International Day of People with Disabilities Keynote Speech

Parramatta City Council
3 December 2007
Graeme Innes AM
Human Rights and Disability Discrimination Commissioner

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today.

Thanks for the chance to speak with you today. As you might guess, in my role as Disability Discrimination Commissioner, I receive many invitations to speak at functions on the international day. One of the reasons I chose this invitation is because of the really important role that Local Government plays in the lives of all Australians. It deals with the issues that are in your face- and I know, because until two years ago I was a Councillor on Ku-Ring-Gai Council. Local Government can make a huge difference in the lives of Australians with disabilities- in the way street scapes and footpaths are designed, built and kept free of obstructions, in the way building applications are approved taking access into account, and through the accessibility of community facilities. So I'm very pleased that Parramatta Council views this day with such importance- and I trust that access issues for people with disabilities have the same importance on the other 364 days of the year when you are making Council and officer-level decisions.

In my remarks today I'm going to address three areas, all of which are very relevant to Local Government- employment, building access, and bus stops.

On 16 December 1992, the General Assembly of the United Nations appealed to Governments around the world to observe 3 December of each year as International Day of people with disabilities. This is a day to celebrate abilities of people with a disability all over the world. The aim of observing this day each year is to increase awareness, and understanding, of disability issues, and the gains to be derived from the integration of people with a disability in every aspect of life. The nomination and celebration of this day is an important tool in promoting the rights of people with a disability.

But an international day, on its own, is not going to redress the discrimination which Australians with disabilities face throughout our community. Whilst things have improved a lot during the last few decades, the view expressed by the first Disability Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Hastings that we swim in a sea of discrimination is still true. So, in my view, the international day should not only be a celebration, but an opportunity for us to pause and look both at what has been achieved, and what is still left to do. That will be the flavour of my speech today.

Internationally, the most important occurrence this year for people with disabilities was the passage by the United Nations General Assembly of the International Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The Convention, which almost 120 countries have signed, and 8 have ratified, sets out fundamental rights and freedoms for people with disabilities around the world, in all areas of life. Whilst it won't, in a major way, advance the rights of people with disabilities in Australia (because our laws are already well advanced) the value of an international instrument such as this to people with disabilities around the world cannot be under-estimated.

I don't have time today to talk about all of the provisions of the Convention. But of particular relevance because the focus of this year's international day is decent employment for people with disabilities, is Article 27 of the Convention which deals with work and employment. The article recognises the right to work, in a labour market that is open, inclusive and accessible. It requires States to promote the realisation of that right through-

• Prohibition of discrimination;
• Protection of just and favourable conditions of work;
• Exercise of trade union rights;
• Availability of vocational training;
• Promotion of employment opportunities and continued advancement;
• Promotion of self-employment;
• Provision of employment in the public sector;
• Promotion of private sector employment through affirmative action, incentives and other measures;
• Ensuring the provision of reasonable accommodation or adjustment;
• Promotion of work experience in open employment; and
• Promotion of rehabilitation and return-to-work programmes.

We are, through Government and corporate initiatives, doing most of these things. But clearly, given the major disparity in employment rates between people with disabilities and the general community, we're not yet doing them well enough. So setting them out in a Convention such as this, which I expect the Australian Government will ratify some time next year, will encourage us to do them better.

I now want to talk about The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. No, this presentation has not morphed into a film review, and I'm not about to start whistling that well-known tune. I'm going to give a plug for a resource the Commission released during the year.

Over the past decade, we have dealt with thousands of inquiries from people with disabilities, designers, builders and certifiers, about how to make sure buildings are accessible at a level consistent with responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). As most of you will know, while the Human Rights Commission has issued advisory notes and guidelines on good practice, the DDA does not include technical specifications that can be referred to for compliance.

