Home » AFDO Newsletter » October 2007 Issue

Access to Information

Collette O’Neill

When AFDO launched its Access to Premises campaign kit recently, we were contacted by several people congratulating us on the kit, but wondering when we would see action on the crucial issue of access to information.

For example, one person wrote:

I think this is a great campaign initiative. I was also thinking about people who cannot speak or who have speech that is difficult to understand and those with literacy issues. When people think of access, they only seem to think in terms of physical access. But there are other types of access barriers that people with disabilities face. There are communication access barriers – both in understanding written information and in being understood.

Another person wrote:

I have just read with interest about the Access to Premises campaign. A worthwhile project! However I was wondering if there is a plan for Access to Information campaign in the pipeline? There are people with a disability who are able to get into the buildings but are unable to access the information within the buildings (eg. people with a hearing loss).

These emails raise a number of issues. What is in the proposed Access to Premises Standard that will help people with communication? And what is being done more generally to progress access to information.

What does the Disability Discrimination Act say?
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) sets out the specific areas in which it is prohibited to discriminate against a person on the ground of their disability. These are:
• Employment
• Education
• Access to premises used by the public
• Provision of goods, services and facilities
• Accommodation
• Buying land
• Activities of clubs and associations
• Sport
• Administration of Commonwealth Government laws and programs

Access to information is crucial to people obtaining their rights in each of these areas.

Is there anything in the proposed Access to Premises Standard that will help?
The DDA definition of ‘premises’ is very broad and includes:
• existing buildings, including heritage buildings;
• proposed or new buildings;
• car parks;
• open air sports venues; and
• pathways, public gardens and parks.

In fact, any part of the ‘built environment’ that the public is entitled, or allowed, to enter or use fits within the definition of premises.

In addition, as the DDA refers to the ‘use’ of premises, it also covers issues such as fit out design, for example, tenant directories and signs.

In 2000, the Commonwealth Government amended the DDA to allow for the development of Disability Standards in relation to Access to Premises.

Currently, the construction of buildings is governed by the Building Code of Australia (BCA).

As there is an existing building code, it made sense to start the development of the Premises Standard by changing the building code. However, it should be remembered that the Premises Standard and the BCA are not the same thing. The Premises Standard refers to the BCA, but it can also go further.

One of the effects of agreeing to concentrate first on bringing the building code into line with the DDA has been to limit the scope of the Premises Standard. The building code covers structural things like ceiling height and doorway widths; basically the “shell” of a building. The building code does not control how the building is then fitted out, for example it does not cover most of the signs put up by tenants.

This has meant that many of the communication-related needs of people with disability were automatically excluded from being addressed during the first stage of the Standards’ development. This has been a significant problem considering the length of time it has taken to develop the draft Standards.

Notwithstanding this, the draft Access to Premises Standards do include some measures that will make a difference to people who face communication barriers. For example, increased accessible signage, that is, signs which include braille and raised tactile lettering.

And, until the Access to Premises Standards are finalised the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission is providing direction through its publication Access to buildings and services: Guidelines and information. The Guidelines include communication related items such as the provision of hearing loops.

What else is happening or can be done?

There is a lot of activity taking place around communication access currently. Such as:

• In July the Australian Film Finance Corporation (FFC) introduced compulsory captioning for deaf and hard of hearing audiences on all feature films it finances.

• Scope (Victoria) is trialling a communication accessible logo so that people thinking of using a shop or service can know whether the staff are “communication friendly” or not. For more information contact crc@scopevic.org.au or visit http://www.scopevic.org.au/therapy_crc_news.html

• In September the Government announced an investigation into access to electronic media for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. In October the inquiry was extended to include blind or vision impaired people. The inquiry is being coordinated by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts in consultation with other relevant Australian Government agencies.

• Deafness sector organisations are negotiating with cinemas, TV and other industry for better communication access.

• Deafness Forum of Australia have submitted a position statement to the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs on communication access to government information.

For more information, visit the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission website: www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/captioning.htm

or the Deafness Forum Australia website: www.deafnessforum.org.au/position%20statements.htm

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