Donald Trumps Can-Do does it for the Disability Vote A reader asked me why people with disability appear vocal in their support of Trump? Firstly we need to understand the difference in US and Australian disability policy development. And second, we need to see how Trump might end the rhetoric and actually make a difference. In the USA, disability rights have traditionally been championed as a patriot movement about treating returned veterans with respect, that traces back to the Civil War and civil rights amendment to the constitution. Whereas in Australia, policy tends to...
In collaboration with Red Cross in Honiara Special Education Unit, we're recovering school grounds destroyed during recent Solomon Island storms. By reframing ideas of play from a fixed equipment to an urban farm adventure, we aimed to build resilience and sustainable life skills that lead to career opportunities for students with disabilities, teachers, and families. The Red Cross initially approached us for advice on the selection of play equipment for kids with disabilities. While there are a number of accessible play units on the market, what we were concerned about is the value added...
Access to Premises Standard or just Premises Standard is the abridged name for the Disability Access to Premises (Building) Standard 2010 document referenced within the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 (DDA). The Premises Standard is intended to give greater legal weight to the provisions for disability access within the Building Code of Australia (BCA), and in practice, the Premises Standard mutually recognises the BCA and Visa Versa, meaning that compliance with the BCA is to comply with the DDA. Premises Standards History Immediately following the introduction of the...
Peninsula News - 17 Mar 2014 Boarding house objections may deny human rights Objections to a new boarding house proposed for Ettalong may result in a denial of human rights, according to the author of a new housing standard which rates housing for affordability and accessibility to work and other services. Mr Richard Brew, author of the Annex-5 housing standard, said that a failure to provide adequate housing was a failure to protect human rights. "Rejecting housing development without solid justification is at odds with the natural right to a home," he said. He said groups...
Annex: a Universal Design Standard Annex is a process centered Universal Design standard, which is different to other template-based universal standard. It is necessary, especially in public places, to have generic facilities that meet most people’s needs most of the time or universal design. Yet relying on templates alone will lead to one-size-fits-all outcomes or over design, compliance gridlock if the template will not fit the building and a reliance on the standard for situations where it was not intended such as home modifications to address a person’s individual disability or...
WHS in the home The general exemption for homes, dwellings, units apartments, houses. It’s a moot question whether a home is a workplace and therefore required to be safe and accessible. The community like to think of our house as a home and not a workplace and this is reflected in the exemption of most freestanding houses from the Premises Standards. There may be an issue in housing when a house becomes a workplace or an apartment building with accommodation and communal areas. However, generally speaking, the Premises standards doesn't extend to single dwellings, townhouses or...