crime is unknown or the perpetrator cannot be prosecuted or sentenced (Law 6/98/M on Regulations for Protection of Victims of Violent Crimes). No application was made by a victim with disabilities between 2010 and 2017.

56.For the facilitation of persons with hearing and language impairments in their requests for assistance, the Public Security Police Force (PSPF) introduced the 24-hour Emergency SMS Service in 2015. Additionally, apart from basic barrier-free facilities and sign language interpretation services, the PSPF has installed 5 sets of communications equipment with the induction loop system at the frontline police subdivisions for better communication between police officers and persons with hearing impairment.

Article 11 (Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies)

57.The information provided in relation to this provision in the initial report is still valid.

58.In practice, in case of public accidents or natural disasters, the SWB will provide emergency assistance or shelter services and will arrange accommodation for persons with disabilities who are in need at disaster centres. Emergency and temporary accommodation is reserved for persons with disabilities who suffered from disasters or accidents by rehabilitation shelters. In addition, it is worth pointing out that the MSAR Government is formulating an evacuation plan specifically for vulnerable persons, including persons with disabilities, for ensuring that they can be evacuated safely with appropriate assistance during the occurrence of disasters.

Article 12 (Equal recognition before the law) and Article 13 (Access to justice)

59.Compared to the initial report, the changes mainly concern the replacement of Decree-law 41/94/M with Law 13/2012. The adoption of the new Legal Aid System guarantees that residents (individuals or non-profit legal persons) who have financial difficulties assure their legal rights and interests in court proceedings. The Legal Aid System is also applicable to foreign workers and holders of refugee status and special permits for stay (for instance, foreign students). Correspondingly, the Legal Aid Commission, which is responsible for matters including the review and approval of applications for legal aid and the decision-making on the appointment of pro bono lawyers for the Court, was also established under AR 1/2013.

60.As regards the participation of persons with disabilities in court proceedings and investigation procedures, the support of assistive devices, interpreters, specialists can be provided for them and when necessary, the Court may allow procedural acts to take place outside the court or the use of other means such as: writing, telephone or direct communications with the Court instead of personal appearance in court. Furthermore, concerning criminal procedures, if the suspect is a minor or who has been suffering from sensory or intellectual or mental disability, it is mandatory to provide legal aid from lawyers (Articles 91, 482, 528, 540 and 542 of the Macao Civil Procedure Code and Articles 53(1) (d) and 83 of the MCC). Between 2010 and 2017, the Court provided sign language interpretation services for persons with disabilities 11 times and was responsible for the expenses.

61.In 2014, the Judiciary Police (JP) issued internal instructions, stipulating that if the suspect, detainee, victim or witness is a person with disabilities, information such as his/her gender, age and so forth must be recorded in the relevant file for the purpose of the investigation units’ attention and provision of appropriate assistance. Moreover, instructions also established, for instance, that if a person with sensory disability is suspected of having committed a crime, once he has been declared a suspect, he must be granted lawyers’ assistance.

Article 15 (Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment)

62.The legal framework regarding the prohibition of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment remains unchanged and for more relevant information, the report regarding the CAT submitted by the MSAR could be referred to.

63.Decree-law 40/94/M, the Regime on the Application of Measures Depriving Personal Freedom ensures the provision of wheelchairs, walking sticks, walking aids and other medical devices for prisoners with disabilities in response to their special needs. Prisoners’ physical strength, intelligence, professional abilities and preferences are considered for all the labour and vocational training.

64.The Prison has been continuously optimising its internal barrier-free configurations, including the expansion of the entrances and space of prison cells and bathrooms, the introduction of low dining tables for the convenience of wheelchair users, the addition of intercoms beside the beds and at the entrances of bathrooms for prisoners with disabilities to seek assistance, the purchase of prisoner transport vehicles with platform lifts for the benefit of prisoners with disabilities in 2014.

65.Between 2010 and 2017, the Correctional Services Bureau (CSB) organised entry and promotion training programmes for prison guards 12 times, with 336 participants and the programmes include the content of human rights conventions such as the Convention, the CAT, the ICERD and so forth.

66.No prisoner with intellectual and mental disabilities served a sentence at the Coloane Prison between 2010 and 2017, whereas there were 11 prisoners with physical or sensory disabilities; 3 of them are still serving their sentences. No case of a prisoner with disabilities complaining about having suffered from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

67.In the school system, the “Teacher Duty Guidelines” issued by the EYAB clearly forbids the infliction of any form of corporal punishment on students. In line with the implementation of Law 2/2016, the EYAB issued the guidelines for the “Notification Procedure for Suspected Domestic Violence Cases (Schools)” to all the schools and included in the School Operation Guidelines with the “Protection and Processing Abused Students in Assistance”. Between 2010 and 2017, the EYAB handled 3 cases of corporal punishment related to students with special needs, and to the 2 cases provided the students and their families with counselling support and to the other case arranged accommodation for the student at a protected shelter.

Article 16 (Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse)

68.The major change in relation to this provision is the adoption of Law 2/2016. This Law creates a legal and institutional framework by criminalising domestic violence as an autonomous crime (a public crime) and establishes the institutional framework in relation to public entities’ intervention during the occurrence of domestic violence, the type of domestic violence crime and its corresponding penalty and the measures for protecting and assisting the victims.

69.It is worth emphasizing that Article 18(2) of Law 2/2016 aggravates the penalty on the infliction of domestic violence on persons with disabilities: If the victim is under the age of 14, an incapacitated or a vulnerable person due to age, pregnancy, illness and physical or mental deficiency, the penalty will then be aggravated from 1 to 5 years to 2 to 8 years’ imprisonment. If the relevant act results in a serious harm to the physical integrity of the victim, the perpetrator shall be punished with 3 to 12 years’ imprisonment and if it results in the death of the victim, the perpetrator shall be punished with 5 to 15 years’ imprisonment.

70.In order to prevent the recurrence of domestic violence, accessory penalties can be imposed, including prohibition of any kind of contact with the victim, prohibition to stay or to have access to specific areas, such as the house of the victim or his/her family members or place of work or school, prohibition to own weapons, objects or tools that can be used for perpetrating acts of domestic violence, prohibition to perform some professional occupations (Article 19 of Law 2/2016).

71.A detailed response will be provided hereunder for the recommendations in paragraph 91 of the Committee’s concluding observations.

