Disability Rights
I also acknowledge Minister Macklin, Parliamentary Secretary Shorten, and other representatives from Australia's governments, and from disability community organisations.
Disability Rights
This launch comes a few days after the International Day of Disabled Persons which this year has electronic information access as its theme and the release last Monday of the Australian Bankers' Association progress report on Accessibility of Electronic Banking.
Disability Rights
Thank you for the opportunity to meet today. I want to take a few minutes to run through some current areas of work which may be of particular interest to you.
Disability Rights
I always like to begin my presentations with a humorous anecdote or joke of some kind. For one thing, it lets me know that someone is actually listening, and it also lulls the audience into a false sense of security for the dry parts to follow. So as part of my preparation for this morning's discussion of disability discrimination law in Australia, I decided to find an answer to the important question, "how many audiologists does it take to change a lightbulb". Fortunately there is a website devoted to lightbulb jokes, and so I duly consulted it.
Disability Rights
Graeme Innes AM Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 15 October 1999 Note: This is the full version of Deputy Commissioner Innes' paper, which was presented in summary form at the convention for reasons of time.
Commission – General
I would like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respect to their elders past and present.
Disability Rights
Allow me to begin by also acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to their elders both past and present.
Disability Rights
But people with disability for the most part were either invisible within mainstream education, or invisible because they were excluded and segregated off somewhere else.
Disability Rights
Thanks for the chance to speak with you today. As you might guess, in my role as Disability Discrimination Commissioner, I receive many invitations to speak at functions on the international day. One of the reasons I chose this invitation is because of the really important role that Local Government plays in the lives of all Australians. It deals with the issues that are in your face- and I know, because until two years ago I was a Councillor on Ku-Ring-Gai Council.
Disability Rights
I was around as head of the then Disability Advisory Council of Australia back in the late 80s and early 90s when ACROD and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission worked together on a discussion paper and consultation process to identify and pursue areas of increased need for human rights protection for people with disabilities.
Disability Rights
We would like to begin by emphasising the limited role of discrimination law - that is, we agree to some extent with comments by ACCI that equality cannot be achieved solely by providing stronger antidiscrimination legal provisions.
Disability Rights
Have you ever stopped to think about all the things that we take for granted? When you're wandering through the breakfast cereal isle at the supermarket, for example, do you ever wonder whether Uncle Toby really was? If so, was he related to Sara Lee? Were Nana's apple pies originally made by Granny Smith? It's not so much that familiarity breeds contempt as that it lulls us into a state of mind where we no longer feel the need to question or even test our assumptions and presumptions.
Disability Rights
Taxis are not subject to the same requirements as other modes, because at least in 1995-96 when drafting the standards it was thought that requiring 100% taxi fleet accessibility would be too onerous given
Disability Rights
Since the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into force in March 1993 complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission and State/Territory anti-discrimination agencies have shown that while a building might meet the requirements of building law it could still be the subject of a successful complaint under anti-discrimination law.
Disability Rights
Read a speech about the importance of access to mobile telecommunications for people with a disability given by the Commission at the TEDICORE Think Tank.
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