Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Website

Disability Rights update: August 2006

Other recent editions: June 2006 | April 2006 | February 2006 | October 2005 | August 2005 . Material from older editions is incorporated in HREOC's annual reports available online.

About this update

This Update from Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes is a slightly edited version of his regular disability rights project report for meetings of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. It is published as close as possible to Commission meetings, which are generally held 6 to 8 weeks apart. Events are notified first in the What s New section of the Disability Rights home page, so check there if you want to keep fully up to date.

You can subscribe to our email list to be notified when new editions of this update are issued and when other major developments occur, by sending a blank message to join-drupdate@list.humanrights.gov.au

Your comments on any project or issue are welcome, preferably sent by e-mail. Contact us at: disabdis@humanrights.gov.au , or by mail to Disability Rights Unit, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 1042.

Employment Inquiry

On separate occasions I met with the Minister for Workforce Participation, Dr Sharman Stone, and one of her advisers to congratulate DEWR on the uptake of some of the Inquiry's recommendations and explore the Department's commitment to other recommendations made in the final report. In particular, the necessity of a national disability employment strategy, the key recommendation of the Inquiry, was discussed. DEWR is currently discussing a strategy which is much narrower in scope than the strategy outlined in the Inquiry's final report. I am hoping we can persuade the Government to adopt a broader approach. A speech was also presented on my behalf on this issue at national employment service providers' conference.

Importantly, I received DEWR's response to the Inquiry recommendations. This was an informal stock take of recent policy developments against each recommendation. I met with the author of that report (the Group Manager, Working Age Policy Group, DEWR) to discuss potential areas of collaborative work and government support. A following up response is being planned. Collaborative work has continued with the Department on a variety of issues, mostly related to the one-stop-information-shop website and advice service.

With regards to the employment of people in the disability in the public sector, we are assisting the Australian Employers Network on Disability with a workshop to be hosted by the APSC in October, which will occur after the release of the Management Advisory Committee's 'Review into the Employment of People with Disability in the APS'. The workshop will be attended by the MAC group (19 Secretaries across the APS who are responsible for advising the Australian Government on matters relating to the management of the Australian Public Service) and their Human Resources counterparts.

I wrote to the Minister for Human Services, Minister Joe Hockey, regarding privacy concerns with regard to the new Job Capacity Assessment processes. I subsequently met with the Minister for Workforce Participation, Dr Sharman Stone who handles a component of this policy. I recently received a written reply from Minister Hockey stating his view that there is no cause for concern. We are continuing our liaison with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on this issue.

I also met with Professor Ian Harper from the Australian Fair Pay Commission to discuss minimum wage issues for people with disability in the open workplace. A submission was also lodged further outlining our concerns and issues for consideration in the first national wage decision.

Mental Health

I attended a consultation meeting with the COAG Health Working Group to discuss the development of the National Action Plan on Mental Health 2006-2011 and submitted additional material for consideration. I also wrote to the Minister for Health to discuss concerns with the consultation process.

I also presented a speech on the use of advance directives ("living wills") for people with mental illness to the Mental Health Legal Centre in Melbourne .

Access to Premises

We are still awaiting news from the Attorney-General on progress in relation to the proposed Premises Standards.

I have commenced discussions with the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors on ways in which the Commission might assist in identifying training and education needs of building certifiers once the proposed Premises Standard is completed.

A number of updated Frequently asked Questions on issues such as footpath use, footpath maintenance and advice to local government have been made available on the Commission's website.

Productivity Commission review of the DDA

Discussions are continuing on progressing the Government's response to this review. I understand that it is still hoped to have a Bill available during the Winter session of the Parliament.

Health access

I have held further meetings with the disability sector, Health Department and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners on the issue of height-adjustable examination beds. I remain confident that a partnership between the disability sector, government and the College will allow for significant improvements in the availability of adjustable beds in General Practices.