72.Concerning dissemination, the MSAR Government organised multiple explanatory sessions on Law 2/2016 and the guidelines on the procedure of handling domestic violence cases and its relevant notification system for frontline police officers in 2016, with over 1,000 participants. Dissemination activities including the “Training Course on Handling Abused Children or Mentally Incapacitated Witnesses”, the “Course on Handling Domestic Violence (Sexual Assault) Cases Involving Children”, the “Training on Criminal Investigative Strategies and Procedures for Handling Suspected Child Abuse Cases”, the seminars on “Domestic Violence” and the “Crimes against Sexual Freedom and Sexual Self-Determination” and so forth, were also organized in 2017, with the participation of over 1,000 medical staff, social workers, counsellors and police officers.

73.Pursuant to the aforementioned Law, the MSAR Government adopts preventive, protective, punitive and restorative measures to prevent domestic violence. The SWB is responsible for coordinating the preventive work of domestic violence, identifying the relevant dangerous situations and executing general protective measures. During the performance of their duties, public and private entities that suspect or hear about the occurrence of domestic violence are obliged to inform the SWB immediately (Articles 3, 5 and 6 of Law 2/2016).

74.Furthermore, 3 24-hour helplines specifically for domestic violence have been created: the police notification hotline, the resident helpline and the notification hotline for social service institutions. In addition, the JP has also established an activity learning room for children for helping children in domestic violence cases to describe the cases concerned in a relaxing environment.

75.Once the SWB is informed or discovers a person being violently treated, it will convene meetings with different units such as the hospital, the police, the school, the rehabilitation institution to identify the case type and the service needs and provide a safety plan, including: the report to the police or the Public Prosecutions Office (PPO); emergency placement; free medical treatment; legal consultation; the application to the Court for protective measures so as to prohibit the abuser from contacting the victim; counselling services; change of schools; assistance in employment and financial assistance.

76.Since 2017, the SWB has established the Domestic Violence Central Registration System pursuant to Article 7 of Law 2/2016 for assisting in the analyses of the characteristics and trends of the phenomenon of domestic violence and formulating corresponding preventive measures. There were 96 domestic violence cases in 2017, with 20 cases of 22 children as the victims of domestic violence, 73 cases of 73 spouses as the victims, with 1 case of 1 person with physical disability and 1 case of a person with mental disability, as victims, the other 3 cases, one involves 1 elderly as the victim and the other 2 cases involved 3 other family members as the victims. The related violent behaviour mainly consisted of physical violence, with 64 cases (66.7%), 5 cases of mental abuse (5.2%), 6 cases of sexual abuse (6.3%), 2 cases of inappropriate care for children (2.1%) and 19 cases of multiple violence/abuse (19.8%).

77.Between 2010 and 2017, the police handled 2,847 violent cases that involve family members (they were not the domestic violence crime stipulated by Law 2/2016 but constitutes the crime against physical integrity). Among the cases, there were 3 cases that involved victims with disabilities, with all the 3 victims being female, 2 of them with intellectual disability and 1 with visual impairment and the perpetrators of 2 of the 3 cases were the husbands and the perpetrator of the other case was the father. Please refer to the following table for relevant statistical data.

Violent Cases (Physical Integrity) Involving Family Members
Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Total No. of Cases	424	352	341	296	353	273	383	425
Spouse (No. of Cases)	296	260	258	203	241	207	275	312
• Wife as Victim (No. of People)	269	243	231	186	229	194	239	291
• Husband as Victim (No. of People)	27	17	27	17	12	13	36	21
Other Family Members Involved (No. of Cases)	128	92	83	93	112	66	108	113
• Victim aged 18 or above (No. of People)	89	68	65	73	90	50	74	76
• Victim below 18 (No. of People)	30	16	11	8	15	8	28	51

Source : Office of the Secretary for Security (OSS).

Remark : Since certain cases involved the situation of mutual combat, both parties would become suspects at the same time, hence there were situations in which the numbers of victims were smaller than those of cases.

78.Since the adoption of Law 2/2016, the police handled 19 domestic violence cases. Among them, the victims of 16 cases were the wives and the rest 3 cases involved other family members (with 2 victims being minors) and none of these cases involved persons with disabilities.

79.In total, there were altogether 35 cases of criminal offences involving victims with disabilities between 2010 and 2017 (including the 3 violent cases among family members as mentioned above), with the following specific information.

		Victim
Year	Type of Crime	Gender	Age at the Time of the Case	Type of Disability
2010	Rape	F	25	Intellectual disability
2011	Rape	F	19	Intellectual disability
2012	Assault against physical integrity	F	47(remark)	Mental disability
Rape	F	29	Intellectual disability
2013	Rape	F	16	Intellectual disability
2014	Rape	F	30	Hearing impairment
Rape	F	20	Intellectual disability
2015	Assault against physical integrity	F	27	Intellectual disability
Assault against physical integrity	F	19	Intellectual disability
Rape	F	38	Mental disability
Rape	F	19	Intellectual disability
Sexual coercion/ robbery	F	19	Intellectual disability
2016	Assault against physical integrity	F	51(remark)	Mental disability
Assault against physical integrity	M	63	Visual impairment
Assault against physical integrity	F	27	Intellectual disability
Assault against physical integrity	F	51(remark)	Mental disability
Assault against physical integrity	F	51	Mental disability
Assault against physical integrity	F	51(remark)	Mental disability
Sexual abuse of persons without the ability to resist	F	27	Intellectual disability
Sexual abuse of persons without the ability to resist	F	45	Intellectual disability
Sexual abuse of persons without the ability to resist	F	22	Intellectual disability
Sexual abuse of children	F	12	Intellectual disability
Robbery	F	51(remark)	Mental disability
Robbery	F	38	Mental disability
2017	Sexual abuse of children	M	9	Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism
Assault against physical integrity	F	51(remark)	Mental disability
Assault against physical integrity	F	43	Intellectual disability
Assault against physical integrity	F	32	Intellectual disability
Assault against physical integrity	F	11	Intellectual disability
Assault against physical integrity	F	36	Visual impairment
Sexual abuse of persons without the ability to resist	F	21	Intellectual disability
Sexual abuse of persons without the ability to resist	F	33	Mental disability
Sexual coercion	F	44	Mental disability
Robbery	M	25	Intellectual disability
Insult	M	55	Physical disability

Source : OSS .

Remark : The victims concerned were the same person.

