Disability Standards

The national Government has launched formal Disability Standards for Access to Premises [here]. The Standards, in the form of a 54 page document, articulate minimum access requirements for people with a disability - in practice a physical disability - in relation to publicly accessible buildings (ie buildings such as office blocks, shops, hotels, motels and common areas of new apartment blocks rather than to private houses). Existing buildings are "covered to the extent that they undergo significant upgrade work" and the Standards contain an exemption for circumstances where compliance would "cause unjustifiable hardship for the persons undertaking the upgrade".

The Standards cover features such as accessible lifts, corridors, stairs, ramps and toilets. The expectation is that -

by requiring better access to buildings, the Standards will ensure that people with a disability can access employment, services and the community on an equal basis with other Australians.

The Standards will also provide greater certainty for business by providing for national consistency and reducing different regulatory arrangements. They will also provide the basis for improved arrangements for disability access in the Building Code of Australia. ...

The finalisation of these Standards represents an important part of ensuring an inclusive Australian society that enables people with a disability to fulfil their potential as equal citizens.

The Standards will commence on 1 May 2011; the Government has agreed to undertake a review of the Standards within five years. They inform the 10-year National Disability Strategy, to be released later this year.

Finalisation of the Standards has been informed by the Access All Areas: Inquiry into Draft Disability (Access to Premises - Buildings) Standards report [PDF] from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal & Constitutional Affairs. (The Government's response to that report was also released today.)