Accessible electronic financial services

Work is progressing with the Australian Bankers' Association on the issue of accessible security and authentication systems. I expect to participate, along with representatives from the financial services area and the disability sector, in a Working Group that will identify accessible performance requirements for a range of security and authentication systems.

Transport issues

I recently attending the Accessible Public Transport National Advisory Committee in Alice Springs . It would appear that - overall - progress is good towards the first compliance point in the Standards in December next year. The meeting was advised that States and Territories will be providing compliance data to the Commission - through the Department of Transport - by the end of this month. Progress on the development of a review process for the Standards has been very slow, but it is hoped that this will change in the next couple of months.

Recommendations will be made to the Commission shortly on further action on the Australian Railways Association application for exemptions in relation to the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport, following the recent receipt of further comments on possible decisions on the various points of requested exemption from the ARA, disability community representatives and the Accessible Public Transport Jurisdictional Committee.

As foreshadowed in the last report, a comment on the interpretation of the application to bus stops of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport, developed in response to approaches by a number of Local Government authorities and a consortium of Queensland organisations, is now available through the Commission's website.

Recent meetings / speeches / media

Commissioner Innes except where otherwise indicated

5 June Keynote to ACROD The Next Five Years Forum
5 June Minister Abbott re health and other issues
6 June NGO Forum at EOC Qld (all Commission members)
7 June Qld Advocacy and PWDA
8 June Deafness Forum re captioning (Cmr Innes, Mr Small)
8 June Attorney-General (all Commission members)
9June Talk to schoolchildren re guide dogs and blindness issues
9 June Nick Xerakias, office of Dr Sharman Stone
9 June UNSW Class Session re disability rights and the law
15 June Alex Varley, Access Media (Cmr Innes, Mr Small)
19 June Mark Bagshaw, Aust Disability Advisory Training Council (ADTAC) Joint Chair
19 June Interview Financial Review re access to premises standards
19 June Interview Australian re adjustable height couches
20 June Chris Puplick re smartcard proposal
21 June Shadow Attorney Nicola Roxon re various issues
21 June: DDA forum: Employment and Disability, Sydney (Mr Mason)
22 June Advance Directives Forum Melbourne (Cmr Innes, Ms Ricci)
22 June COAG Mental Health consultation, Melb (Cmr Innes, Ms Ricci)
27 June Attend roundtable meeting on payphones guidelines at ACIF
29 June Joanne Nicol, Disability Officer Sydney CC (Cmr Innes, Mr Small)
30 June Josh Faulks, A-G's advisor, re various issues
6 July ABC Radio Perth re Access to Premises
7 July Interview, Damien Carrick, The Law Report, Radio National re employment and disability
7 July Minister for Workforce Participation Dr Sharman Stone
14 July Seminar, Disability Convention Monitoring, Sydney (Cmr Innes, Mr Mason)
17 July Kath McNamara, disability consultant, re OH&S issues and attendant carers
18 July Richard Eccles, Dept Health & Ageing
18 July Attorney-General's Department, s, re DDA review implemention, Canberra (Cmr Innes, Mr Mason)
18 July Barry Sanderson, DEWR, Canberra
20 July Prof Ian Harper, Aust Fair Pay Commission, Melb
20 July Maryanne Diamond, AFDO, re various issues, Melb
20 July Association for Children with Disability, Melb
21 July RACGP re height adjustable couches
25 July Chrissie Tucker, ABC
25 July: Aust. Inst. Building Surveyors, Sydney (Mr Small)
27 July Meeting IFSA/ICA/Treasury/A.G's re DDA industry guidelines on insurance & super, Sydney (Cmr Innes, Mr Mason)
31 July Aviation Access forum, Sydney (Cmr Innes, Mr Mason)
2 August APTJC Meeting Alice Springs
2-3 August APTNAC Meeting Alice Springs
7 August Stephen Gianni, Leadership Plus, Melbourne
9 August EOC WA Commissioner Yvonne Henderson
10 August NGO forum, Perth

Site navigation

navigation Disability Rights