Article 17 (Protecting the integrity of the person)

80.The legal framework related to the protection of the integrity of the person remains unchanged. The performance of medical behaviour or treatment, including mandatory sterilisation and forced abortion, on persons with disabilities without any legal consent constitutes a criminal offence (Articles 136, 138, 139 and 150 of the MCC).

81.Only by conforming to the strict and objective criteria (including the assistance from a lawyer) and after undergoing judicial supervision stipulated by Decree-law 31/99/M, the Mental Health System, can the compulsory hospitalisation of people with severe mental illnesses be enforced and the decision to adopt or maintain compulsory hospitalisation can be appealed.

82.According to the information provided by the Health Bureau, there were 123 cases of compulsory hospitalisation, with 16, 10, 16, 17, 12, 8, 16 and 28 cases respectively based on the year between 2010 and 2017. There were altogether 631 cases referred to the community rehabilitation institutions by the psychiatric department, with 68, 56, 114, 77, 51, 76, 78 and 111 cases respectively by year.

Article 18 (Liberty of movement and nationality)

83.The information provided in the initial report in relation to the legal framework remains accurate.

Article 19 (Living independently and being included in the community)

84.In order to achieve the principle of rehabilitation services regarding the “participation in integration, with the community as the basis”, the Comprehensive Assessment Centre for Rehabilitation Service under the SWB provides cross-professional comprehensive assessment for persons with disabilities and recommends appropriate service arrangement for the provision of adequate support for their community lives.

85.Through means including technical support, financial aid, provision of facilities or materials, the SWB supports rehabilitation institutions in their provision of services for persons with disabilities, including shelter, halfway house, early education and training centre, respite centre, daytime training centre, vocational rehabilitation and employment services centre, community outreach services, case support and counselling services, non-emergency medical and escort services, rehabilitation buses.

86.Additionally, the SWB launched, in 2017, the optimisation work of the accessible configurations of social service facilities with the rehabilitation institutions as priorities. Furthermore, the SWB also subsidised the continued training for the employees of the stated institutions for upgrading their service quality. Between 2010 and 2017, the SWB continued to increase its subsidies for rehabilitation institutions and associations and the total amount of subsidies reached MOP$266,308,020 in 2017 which had increased by 3.7 times compared to 2010.

87.As regards the recommendations in paragraph 93 of the Committee’s concluding observations, in order to support persons with disabilities and the physically weak elderly to live in the community, the SWB has 5 home care and service support teams currently to provide services including meal delivery, home cleaning, bath assistance, escort services, laundry services, shopping, case counselling, telephone consolations, community activities, home visits and health care services at home. The relevant services were optimised in 2017 and the targets of the services have been extended from persons with mild disability to moderate disability or above. Furthermore, personal care plans will be formulated and periodic review of their statuses will be provided for them.

88.The SWB planned to set up 2 more service teams in 2018, with one of them mainly serving persons with disabilities. In addition, the people in need may utilise the home emergency call service (mainly the elderly and persons with disabilities), including the ambulance services, the contact of families, regular health care reminders. The number of users of the aforementioned service had substantially increased by 3 times between 2010 and 2017. Please refer to the following table for details.

No. of Users of Home Emergency Call Service and Amounts of Corresponding Subsidy
Year	No. of Cases Using the Service	Amount of Subsidy (MOP$)
2010	1 383	4 382 611.50
2011	2 535	4 594 987.32
2012	2 734	4 824 491.19
2013	3 073	6 585 325.58
2014	3 323	6 777 727.61
2015	3 697	7 362 005.85
2016	4 041	8 611 881.97
2017	4 336	9 046 985.63
Total amount	52 186 016.65

Source : SWB.

89.In recent years, there was an increase in the quotas of services, including daytime training, vocational rehabilitation and early training, with an increase from 980 in 2010 to 1,310 in 2017 which is equivalent to a rise of approximately 34%. At present, the SWB and NGOs have co-established 2 auxiliary shelters and 1 halfway house for providing persons with mild disabilities who have basic self-care abilities with small-scale, family-style housing services so that they could learn about group life and life skills. Currently, there are 11 NGOs facilities that provide housing services for persons with disabilities and the specific situation of the use of the services is illustrated in the following table.

Housing Facilities Services for Persons with Disabilities
NGO Facility	Service Target	Quota	No. of Users
2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Luís Gonzaga Home	Male, persons with intellect disability or chronic mental disability of 16 years or ≥ 16	200	193	196	193	196	193	191	192	195
Santa Margarida Centre	Female, persons with intellectual disability or chronic mental disability of 16 years or ≥ 16	115	68	88	93	97	103	105	103	104
Santa Lúcia Centre	Female, persons with intellectual disability or chronic mental disability of 16 years or ≥ 16	58	49	44	48	49	48	48	48	53
Nossa Senhora da Penha Home	Persons with intellectual disability or physical disability between 0–15	28	26	24	22	24	25	26	14	18
Mong- Há Residential Home	Rehabilitators with mental disability between 18–60	39	11	7	21	31	26	20	25	21
Hong Lok Services Complex of Association of Parents of the Mentally Handicapped	Persons with mild or moderate intellectual disability of 16 years or ≥ 16	24	17	17	21	19	19	19	20	17
Ying Lok of the Social Services Section of the Methodist Church Macau	Male, persons with moderate or severe intellectual disability of 16 years or ≥ 16	36	-		9	27	34	36	31	30
The Starlight Residence of Association of Parents of the Mentally Handicapped	Persons with mild or moderate intellectual disability of 16 years or ≥ 16	45			-	-	6	13	15	21
The Bay of the Sun of the Social Services Section of the Methodist Church of Macao	Persons with moderate or above intellectual disability of 16 years or ≥ 16	118			-	-	-	-	49	90
Programa De Auxílio – Residencial Apoio Feliz	Rehabilitators with mental disability of 18 years or ≥ 18	38			-	-	-	-	9	17
Long Ching Centre of Fu Hong Society of Macau	Male, persons with moderate or above intellectual disability of 16 years or ≥ 16	100			-	-	-	-		10

Source : SWB

Remark : Quota refers to the greatest capacity whereas “ - ” implies inapplicability.

90.For further benefit of the mobility of persons with disabilities, the SWB expanded its rehabus services. On the one hand, the Bureau, in cooperation with NGOs, launched the rehabus services without any need to make reservations in advance in 2017; on the other hand, it subsidised institutions in their purchases of more vehicles, resulting in an increase of rehabuses from 9 in 2010 to 13 in 2017.

