|
Home
About
Us
Media
Priorities
Publications
Education
Students
Service
Guide
Contact
Us
|
Buildings, public
and private , must be:
VISITABLE
— dwellings must permit a wheelchair
user to visit (friends, family members,
neighbours) but not necessarily live in
that house or unit on a permanent
basis.
At
the minimum level of visitability new
private dwellings would have step free
approaches to the main entrance. There
would be no step at the main entrance
to the dwelling. A toilet that could
accommodate a wheelchair user with the
door closed would be located on the
same level as the main entrance. A
standard broadly similar to this level
of visitability was introduced in the
UK for all new-build private dwellings
approved for construction from 1st
January 2001.
ADAPTABLE
— a house or unit would be
designed from the outset with the
potential to be adapted at low cost to
become the permanent home of a person with
physical disability or to allow for the
possibility that current occupiers would
not be forced to relocate if they were to
acquire a disability.
The
approach and threshold would have not
steps. The toilet would allow for
adaptation to become a wheelchair
accessible 'wet-floor' shower and
toilet area with the potential for the
installation of grab rails and handles
(only if required). At least one
bedroom would be on the same level as
the main entry door. The kitchen would
be on the same level as the level
entrance, shower room and bedroom.
Typically, in an adaptable dwelling,
kitchen units would be modular, capable
of easy and low cost adaptation or
replacement to meet particular needs of
specific occupants. Light switches and
electrical sockets would be positioned
within a height range that could be
reached by any occupant.
ACCESSIBLE
— a new private dwelling (house
or unit) would be ready for immediate
occupation by a person with a physical
disability, including wheelchair
users.
By
designing all new private dwellings to
one or another of these levels of
accessibility many of the problems
currently encountered by people with
physical disability looking to rent or
purchase property or visit friends,
family members or neighbours would be
removed.
|
If a building is not
accessible at all or offers limited access
or access only by less dignified means
for people with disability than for the
community of users as a whole, we assert that such
buildings lack quality. Such buildings are
fundamentally flawed in conception, design,
construction and functional capability.
'Unjustifiable hardship' for
an owner or operator of premises
The DDA does not
require access to be provided to the premises if it
would impose such an 'unjustifiable hardship' on
the person who would have to provide the access. It
is generally agreed however that it is unlikely to
ever cause a developer an unjustifiable hardship to
design and construct accessible buildings when
access is considered at the concept
stage.
See Scarlett
Finney v. The Hills Grammar School
(1997-2000)
|
Documents
Adaptable
Housing
Brochure
(2.07 MB)
Information
sheet on access to premises
standard
(2.07 MB)
From
the Australian Building Commission.
Lifecycle
Housing
(3.13 MB)
From
the Disability Council of NSW.
Accessible
Housing in
Australia
(176 KB)
From
the Disability Council of NSW.
Contacts
& Organisations
Association
of Consultants in Access, Australia
(ACA)—
Telephone
(03) 5221 2820
National
membership-based professional association for
people working to achieve accessibility of the
built environment for people with a
disability.
Australian
Network for Universal Housing
Design—
Telephone
(02) 9370-3100
Working
for access provisions in the Building Code of
Australia for all new and extensively modified
housing based on the principles of universal
design.
Australian
Standard AS4299: Adaptable housing
Available
from Standards Australia www.standards.com.au
or phone 1300
65 46 46
Complaints
about access to the built
environment
Any
person who considers they have been discriminated
against because of their disability can lodge a
complaint through a number of avenues.
Guide
to designing accessible
homes
Australian
guide to designing accessible homes by the
Australian Building Commission.
Home
Modification Information
Clearinghouse—
Telephone
(02) 9351-9376
Developing
and disseminating home maintenance and modification
knowledge in order to improve outcomes in direct
service provision as well as improving outcomes for
the general community through capacity building
activities.
Housing
For Life—
Telephone
(02) 6247-2099
A
home that can accommodate anybody, that is, it
allows for diverse needs, lifestyles and age
groups, for the present and the future. This
long-term perspective requires a fundamental shift
in the thinking of developers, builders and
designers, who generally focus on the present needs
of their clients.
Housing:
universal housing
design
—
Includes
planning, design and construction of housing for
all: unlimited by design from the Disability
Council of NSW.
Human
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's Advisory
Notes on Access to
Premises
(1998)
The
Disability Discrimination Commissioner developed
the advisory notes in response to requests from
people who design, build, own, manage, lease,
operate, regulate and use premises for information
about their responsibilities and rights under
section 23 of the Disability Discrimination Act
(DDA). Section 23 of the DDA makes it unlawful to
discriminate against people with a disability, or
their associates, in relation to access to, and use
of, premises that the public enter or use.
Independent
Living Centre
NSW—
Telephone
1300-885-886
Provides
assistance and specialist advice in relation to the
implementation of suitable building access for the
aged and people with disabilities including
information of available equipment.
|
