Tabling of Disability Standards on Access to Premises

Graeme Innes, Disability Discrimination Commissioner and Race Discrimination Commissioner

Canberra, 15 March 2010

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

Thank you Attorney General, and Minister Carr, and Parliamentary Secretary Shorten, for the invitation to participate in this launch of the Premises Standards. And thank you Ms Rein for your support of this important event. And its appropriate that the launch takes place in this building- one of the few in Australia with braille on its walls. Sadly, though, Qantas wouldn't let me bring my ladder on the plane, so I still haven't been able to read what it says. However, Google tells me that some quite subversive messages were put there.

The Premises Standards contain many exciting and long overdue improvements to the design and construction of public buildings. The tabling of the Standards marks the final stage in what will be the most comprehensive range of improvements in the accessibility of public buildings Australia has ever seen.

For the first time since the DDA was enacted, we will be able to point to a set of standards that clearly define the minimum access requirements for new and renovated public buildings. This will benefit the building industry, by providing them with the greatest surety possible on what they must do to meet their responsibilities under the DDA. It will benefit regulators and certifiers, who currently have to steer a path between two sets of inconsistent regulations. And it will benefit millions of Australians with disability, who simply want to enjoy their right to work, play, and participate in all aspects of our society.

Their adoption will also significantly improve the safety and usability of buildings for all Australians, and take us closer to addressing the regulatory duplication and inconsistency that currently exists in the building area.

The development of the Premises Standards has been a long and difficult process, involving negotiations and compromises between groups with differing needs, views and expectations. No doubt the final standards will not meet all the expectations of those who have been closely involved in the development process.

Some requirements of the standards will be a challenge for designers and industry, some areas of application will continue to rely on building professionals interpreting the requirements, and some parts of the standards will not fully meet the expectations of access advocates. The challenges and concerns will be considered as part of the review of the standards that must be completed before the end of the first five years of operation.

For now, though, it is time to finalise and celebrate this important work. No matter what the challenges and disappointments, the launching of the Premises Standards deserves to be celebrated, as heralding the most important package of access improvements we have ever seen in Australia.

This event is an opportunity to recognise the contribution made to the development of the standards by hundreds of people. First, I acknowledge the commitment made by the Attorney General, and Minister Carr, to getting this work finished, and the fulfillment of that commitment. The Premises Standards will not simply lead to important changes in our public buildings. They will also make a significant contribution to the Government's social inclusion agenda, as well as many of the priorities under the National Disability Strategy, the details of which we eagerly await.

Second, I acknowledge the contribution made by many people to the work of the Building Access Policy Committee, and its technical committee, members of the Standards Australia committees that developed the referenced technical requirements, and members of the Disability Access Reference Group. Representatives from the various industry groups, professional bodies, and community organisations, made an enormous commitment to the development of the Premises Standards, and many of us sat through 38 BAPC meetings, and over 40 technical meetings. I particularly want to mention our colleagues in the Australian Building Codes Board, who have nursed this baby for many years. Our colleagues in the Department of Innovation, Industry Science and Research, and those in the Attorney Generals Department, who have had to deal with its adolescent challenges as it approaches maturity.

It is always a little unfair to single out individuals, but I do acknowledge the contribution made by Robert Jones and Max Murray, two of the disability community representatives who volunteered their time on the BAPC throughout the development of the draft, and who unfortunately were not able to attend today. Undoubtedly they will want to continue to advocate for improvements in the standards, through the review process, but I congratulate them on their vigorous and tenacious advocacy, which made the standards far better than they would otherwise have been.

Further, I congratulate Mark Dreyfus and members of the House Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, and the drafting team on their report - Access all Areas. This report made an important and valuable contribution to the finalisation of this work, and I acknowledge the unanimous support for the standards the committee achieved. I hope that unanimity will remain as the standards complete the journey through Parliament.

Finally, I acknowledge the work of my colleague at the Human Rights Commission Michael Small. If some nursed the baby, and guided the adolescent, then Michael stands out as the doting dad. Sometimes, encouraging, sometimes cajoling, and sometimes cranky- but always passionately committed to the rights of people with disability, the needs of industry, and the importance of getting the bloody thing over the line. He will sleep more restfully once fifteen sitting days have elapsed in both houses.

The standards now embark on the 42nd kilometre of a very long marathon. We can hear the crowd in the stadium, but haven't yet crossed the finish line. I agree with that well-known olympic commentator Mark Dreyfus, who said in his committees report "People with a disability have waited more than long enough for better access to premises."

Thousands of inaccessible buildings have been constructed during the development of these Standards. It's been a long time coming--let's finish it now.