91.The SWB introduced the “Concessionary Scheme for Holders of Disability Registration Cards” in 2014 for the sake of coordinating and encouraging different institutions to offer privilege and convenience measures for persons with disabilities. There were over 150 units that provided more than 300 cost discounts, exemptions or prioritised services for persons with disabilities as of 2017.

Article 21 (Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information)

92.The MSAR’s legal framework related to this provision is still valid. The MSAR Government has been very active in improving accessible formats of communication in recent years, including: the publication of the Guidelines for Standards of the Government Department Website with reference to the international Guidelines for Content of the Accessible Web Page in 2014; the use of videos and voice broadcast in the Government’s public services; the appropriate use of common means such as: the induction loop system, digital transmission equipment, sign language interpretation, quick recording, voiceye code documents, audio description in activities organised; and the subsidisation to rehabilitation shelters for their purchases of appropriate computer equipment.

93.It is worth pointing out that the SWB is formulating guidelines for government departments and private organisations to apply accessible means in the publications of major information and in important public activities for guaranteeing the right to information of persons with disabilities.

94.In addition, the SWB co-organised activities with rehabilitation institutions in the promotion of sign language to schools, enterprises, social service institutions, government departments and has been subsidising NGOs in their recruitments of sign language interpreters. The SWB also launched the “Subsidy Scheme for Training of Sign Language Interpreters” in 2017.

95.In order to develop the audio description service, the SWB has been subsidising visual impairment support organisations in their purchases of additional audio description equipment and organised a relevant training programme in 2017, with the participation of 25 staff from government departments and private institutions.

Article 22 (Respect for privacy)

96.The information stated in relation to this provision in the initial report remains generally unchanged.

97.The MSAR law protects personal privacy and any behaviour that infringes privacy may constitute criminal offense. Personal data related to health status is considered as sensitive information and the handling of it is prohibited in principle unless it conforms to a legitimate circumstance, for instance, under the protection of the principle of non-discrimination and the adoption of special protective measures, and upon the clear consent of the holder of the data for handling the data. Furthermore, the entity responsible for handling personal data must ensure that the data is logically separated from other personal data, even if the information is for handling the administrative procedure related to the application for disability allowance and free health care service (Articles 7 and 16 of Law 8/2005, Personal Data Protection Law and Article 14 of Law 9/2011). Similarly, Article 7 of Law 2/2016 also stipulates that the central record of domestic violence cases must guarantee respect for the privacy of the persons involved in the cases and the sole record of the important information for legal purposes.

98.The Office for Personal Data Protection had only received 1 complaint filed by a male with mental disability in 2014 between 2010 and 2017. After investigation, it was discovered that the case concerned did not violate the provisions of Law 8/2005 and was thus filed.

Article 23 (Respect for home and the family)

99.The legal framework related to this provision remains unchanged.

100.In the support of the families of persons with disabilities, the MSAR Government offers them direct support for their daily operation on the one hand and encourages the provision of counselling support for these families by rehabilitation institutions on the other hand. At present, there are 3 rehabilitation institutions that are granted subsidies for the provision of service consultations, education seminars, social activities and so forth for these families, so as to assist them in dealing with their daily problems, improving their anti-stress capabilities and expanding their personal support network. The “Training on Strengthening Practical Social Work for Families with Disabilities” was organised in 2016 for upgrading the support capabilities of the staff of rehabilitation institutions. It is worth mentioning that the MSAR Government is planning to launch a study on the feasibility of granting caregivers allowance for further relieving the economic pressure of caregivers.

101.Moreover, parent-children activities or parent meetings for consolidating the parents’ knowledge in training and taking care of their children with special needs at home and improving parent-children relationships have been continuously organised. Approximate numbers of 210 parent-children activities with about 7,500 participants and 180 activities for parents with approximately 4,100 participants have been organised between 2010 and 2017.

102.The MSAR Government has been assisting the parents in need (including parents with disabilities) to perform their parental duties through different measures including financial assistance, education about parenthood, counselling, community services, the social service facilities of NGOs for preventing the occurrences of circumstances in which children with disabilities will be hidden, abandoned, neglected or isolated and whenever necessary, the Government will arrange accommodation, enrolment, counselling, assistance in the handling of guardianship or adoption for the minors in need. There was 1 case of abandonment of a child with disabilities between 2010 and 2017.

103.Currently, there are 55 nurseries in Macao, with approximately 10,000 quotas. Among the stated nurseries, there are 18 non-subsidised nurseries (with approximately 1,800 quotas) and 37 nurseries (with approximately 8,200 quotas, which are equivalent to 80% of the total number of quotas in Macao) subsidised by the SWB. In addition, the SWB subsidises 8 shelters for children and adolescents and 1 boarding school, with the provision of approximately 570 quotas and at present, there are 7 children and adolescents with disabilities living at the stated shelters.

Article 24 (Education)

104.As regards non-tertiary education, the Ten-Year Non-Tertiary Education Development Plan (2011–2020) was introduced and the major task includes the optimisation of the software and hardware configurations for special education and the amendment to Decree-law 33/96/M for the improvement of the special education system.

105.As regards children who are reaching the school age of 3 or students of non-tertiary education aged 21 or below, should they be suspected of having special needs, the Educational Counselling and Special Education Centre under the EYAB will conduct assessment on them for the provision of appropriate recommendations for educational placement.

106.In fact, the MSAR Government has been regarding inclusive education as the main direction for the implementation of special education which is consistent with the recommendation in paragraph 95 of the Committee’s concluding observations. Article 12 of Law 9/2006 clearly stipulates that “the enforcement of special education is prioritised in ordinary schools in an inclusive manner”. The EYAB offered 180 training sessions to special educational professionals between 2010 and 2017, teaching them how to assists students with disabilities and provide inclusive education, for instance, workshops on “Teaching Students with Visual Impairment”, Braille workshops, “Orientation and Mobility Training Courses for Instructors”, with the participation of approximately 5,730 person-times.

107.During Academic Years 2010/2011 to 2017/2018, the number of students receiving inclusive education in the non-tertiary education system had soared from 426 to 1,348 (1,011 male and 338 female). The numbers of inclusive students disaggregated according to educational phases are listed as follows.

