CONTENTS
- Electronic
Banking and Financial Services
- Draft
Disability Standards for Access to
Premises
- Australasian
Network of Students with Disabilities
(ANSWD)
- UN
Convention on the Rights of People with
Disability
- The
PDCN Forum
- About
the PDCN Bulletin
Welcome to Issue No: 25 of THE PDCN
BULLETIN, our topical issues resource and information
source for opinion formers, decision-makers and others
interested in disability sector topics. The bulletin is
produced by the Physical Disability Council of New South
Wales (PDCN). We are the peak body representing people with
physical disability across the State.
Our aim is to provide readers with
accurate, up-to-date and timely information, comment and
analysis of disability sector issues from the perspective of
people with physical disability in NSW, including children
with disability and their representatives.
Happy New Year to one and all. Lets
hope it’s a good one for people with physical
disability and those close to them.
1. Electronic
Banking and Financial Services
The Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission (HREOC) asks what are your
experiences?
In April 2002 the Australian
Bankers’ Association (ABA) released a series of
voluntary industry standards covering accessible ATMs,
EFTPOS, Telephone and Internet banking. Subsequently a
number of ABA members have committed to adopting the
standards, in part or in full.
These standards were developed by
the ABA in consultation with the disability sector, major
banks, Credit Unions, Building Societies, the retail
sector, and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission. They are aimed at ensuring best practice in
the provision of accessible financial
services.
The standards cover a wide range of
access issues, including:
- the height of keypads on
ATMs,
- the usability of internet
sites,
- the availability of
audio-enabled ATMs, and
- the clarity of instructions in
telephone based financial services.
At the time of their release, the
ABA signalled its intention to review the technical parts
of the standards in 2003, and HREOC said that it would,
at the same time, review the uptake of the standards by
the financial services industry, and provide an
assessment of the impact of the standards as perceived by
people with disabilities.
The ABA has recently completed its
review of the technical aspects of the standards, finding
that the standards are still appropriate. At the same
time the Commission has also had in-depth discussions
with a number of banks about their approach to, and
timeframe for, the implementation of the voluntary
standards.
Clearly there will be a time lag
between the development of new standards and the
appearance of more accessible services, but HREOC
believes now is an appropriate time to gauge the initial
impact and awareness of the standards.
HREOC is, therefore, asking people
with disabilities and representative organisations to
provide it with information on their more recent
experiences with electronic financial services since the
standards were released over eighteen months
ago.
The Commission will use the
information you give to provide general feedback to the
financial services sector on the continuing
implementation of the standards. Names and contact
details of anyone wishing to provide comments will be
kept confidential.
HREOC suggests you may find it
useful to think about the following questions as you give
us your feedback:
- What do you know about the
industry standards?
- Are you aware of any commitment
made by your bank, Building Society or Credit Union to
adopting and implementing the standards?
- Have you noticed any changes in
the accessibility of ATMs, Internet banking websites,
EFTPOS or telephone banking services?
- What ongoing access
difficulties do you experience when trying to use
electronic financial services?
HREOC wants your feedback by
February 6th 2004.
- Please send an email to
disabdis@humanrights.gov.au
or
- Write to the Disability Rights
Unit, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW 1042
- or call Michael Small on tel.
02 9284 9769 (TTY 1800 620 241).
For more information on the
industry standards go to
http://www.bankers.asn.au/ABA/Online/default.asp
and look in ‘Publications’ and then
‘Codes and Standards’.
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2. Draft
Disability Standards for Access to Premises and proposed
changes to the Building Code of Australia
The Australian Building
Codes Board (ABCB) has released documents for public
comment as part of consultation on the proposed
Disability Standards for Access to Premises (Premises
Standard). The package also includes proposed changes to
the Building Code of Australia (BCA), revised Australian
Standards, a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS),
Guidelines to the Premises Standard and amendments to the
Disability Standards for Accessible Public
Transport.
Comment on the proposals has been
invited by the end of April 2004.