In order to give greater clarity to what is required, the Human Rights Commission, and many industry, community and government bodies, have been working with the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) to develop a DDA Disability Standard on Access to Premises (Premises Standard). When completed, this Premises Standard, and corresponding changes to the Building Code of Australia (BCA), will provide designers, builders and certifiers with design specifications deemed to meet both DDA and BCA requirements.

In the meantime, new buildings are being built, and existing buildings renovated. Unfortunately, the experience of the Commission is that in far too many cases the requirements for access of even the current BCA, and its referenced Australian Standards, are not being met.

This is simply not acceptable. Failure to put in fire control systems to specification, or failures to ensure footings are appropriate for buildings, are not tolerated. Yet we seem to tolerate handrails in accessible toilets being put in upside down, missing signage that is required by the BCA, and ineffectively located Tactile Ground Surface Indicators.

In an attempt to draw attention to these failings, we have produced a resource called The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It provides examples of common mistakes made in applying the BCA, and its referenced Australian Standards, which could be used by designers, builders, certifiers and access experts as an education and information tool. The purpose of this resource is to explain why precise application of the BCA, and its referenced Australian Standards, is necessary, by describing how people with disability benefit from good design and construction.

It does not try to replicate all the access provisions of the BCA or Australian Standards in words and pictures, and it does not seek to define access requirements under the DDA. It simply draws attention to the fact that the technical specifications are there for a reason, and failure to apply them has serious consequences.

The resource is available free on CD, and is also on our website. The address is www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights

Finally, bus stops. Our buses are accessible, but our bus stops aren't: and I want to harness community action for improvement. Low-floor accessible buses are of little benefit to Australians with mobility disabilities if bus stops are not accessible as well. So this must change.

The Disability Discrimination Act Accessible Transport Standards require that 25 per cent of buses and bus stops must be accessible for people with disability by 31 December this year. Most major bus operators throughout Australia will meet or exceed this target. Compliance of bus stops with the Standards has not been thoroughly audited, but anecdotal evidence suggests that compliance is well below the 25 per cent target.

Basic compliance requires that the curb at a bus stop must be level with the low floor of the bus, so that people in a wheelchair, or with other mobility issues, can board easily. It's not much use having an accessible bus, if people with mobility disabilities can't get on board.

The Standards require that people with mobility disabilities must be able to-

1. Get to, and away from, the bus stop -- while the Standards do not extend beyond the bus stop, they do require a seamless transition from the bus stop to the surrounding footpath where one exists;

2. Have sufficient circulation space to get onto and off an accessible bus;

3. Safely use a boarding device deployed by an accessible bus; and

4. Get to and from any infrastructure associated with the bus stop, and used by passengers in conjunction with travelling on a public transport service, such as a bus shelter.

I am launching today a public awareness project, Getting everybody on the bus, which will encourage schools, universities, and other sectors of the community, to start auditing their local bus stops, and drawing non-compliance to the attention of the local council responsible. I want to obtain community input on the way the campaign should be designed and developed. Suggestions on the design and development of the campaign, particularly from teachers, can be sent in by email toeducation@humanrights.gov.au

If this bus stops project is successful, the campaign could be extended to a broader range of community facilities. People with disabilities are members of the broader community, and this campaign will encourage the broader community to ensure that facilities are available to everyone, including people with disabilities. Over the coming years, I'd like to see school and university students completing access audits as part of their curriculum work, and submitting the results to the providers of those facilities. Owners of offices, shops, playground equipment and transport systems would then have to explain why their facilities are only available to people who do not have disabilities. The responsibility for achieving an accessible community does not just rest with people with disabilities- it rests with all of us.

We can all play a part in the inclusion process:

• By including people with disabilities, as we do other members of our community, as part of our lives, at school, work or in community and sporting activities;
• By working with disability advocacy organisations to achieve positive change; or
• By supporting the many areas in which all levels of Government and private enterprise are facilitating change.

People with disabilities are not heroes, and are not victims. We are agents of our own destiny, seeking an equal place in the Australian community.

Thanks for the chance to speak with you today.