Scholastic Years 2010/2011 and 2017/2018 (by Education Level)
Academic Year	Education level	M	Percentage of No. of Male Students at Each Education Level	F	Percentage of No. of Female Students at Each Education Level
Formal Education	Formal Education& Regression Education	Formal Education	Formal Education& Regression Education
2010/2011	Pre-primary	70	1.3%	1.3%	14	0.3%	0.3%
Primary	197	1.6%	1.6%	71	0.6%	0.6%
Secondary	70	0.4%	0.3%	42	0.2%	0.2%
2011/2012	Pre-primary	39	0.6%	0.6%	12	0.2%	0.2%
Primary	210	1.8%	1.8%	76	0.7%	0.7%
Secondary	92	0.5%	0.5%	55	0.3%	0.3%
2012/2013	Pre-primary	45	0.7%	0.7%	10	0.2%	0.2%
Primary	234	2.0%	2.0%	79	0.7%	0.7%
Secondary	102	0.6%	0.5%	46	0.3%	0.3%
2013/2014	Pre-primary	72	1.0%	1.0%	26	0.4%	0.4%
Primary	274	2.3%	2.3%	92	0.8%	0.8%
Secondary	152	0.9%	0.8%	76	0.5%	0.5%
2014/2015	Pre-primary	97	1.3%	1.3%	27	0.4%	0.4%
Primary	313	2.5%	2.5%	109	0.9%	0.9%
Secondary	182	1.2%	1.1%	78	0.5%	0.5%
2015/2016	Pre-primary	115	1.3%	1.3%	29	0.4%	0.4%
Primary	391	2.8%	2.8%	130	1.0%	1.0%
Secondary	193	1.3%	1.2%	91	0.7%	0.6%
2016/2017	Pre-primary	141	1.5%	1.5%	38	0.4%	0.4%
Primary	485	3.3%	3.3%	162	1.2%	1.2%
Secondary	214	1.5%	1.4%	94	0.7%	0.7%
2017/2018	Pre-primary	168	1.7%	1.7%	44	0.5%	0.5%
Primary	598	3.8%	3.8%	191	1.3%	1.3%
2017/2018	Secondary	245	1.8%	1.7%	103	0.8%	0.8%

Source : EYAB.

108.The School Operation Guidelines distributed by the EYAB clearly stipulates that schools need to make adjustments and provide assistance concerning the learning environment, teaching measures for students with special education needs, including the adoption of pluralistic assessment means, the permission of using adequate answering methods, and the adjustment of facilities in school construction for persons with physical, visual, audio or intellectual disabilities. An Education Development Fund for subsidising schools in their purchases of assistive equipment, assistive learning aids, the construction of an accessible environment for students with special education needs has been established for this purpose.

109.The Educational Counselling and Special Education Centre under the EYAB has been providing services for students with special education needs and the information of the cases that were followed up between 2010 and 2017 is shown in the following table.

Cases Handled by Special Education Centre
Type	2010/2011	2011/2012	2012/2013	2013/2014	2014/2015	2015/2016	2016/2017
Appointment for “ Professional Consultation ” (No. of Times)	191	200	200	113	/	/	/
Professional Consultation for Special Education	/	/	/	91	249	214	127
Consultation by Phone/Home Visit (No. of Times)	617	601	587	667	824	789	412
Comprehensive Assessment (No. of Cases)	130	/	/	/	/	/	/
Cognitive Ability Assessment (No. of Cases)	98	/	/	/	/	/	/
Educational Placement Assessment (No. of Cases)	137	368	440	568	577	749	414
Professional Assessment (No. of Cases)	63	/	/	/	/	/	/
Treatment Assessment	Speech Therapy	40	182	226	307	293	271	117
Vocational Therapy	18	87	133	129	144	116	92
Physiotherapy	10	70	87	101	104	95	14
Professional Follow-up (No. of Times)	Speech Therapy	79	290	719	1071	778	872	1 674
Vocational Therapy	48	121	156	34	0	0	253
Physiotherapy	42	278	811	590	439	662	531
Regular Visits to Schools for Supporting Inclusive Students (No. of Times)	305	284	284	221	99	41	22

Source : EYAB.

110.With regard to tertiary education, Law 10/2017 on the Tertiary Education System replaced Decree-law 11/91/M. Article 4 of the aforementioned Law stipulates that the Government should create equality in tertiary education as the admission criterion and should comply with the principle of non-discrimination.

111.All the tertiary education institutes in Macao have adopted multiple measures in response to the recommendations of paragraph 95 of the Committee’s concluding observations for promoting the access to tertiary education of persons with disabilities, including: the formulation of the “Enrolment Policy for Students with Disabilities” and the “Special Examination Arrangement for Students with Physical and Psychological Disorders”, such as the extension of time in examinations; the provision of assistive tools; the arrangement for examination questions and answering; the establishment of the “Policy and Service Committee for Students with Disabilities”; the preparation of the webpage for disseminating the enrolment policy and services for students with disabilities; the organisation of student service ambassadors for supporting students with disabilities; the organisation of activities for promoting the social integration of persons with disabilities and the able-bodied; the “International Week of Persons with Hearing Impairment”; the Convention; the installation of computers that are adequate for students with visual impairment (to listen to and read electronic information).

112.Between Academic Years 2010/2011 and 2016/2017, there were 5 (4 males and 1 female), 7 (5 males and 2 females), 10 (9 males and 1 female), 19 (16 males and 3 females), 19 (16 males and 3 females), 22 (17 males and 5 females) and 19 (13 males and 6 females) students with disabilities respectively at Macao’s tertiary education institutes by year.

113.Since 2011, the MSAR Government has been promoting the “Continuing Education Development Programme” (AR 16/2011) to encourage all the residents, including persons with disabilities, of lifelong learning and to upgrade their personal qualities and skills.

Article 25 (Health) and Article 26 (Habilitation and rehabilitation)

114.The main change in relation to these provisions is the introduction of Law 9/2011, which guarantees persons with disabilities free access to appropriate health care services for the sake of protection of their health.

115.For the benefit of persons with disabilities to receive medical treatment, the Health Bureau established a green passage for them and arranged prioritised medical consultations according to their needs and added the graphic reminder function to the medical consultation system, so as to let the medical staff understand their needs and provide adequate assistance in a timely manner.

116.In order to achieve early diagnosis and timely treatment, the Health Bureau expanded the newborn hearing screening services to all the infants in Macao, and has been providing treatment services for the children with developmental disorders as well as providing rehabilitation training for persons with disabilities or transferring them to other institutions for rehabilitation services.