Public awareness sessions are being
held to provide:
- an opportunity to understand
why these changes are taking place;
- a broad understanding of what
changes are being proposed; and
- information on how you can have
your say on the proposed changes.
Speakers include representatives
from the ABCB, the Disability Sector, the Property
Sector, Attorney General’s Department and the Human
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Public awareness sessions will be
held in each capital city. The Sydney sessions will take
place on Monday 9th February at:
- Shannon Room – Paddock
Stand,
Australian Jockey Club Convention Centre,
Royal Randwick Racecourse,
Randwick.
There will be two sessions
beginning at 10.00 and 2.00.
Anyone can attend these free sessions.
However, you must register if you wish to
attend.
Contact the Australian Building
Codes Board (ABCB):
Fax: (02) 6213
7287
Mail: GPO Box 9839, CANBERRA ACT 2601
E-mail: abcb.office@abcb.gov.au
Subject - Public awareness sessions.
Body of Email - Indicate your name, contact
details and relevant session.
PDCN will be represented at both
sessions in Sydney. In addition, we have organised a
meeting of physical disability sector representatives
with particular expertise in physical access issues to
discuss the details of the proposed changes. That meeting
takes place in Sydney on Thursday 15th January. We will
report on its outcomes BEFORE the ABCB information
session in Sydney.
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3.
Australasian Network of Students with Disabilities
(ANSWD)
The ANSWD is a network of
people dedicated to:
- Ensuring equality and improving
access for students with disabilities to tertiary
education.
- Monitoring national, state and
local government policy, which might affect students
with disabilities.
- Promoting the representation of
students with disabilities in tertiary
education.
- And actively campaigning and
lobbying to achieve equality, access, and
representation of students with disabilities in
tertiary education.
To find out more about ANSWD go to
their web site at www.answd.com
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4. UN
Convention on the Rights of People with
Disability
The Federal Government’s
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock and Minister for Family
and Community Services, Senator Kay Patterson, recently
announced Australia has provided a written contribution
for inclusion in a draft text for negotiation of a
Convention on the Rights of People with
Disabilities.
The text of the Australian
Government’s text can be read at:
www.ag.gov.au/publications
To be honest, PDCN is a
little cautious about much of the Government’s
‘contribution’ and downright disappointed
with some of it. Here’s our quick, first read,
with some key questions and comments.
The Government’s
‘preamble’ paragraphs seem to say Australia is
doing well and we’re fully committed to inclusion of
people with disability so we don’t think a
convention is necessary because additional regulation is
costly and burdensome.
Some of the content of the
Government’s contribution reads quite well. But at
PDCN we wonder if are we being asked to say we’re in
favour of mother and apple pie?
Paragraph 4 of the
document
repeats the
Government’s opposition to a convention,
preferring, the say, an annexe or protocol. PDCN wants
our national disability advocacy organisations to
lobby all political parties in this election year to
include support for a convention in their election
platforms.
Paragraph 15 talks about
‘reasonable adjustment’.
We favour such a concept
being made explicit in Australian law (in the
Disability Discrimination Act). But the
Government’s contribution to the UN Convention
debate seems to go beyond the text of the DDA? That
would be welcome but we thought reasonable adjustment
is only was implied in the act currently rather than
made explicit.
Paragraph 16, with its warm
words about ‘carers’ looks like a Trojan Horse
to us.
Followed it to its logical
conclusion the clause poses a risk of negating
assertions of discrimination because one’s family
is able to substitute for fair treatment. We know that
in NSW people are denied services they would otherwise
be entitled to because they are ‘coping’
within a family. We are a wee bit worried about this
clause.
Paragraph 20 is worrying to
us because of what’s NOT in the Government’s
list:
It doesn’t explicitly
mention areas like access to justice; education;
employment; new private dwellings; and social justice.
We hope our scepticism proves to be a mistake by
us.
Paragraph 21 is a restatement
of rhetoric instead of action.
It’s worrying when we
read the Government mantra about
‘over-prescription’ of laws and regulations.
How else, we ask, can everyone be sure of
people’s rights and responsibilities?
