Disability and the Global South, 2018 OPEN ACCESS Vol.5, No. 2, 1430-1449 ISSN 2050-7364 www.dgsjournal.org © The Authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License 1430 The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implications for the health and wellbeing of indigenous peoples with disabilities: A comparison across Australia, Mexico and New Zealand Minerva C. Rivas Velarde a* , Patricia O’Brien b , Trevor R. Parmenter c a University of Geneva; b University of Sydney; c University of Sydney. Corresponding Author- Email: minerva.rivas@unige.ch This paper explores how the expressed health needs of Indigenous peoples with disabilities resonate with the mandate of Article 25 ‘Health’ of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The perceptions of indigenous peoples with disabilities are investigated, regarding their access to, and expectations of, health care. Their views are compared to those of health workers, senior bureaucrats and United Nations delegates. An exploratory case study approach was taken to compare three jurisdictions: Australia, Mexico and New Zealand. The data collection techniques used involved semi-structured interviews, focus groups and field notes. The findings suggest that the health needs of indigenous peoples with disabilities are largely underserved and misunderstood by health departments. Specialised and preventive health care for those with disabilities was found to be particularly problematic. Poverty, discrimination and disenfranchisement emerged as being the possible major determinants of the ill health experienced by indigenous peoples with disabilities. The findings and conclusions outlined in this paper advocate the need to build capacity and rights literacy for indigenous peoples with disabilities, particularly with respect to the CRPD, in order to enhance its impact on the health of indigenous people. A legitimate redistribution of resources and decision-making in response to the expressed health needs of indigenous peoples with disabilities is needed if the vision of the CPRD is to be realised in relation to Article 25. Keywords: Indigenous persons with disabilities; Right to health; CRPD; Barriers to health care; Disability Introduction Disability is known to be a cause and consequence of poverty (WHO and World Bank, 2011). It took 30 years, from 1976 (when the UN adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons) to 2006 to the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.