117.As regards the adaptation training and rehabilitation for persons with disabilities, the SWB has been supporting NGOs to provide pluralistic rehabilitation services. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of rehabilitation service facilities gradually increased from 25 to 33 with 2,303 quotas which raised approximately 60% compared to 2010. Please refer to the tables below for details.

No. and Quota of Different Types of Rehabilitation Services and Facilities
Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Facility Type	No.	Quota	No.	Quota	No.	Quota	No.	Quota	No.	Quota	No.	Quota	No.	Quota	No.	Quota
Rehabilitation Home	5	405	6	468	6	468	6	468	7	513	7	513	9	677	10	777
Daytime Training Centre	9	539	9	569	9	659	9	659	9	704	9	708	9	683	9	723
Vocational Rehabilitation Centre	6	223	7	240	7	265	7	265	8	313	8	313	5	233	5	333
Early Intervention and Education Centre	2	201	2	201	2	201	2	201	2	201	2	201	3	286	3	286
Rehabus /Escort Service	2	-	2	-	2	-	2	-	2	-	2	-	2	-	2	-
Comprehensive Services	Accommodation Services	1	24	1	24	1	1	1	24	1	24	1	24	2	24	2	24
Daytime Training		-	2	-	-	-	70	70
Vocational Rehabilitation	17	-	6	-	-	-	90	90
Resources to Parents	-	-	9	-	-	-	-	-
Specialized Project	1	-	1	-	2	-	2	-	2	-	2	-	2	-	2	-
Total	26	1 409	28	1 502	29	1 617	29	1 617	31	1 755	31	1 759	32	2 063	33	2 303

Source : SWB.

Remark : “ -” refers to inapplicability. The provision of assistance of 92 quotas of one of the early intervention and education centres has been transferred to the EYAB since 2014.

No. of Users of Rehabilitation Services/Facilities
Disability Type	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Physical disability	1 502	1 388	1 342	1 398	1 730	754	1 596	763
Intellectual disability	396	400	503	498	670	731	646	643
Mental disability	607	670	766	857	868	880	934	1 061
Hearing impairment	368	303	320	476	385	423	463	546
Speech impairment	-	117	160	62	67	85	87	96
Visual impairment	67	74	80	74	87	83	88	92
Autism	162	186	156	45	33	28	23	29
Multiple disabilities	411	408	331	362	398	445	455	450
Others	416	638	671	584	614	1 431	586	1 266
Total	3 939	4 184	4 329	4 356	4 852	4 860	4 878	4 946

Source : SWB.

Remarks : There was no statistics for any user of speech impairment in 2010.

118.For the purpose of upgrading the quality of rehabilitation services, the SWB organised training activities such as workshops, case studies, visits and exchanges for the physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists of rehabilitation institutions in 2016 and 2017, with the participation of 53 institutions and 79 people, in 2017. It introduced a subsidy programme for encouraging rehabilitation institutions to provide continuous training for personal caretakers and activity coordinators. In addition, since the organisation of a mental health first aid programme in 2015, with an aim of upgrading the knowledge of the staff of social service institutions about mental health and teaching them the fundamental techniques of relieving emotional issues, the total number of participants reached 379 as of 2017. Furthermore, the Bureau has been offering programmes to cultivate qualified mental health first aid instructors since 2016.

Article 27 (Work and employment)

119.The major changes in relation to this provision are Law 10/2015, the Labour Creditor’s Rights Protection System and AR 24/2015, the Labour Creditor’s Rights Protection Fund. With this Law and AR, claims arising from labour relations that were originally undertaken by the Social Security Fund are now undertaken by the Labour Creditor’s Rights Protection Fund, which has legal personality, to ensure the payment of labour claims when debtors fail to fulfil their obligations.

120.As regards the recommendations in paragraph 97 of the Committee’s Concluding Observations, the MSAR Government has been adopting different measures for supporting the employment of persons with disabilities. After evaluating the job applicants with disabilities, the SWB will provide them with appropriate technical training and assistance in employment and the “Task Force for Capacity Development” of the Labour Affairs Bureau (LAB) will provide them with job application registration and job-matching services for free, as well as accompany them to interviews with assistance (for instance, sign language interpreters), post-employment follow-up visits. Twenty-one seminars on employment counselling and 6 mock interviews workshops were organised for persons with disabilities between 2010 and 2017.

Situation of First-time Registered Job Applicants with Disabilities and Successful Referrals
Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
No. of First-time Registered Job Applicants	130	63	62	65	80	47	81	78
No. of Successful Referred Applicants	46	46	50	44	35	30	36	61

Source : LAB.

Remark : In order to coordinate with the entry into force of AR 3/2011, the chronic illnesses, spasm and other illnesses are no longer included in the data.

121.For the purpose of strengthening the employment capabilities of persons with disabilities, the LAB has been organising or supporting rehabilitation institutions in their organisations of training activities and the related situation is shown in the table below.

Training Course	Year	Type of Disability
Intellectual Disability	Physical Disability	Hearing impairment	Visual impairment	Mental Disability	Multiple Disabilities
Training Course for the Making and Sale of Sandwiches (Intermediate)	2009 – 2010	10	0	0	0	0	0
Pastry and Baking Course	2015	16	0	0	0	0	0
Intensive Skills Training	2015	4	16	15	2	4	4
Total	30	16	15	2	4	4
	71 (38 males and 33 females)

Source : LAB.

122.In terms of encouraging the employment of persons with disabilities, the MSAR Government subsidises the enterprises or NGOs that meet the statutory criteria in their employments of persons with disabilities, with MOP$13,800 in 6-month instalment for each employee. It is worth mentioning that the proposed law of the Tax Benefits for Employment of Persons with Disabilities for further encouraging the employment of persons with disabilities is being drafted.

123.The SWB offered start-up funds of MOP$2,000,000 and MOP$3,000,000 through the Subsidy Scheme for Career Development of Persons with Disabilities in 2010 and 2014 respectively for subsidising NGOs to establish two social enterprises; 6 vocational rehabilitation facilities were established with rehabilitation institutions in 2017, providing services including education on life planning, training on shelter work, occupational referrals, in-service follow-up and support, with approximately 420 quotas.

124.It must be pointed out that the applicable scope of the Temporary Measures for Income Subsidy launched in 2008 has extended to include persons with disabilities since 2017 and has relaxed the application criteria for encouraging and supporting the employment of persons with disabilities.