Telepathy?
Paragraph 22 seems to us to
lack any coherent vision for the 21st
century.
It’s as if the
Government’s mind set looks back to the 1990s
rather than forward to a better future of social
inclusion.
Paragraph 27 restates the
government’s insistence
- that discrimination
against people with disability in Migration Law is
necessary.
We disagree.
Paragraph 31 continues the
Government’s furfie about ‘red
tape’.
We’d be happy with
minimizing paperwork if that’s matched by
maximizing action but we must lobby for robust
monitoring and reporting of action to eliminate
discrimination or there’s a chance lack of
progress will be unreported.
Paragraph 33 is about
“Complaints”.
It’s regrettable that
the Government has nothing to say about strengthening
complaints mechanisms and levelling the playing
field.
This is all being discussed because
A UN working group, established by the United Nations
Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral
International Convention on Protection and Promotion of
the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
is currently meeting in New York to prepare this text, to
be negotiated by UN member states.
The Attorney General’s Media
Release on the topic said:
“Australia’s
continuing participation in this important process
demonstrates the Government’s commitment to
working towards ensuring participation of people with
disabilities in all levels of society... The
Government will continue to consult with stakeholders
throughout this process.”
We hope so. Watch this
space.
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5. Join the
PDCN Forum
The
PDCN
Forum is an email list
where people and ideas come together around issues of
concern and interest to people with physical
disability across NSW. The PDCN Forum is about people
with physical disability in NSW and how we can
contribute to re-shaping the society in which we live,
making it more accessible, more inclusive and better
equipped to ensure that the rights of people with
physical disability are met.
We're not trying to re-invent
the wheel here. PDCA and OzAdvocacy provide forums for
national discussions, which we are part of. Our Forum
focuses on NSW.
The PDCN Forum is for people
with physical disability and others interested in the
issues that concern the Physical Disability Council of
NSW. We hope people will share ideas, debate issues
and formulate new strategic directions for disability
policy about and in New South Wales. The list is
managed by Dougie Herd, PDCN Executive Officer and
administered by our Project Officer, Craig
Andrews.
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About the
PDCN Bulletin
The PDCN BULLETIN is compiled
by Dougie Herd (PDCN Executive Officer). The views
expressed in the BULLETIN are not necessarily those of
PDCN. If you wish to comment on the BULLETIN or submit a
short article for inclusion please contact:
Dougie Herd
PDCN Executive Officer
St Helen's Community Centre
3/184 Glebe Point Road
Glebe NSW 2037
Email: pdcnsw@pdcnsw.org.au
Tel: (02) 9552 1606
Freecall: 1800 688 831
Fax: (02) 9552 4644
Privacy
PDCN respects the right to privacy
of all people receiving information by electronic or
other means. PDCN distributes electronic mail to list
members in such a way that no address or contact details
are obtainable by others. PDCN does not release any
information about individuals without
permission.
Previous bulletins can be
downloaded from the PDCN Web site
PDCN welcomes comments and feedback
about the bulletin. And please forward it to anyone who
would find it useful. If you would prefer not to receive our
bulletin please let us know and your address will be removed
from list.
Dougie Herd, PDCN Executive Officer
St Helen's Community Centre,
3/184 Glebe Point Road,
Glebe NSW 2037
Email: pdcnsw@pdcnsw.org.au;
Web: www.pdcnsw.org.au
Tel: (02) 9552 1606; 1 800 688 831
Fax: (02) 9552 4644
PDCN produces its electronic BULLETIN every fortnight. The
BULLETIN is compiled by Dougie Herd (PDCN Executive
Officer). The Editorial Board is PDCN's Executive Committee,
although the views expressed in the BULLETIN are not
necessarily those of PDCN or its Executive Committee. If you
wish to comment on the BULLETIN or submit a short article
for inclusion please contact: pdcnsw@pdcnsw.org.au
PDC NSW Inc is funded
by the NSW Government's Ageing and Disability Department.
Views expressed by PDC NSW Inc are not necessarily endorsed
by the NSW Government.
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