As part of our advocacy, One Accessibility One Accessibility*, we will share information about differently able and profile one location with accessible trails. Look out every week for this enlightening post.*
Australia was one of the first countries to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 17 July 2008.
Australia is a country that has been looking after and providing protection for everyone against discrimination based on disability. The Federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) encourages everyone to be involved in implementing the Act and to share in the overall benefits to the community and the economy.
The DDA makes it against the law to discriminate against someone if they have a disability in the following areas of life :
- Employment.
- Education.
- Access to premises used by the public.
- Provision of goods, services and facilities.
- Accommodation.
- Buying land.
- Activities of clubs and associations.
- Sport.
- Administration of Commonwealth Government laws and programs.
The definition of “disability” in the DDA includes:
- Physical
- Intellectual
- Psychiatric
- Sensory
- Neurological, and
- Learning disabilities, as well as
- Physical disfigurement, and
- The presence in the body of disease-causing organisms.
This broad definition is meant to ensure that everyone with a disability is protected.
As the years go by I see lots of visible improvements in my hometown Sydney. I have been to parking stations that have the whole bottom level as disabled parking only. If you park in one of these spots, anywhere in the state of New South Wales, without an official disabled sticker on your windscreen, you will get a AUD $561 fine and lose one (1) demerit point from your licence. This has made people think twice about parking in these spaces which would make life very difficult for the disabled to go about their lives as easily as everyone else.
As a Local Guide I feel like I am doing my bit in making my country more accessible by adding relevant information on Google Maps. Australia is a huge continent and I am sure my reviews are making a difference.
Through my involvement in the One Accessibility Project I hope to bring more awareness and knowledge to my local community during meet ups and every day interactions. Have a look at my Accessible Sydney meetup recap in Sydney’s beautiful Centennial Parklands. It was a lot of fun.
Check out my post on Accessible Fitting Rooms that I found on a family holiday in Waikiki Hawaii.
Do you have a question, suggestion or contribution, feel free to comment below. Read last week’s round up here.
has made significant progress looking at your meet up photos and the laws. Thanks for sharing.