125.Since 2013, the LAB has been organising the “Work Experience Activity” for students with disabilities every summer. Until 2017, 79 persons (37 males and 42 females) between 17 and 24 participated in the activity. Among them, 63 participants are persons with intellectual disability, 4 with physical disability, 3 with autism, 6 with learning disability and 3, multiple disabilities.

126.The “Award for Employer of Persons with Disabilities” and the “Award for Outstanding Employee with Disabilities” that have been held in alternate years since 2003 continue to be conducted. The number of nominated enterprises had risen from 60 in 2011 to 78 in 2017 with 264 (148 males and 116 females) employees with disabilities being nominated as outstanding employees between 2010 and 2017. The relevant data is listed in the following table.

No. of Workers with Disabilities Nominated for the “ Award for Outstanding Employee with Disabilities ”
	Type of Disability
Year	Intellectual Disability	Physical Disability	Hearing Impairment	Visual Impairment	Mental Disability	Chronic Illness	Speech Impairment	Multiple Disabilities	Others
2010	15	14	24	0	1	0	1	5	0
2012	25	12	25	3	0	1	0	5	0
2014	23	14	26	1	3	0	0	1	1
2016	29	10	16	0	4	0	0	4	1
Total	92	50	91	4	8	1	1	15	2

Source : LAB.

127.During 2010 to 2017, the LAB received only one complaint about dismissal due to deafness and after investigation, the case was closed due to insufficient grounds.

128.With regard to job retention for workers who had work-related injuries, the law stipulates that employers should arrange suitable work in line with the workers’ physical conditions during the periods of their temporary incapacities. Should the employers dismiss the workers concerned without justifiable reasons, the workers shall receive a compensation equivalent to three months of their remuneration and the amount shall not be less than MOP$10,000 for unjustifiable dismissal (Article 55(1) and (3) of Decree-Law 40/95/M, as amended).

129.During the reporting period, the LAB had received 4 complaints related to the aforementioned unjustifiable dismissal, involving 4 workers. After investigation and follow-up, the employers of the 4 cases rectified their irregular acts accordingly afterwards. Furthermore, according to the information of the Court, work accidents resulted in the disabilities of 1,777 persons during 2012 to 2017 involved an accumulated amount of MOP$252,747,562.77 for compensation.

Article 28 (Adequate standard of living and social protection)

130.The information provided in relation to this provision in the initial report is still valid. Persons with disabilities or their families who are in financial hardship may apply for general allowance (AR 6/2007), which is granted per month. During the reporting period, the requirements of the related applications were relaxed again for expanding the scope of assistance provided and the numbers of beneficiaries concerned are listed in the following table.

Monthly Allowance Granted to Persons or Families with Disabilities
Year	Family	Individual	Amount of Subsidy (MOP$)
2010	244	251	7 364 824
2011	233	239	7 232 488
2012	228	234	8 112 910
2013	253	258	9 270 007
2014	251	257	10 418 882
2015	256	266	10 138 838
2016	260	267	10 639 683
2017	296	306	12 756 457

Source : SWB.

131.In addition, single-parent families, families of persons with disabilities and families of the chronically ill may also apply for the monthly granted special allowance, which is the allowance for learning activities, health care and disability (Order of the SSAC 18/2003, as amended). The amounts of allowance had been adjusted in 2011 and 2014 respectively, with MOP$200 (pre-primary or primary students), MOP$400 (secondary students) and MOP$600 (undergraduates) as the amounts of allowance for learning activities; MOP$1,000 (solitary) and MOP$800 (person with a family) for health care and MOP$800 (solitary) and MOP$600 (person with a family) for disability.

132.Please refer to the following table for the situation of the issue of disability allowance between 2010 and 2017.

Benefited Families
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Type of Disability/No.	Benefited Family	Beneficiaries	Benefited Family	Beneficiaries	Benefited Family	Beneficiaries	Benefited Family	Beneficiaries	Benefited Family	Beneficiaries	Benefited Family	Beneficiaries	Benefited Family	Beneficiaries	Benefited Family	Beneficiaries
Intellectual Disability	189	194	182	186	189	194	194	202	198	207	180	184	164	167	149	155
Blindness or Visual Impairment	72	81	73	82	84	91	87	95	88	96	84	91	75	82	72	79
Hearing Impairment	58	59	55	55	63	63	61	61	74	74	73	73	66	66	62	63
Physical Disability	112	114	111	112	112	114	136	139	141	147	134	140	126	130	108	115
Paralysis	59	60	58	59	57	58	56	58	45	46	34	35	31	31	28	28
Long-term Bed Confinement due to Disability	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	5	5	3	3	3	3	4	4
Others	33	34	44	45	37	37	55	55	74	76	59	60	52	53	47	49
Total No. ( Remark)	509	525	507	520	528	538	587	599	615	622	554	559	502	506	451	474
Total Amount (MOP$)	1 927 060	1 742 700	2 676 300	23 168 792	3 931 800	3 825 570	3 559 930	3 270 830

Source : SWB.

Remark : There might be more than one member with disabilities in the same family, hence the numbers of beneficiaries were greater than those of benefited families. Furthermore, the members with disabilities in the same family might be suffering from more than one type of disability, thus the numbers of benefited families with different types of disability and those of beneficiaries might be overlapped in the table. Nonetheless, the total numbers show the actual numbers of benefited families and individuals.

133.As mentioned earlier, holders of Disability Assessment Registration Cards may apply to the SWB for disability allowance, which is specifically classified into: general disability allowance granted to individuals with mild or moderate disabilities and special disability allowance, individuals with severe or extremely severe disabilities (Articles 3 and 6(1) of Law 9/2011).

134.Since Law 9/2011, both general disability allowance and special disability allowance have been increased numerous times, with disability allowance gradually upgraded from MOP$6,000 to MOP$8,000 per year, whereas special disability allowance, from MOP$12,000 to MOP$16,000 per year (Order of the CE 317/2016).

135.In order to further safeguard the fundamental living of persons with disabilities, the MSAR Government introduced the “Temporary Disability Pension” in 2014 for granting allowance to the qualified persons who had lost their entire work capacities and the amount of the related allowance is MOP$3,450 per month. The inclusion of the allowance in the social security system with the purpose of transiting it to a permanent protective measure for persons with disabilities is being studied.

Article 29 (Participation in political and public life)

136.The information in relation to this provision in the initial report are still valid.

137.In practice, the workers at the polling stations provide necessary assistance such as special care particularly for persons with disabilities, pregnant women during the operation of the polling stations on election days. The candidates’ profiles through voice recording and Braille ballot envelopes for the convenience of persons with visual impairment to fill out ballots were introduced in the Election for the Legislative Assembly 2017. In the meantime, sign language interpretation was added to the promotional videos to make it more adequate for persons with hearing impairment to understand the voting procedure and the related matters that require attention.

138.As regards the sign-up for civil service of persons with disabilities, Article 31 of AR 14/2016 on Recruitment, Selection and Promotion Training of Civil Servants stipulates that necessary measures must be provided to meet the special needs of the candidates with disabilities by responsible departments for the guarantee of equal selection. According to the statistics of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (PACSB), there were 65 civil servants with disabilities as of 2017 which was equivalent to 0.21% of the population of civil servants. Among these civil servants with disabilities, 29 suffered from physical disability, 3 from visual impairment, 11 from hearing impairment, 1 from speech impairment, 4 from intellectual disability, 1 from mental disability and 16 from other disorders.

Article 30 (Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport)

139.The major change in relation to this provision is the amendment to the Regulation of Pecuniary Awards of High-Level Sports Games by Order of the SSAC 176/2015, which sets up unified reward standards and provisions for the sports for persons with disabilities and those for the able-bodied, affirming athletes’ devotion and endeavour equally.

140.The MSAR has been promoting sports activities as one of the rehabilitation means for persons with disabilities. Between 2010 and 2017, the Sports Bureau (SB) organised 558 classes of “Sports for All Fitness and Recreational Classes” that were suitable for persons with disabilities (over 8,500 quotas) and organises summer activities, which last for two months every year. So far, 220 classes (4,142 quotas) have been organised. Furthermore, the Bureau also organises integrated sports activities for persons with disabilities and the able-bodied with different themes for enabling persons with disabilities to integrate into society through the sports platform. During the same period, the SB subsidised the sports organisations for persons with disabilities in approximately 300 local and foreign sports activities and competitions with 4,000 beneficiaries.

141.As regards the participation of persons with disabilities in culture and art, the relevant activities organised by the MSAR Government are always free for persons with disabilities, with the pre-reservation of specific areas for them and assistance, including free transportation and guided tour services. Between 2010 and 2017, the Cultural Affairs Bureau subsidised or provided 140 performances or exchange activities, including concerts, dramas, dance performances, exhibitions, “Film Festival for Persons with Hearing Impairment” and applied universal accessible means, such as accessible subtitles, descriptive video services, theatrical interpretation, sign language interpretation for persons with disabilities.

IV.Specific Obligations

Article 31 (Statistics and data collection)

142.The MSAR Government established the Assessment, Registration and Certification System for the Classification of the Type and Degree of Disability with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Model as the basis. Pursuant to Article 15 of the aforementioned model, the SWB must open a file for each interested party, with the inclusion of their identification information and assessment report. The content of the assessment report will enter the disability assessment database for the convenience of relevant government departments to configure welfare and services for persons with disabilities based on it and the data collected will serve as the fundamental norm for the enactment, monitoring and assessment of rehabilitation policies for the persistent optimisation of rehabilitation policies. There were 11,845 holders of Disability Assessment Registration Cards as of 2017 which was equivalent to 1.8% of the Macao population and which had increased by 704 people compared to 2011. The relevant data is shown in the following table.

No. of Holders of Disability Assessment Registration Cards by Gender, Disability Type and Degree (As of 2017)
Type/Degree of Disability	By Type But Not by Level	Mild Disability	Moderate Disability	Severe Disability	Extremely Severe Disability	M	F	Total No. of People
Physical Disability	9	2 145	1 146	825	189	2 289	2 025	4 314
Visual Impairment	3	128	24	159	293	308	299	607
Hearing Impairment	18	702	914	248	539	1 255	1 166	2 421
Intellectual Disability	38	387	368	235	105	625	508	1 133
Mental Disability	35	817	554	922	106	1 103	1 331	2 434
Speech Impairment	0	11	6	24	0	37	4	41
Multiple Disabilities	3	119	187	323	263	485	410	895
Total	106	4 309	3 199	2 736	1 495	6 102	5 743	11 845

Source : SWB.

Remarks : 1. By type but not by level: Pursuant to AR 3/2011, for children below 4, they will only be assessed by disability type. 2. For persons with multiple disabilities, the amount of disability subsidy will be granted according to their highest levels of disability.

No. of Holders of Disability Assessment Registration Cards by Age Group (As of 2017)
Age Group	Physical Disability	Visual Impairment	Hearing Impairment	Intellectual Disability	Mental Disability	Speech Impairment	Multiple Disabilities	Total No.
4 or Below	9	3	18	38	35	0	3	106
4 – 6	6	2	7	25	59	0	13	112
7 – 17	40	8	38	147	117	0	119	469
18 – 21	19	4	12	116	27	0	56	234
22 – 34	162	19	118	412	284	0	174	1 169
35 – 44	156	20	100	153	340	0	79	848
45 – 54	451	55	204	103	499	5	70	1 387
55 – 64	1 307	117	502	96	608	17	110	2 757
65 – 74	1 058	173	635	37	268	14	84	2 269
75 – 84	613	136	462	5	114	5	84	1 419
85 or Above	493	70	325	1	83	0	103	1 075
Total	4 314	607	2 421	1 133	2 434	41	895	11 845
%	36.42%	5.12%	20.44%	9.57%	20.55%	0.35%	7.56%	100.00

Source : SWB.

Remark : The data is categorised by age group as of the date of statistics.

Article 32 (International cooperation) and Article 33(National implementation and monitoring)

143.Regarding the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, the MSAR is willing to launch international cooperation in appropriate fields and within its competence pursuant to the provision of Article 136 of the BL.

144.The Ten-Year Plan has been included in the Five-Year Development Plan of the MSAR (2016–2020) as one of the key work for the MSAR’s general development. An assessment and review mechanism has been established, implying an annual assessment and review, the mid-term assessment in the fifth year and the ten-year conclusion for reviewing work efficacy. Reporting the status of the plan to society on regular basis will be made aiming at adjusting and optimising the plan in accordance with the changes in social development and the demands of persons with disabilities.