Commonwealth/State Disability Agreement (CSDA)
http://www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/policy-cstda.htm
The CSDA as the Agreement is often called, sets out the
specific responsibilities which the Commonwealth, States and
Territories have in administering disability support services. It
was agreed to from July 1991 and was progressively implemented in
all States and Territories by 1993. The Agreement runs until June
2007. The CSDA provides for the Commonwealth to administer the
funding for employment services and for the States and
Territories to administer the funding for accommodation and other
support services. Responsibility for the administration of
advocacy and research activities is shared.
The Commonwealth Disability Strategy
www.facs.gov.au/disability/cds/index.htm
The Commonwealth Disability Strategy recognises that the Australian Government has an impact on the
lives of people with disabilities through its many programs, services and facilities. The Strategy
is about enabling full participation of people with disabilities. Under the Strategy, Australian
Government organisations are obligated to remove barriers which prevent people with disabilities
from having access to these policies, programs and services. This means ensuring that
people with disabilities have the same access to buildings, services, information, employment,
education, sport and recreational activities as everyone else in the community.
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1992
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/dda1992264/
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) provides protection
for everyone in Australia against discrimination based on
disability. The Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)
was enacted in 1992 following years of lobbying by women and men
with disabilities and human rights activists who recognised that
national legislation equal to the Race Discrimination Act and the
Sex Discrimination Act was urgently required to protect and
enhance the rights of people with disabilities. The DDA makes it
unlawful to discriminate in the provision of goods, services or
facilities against people on the basis that they have, have had,
or may have, a disability. The Act also makes it unlawful to
discriminate against a person on the basis that one of her or his
associates may have a disability.
Disability Discrimination Act Standards
www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/standards.html
The Disability Discrimination Act (1992) provides that
Disability Standards can be made by the Commonwealth
Attorney-General to specify rights and responsibilities about
equal access and opportunity for people with a disability, in
more detail and with more certainty than the DDA itself provides.
Standards can be made in the areas of employment, education,
public transport services, accommodation and the administration
of Commonwealth laws. The main purpose of the Disability
Standards is to make rights and obligations under the DDA easier
to understand, comply with and enforce. A further function of
Disability Standards is to set out more detailed principles to
guide key decisions under the DDA such as how to establish what
is a reasonable adjustment or what could constitute unjustifiable
hardship.
Disability Services Census
www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/services-census.htm
Australian, State and Territory Governments are required to collect program, service
and consumer data known as the National Minimum Data Set as part of the Commonwealth State
Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA). The National Minimum Data Set: facilitates the annual
collation of nationally comparable data from Australian and State Government funded services; and
obtains reliable, consistent data with minimal impact on services. Information on the type
and location of all government funded disability services and the characteristic of people
using the services is collected. The data assists with planning and evaluating national programs.
National Advisory Council on Disability and Carer Issues
http://www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/vWorkflowPreview/ndcmac.htm
The National Advisory Council on Disability and Carer Issues provides advice to the Government on a
broad range of issues affecting people with disabilities, their families and carer providers.
The Council's work program includes, for example:
The National Disability Advocacy Program
www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/representation-ndap.htm
The National Disability Advocacy Program funds 73 advocacy organisations to help people with disabilities, their
families and carers to get involved in community life as fairly and as fully as possible. Under the Commonwealth/State
Disability Agreement, advocacy is a shared responsibility of the Australian Government and the state and
territory governments. State and territory governments contribute approximately $4 million towards advocacy
services, and a small number of advocacy services receive both Australian Government and state and territory
funding.
The National Relay Service
www.aceinfo.net.au/Services/NRS/
The National Relay Service (NRS) enables people who are Deaf,
or who have a hearing, speech or communication impairment to use
the mainstream telecommunications network. The Service uses human
operators to relay messages from a telephone typewriter,
telebrailler or modem to a standard handset and vice versa.
National Auslan Interpreter Booking Service
www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/access-auslan.htm
The National Auslan Interpreter Booking Service (NABS) is a service that provides accredited Auslan
interpreters to deaf Auslan users attending private medical consultations.
National Print Disability Services
www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/access-print_disability_services.htm
Through the Print Disability Services Program, the Commonwealth Government funds 13 print disability
service providers to produce alternative formats of printed material for blind or vision-impaired people
who are unable to read, hold or manipulate printed material in standard form because of their disabilities.
These alternative formats include: audiotape; Braille; large print, and computer discs. Funding is
provided based on the amount of material produced in each format, and material is delivered mainly
through the 'free of charge' postal service under the Postal Concessions for the Blind Program.
National Information and Captioning Services
www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/access-nics.htm
The Commonwealth Government funds the Australian Caption Centre and NICAN under the Disability
Services Act 1986 to provide National Information and Captioning Services for people with disabilities.
The Australian Caption Centre is funded to provide information on and closed captioning of
commercially available videos for people who are deaf or hearing impaired. NICAN is funded to provide
an Australia-wide information service on recreation, tourism, sports and the arts for people with a
disability. It refers people to organisations that offer programs and activities either to the general
community or specifically for people with disabilities.
Postal Concessions for the Blind Program
www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/access-postal_concessions_for_blind.htm
Through the Postal Concessions for the Blind program, the Commonwealth Government reimburses
Australia Post for posting braille, audio recordings and other material (defined as 'eligible' material)
for people who are blind or vision-impaired.
National Disability Conference Funding Program
www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/access-conference_funding.htm
An allocation of funds is provided each year to support national and international disability
conferences held within Australia. These funds are administered by the Australian Government
Department of Family and Community Services through the Disability and Carers Branch. Applications
are only called for once a year. These funds may be provided to conference organisers to: assist
people with disabilities, their families and/or carers with costs such as conference fees,
accommodation or travel; and facilitate access to the conference for people with
disabilities, their families and/or carers by, for example, providing funding for
interpreters for people who are Deaf or hearing impaired, for the provision of material
in alternative formats, and/or for the provision of note-takers.
The Continence Aids Assistance Scheme (CAAS)
www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/continence-caas.htm
The Continence Aids Assistance Scheme (CAAS) is a Commonwealth program offering assistance
to people who have permanent and ongoing incontinence as a result of a neurological condition
or severe intellectual impairment. The aim of CAAS is to help eligible clients to meet the cost of
continence aids.
Prime Minister's Employer of the Year Awards
www.pm.gov.au/your_pm/awards.cfm
The annual Prime Minister's Employer of the Year Awards recognise the contribution
made by small and large employers in providing work opportunities
to people with disabilities.
The National Mental Health Strategy
www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-strategy
The National Mental Health Strategy is an agreement between the Commonwealth and all
State and Territory governments that aims to improve the lives of people with a mental illness.
The National Mental Health Strategy aims to: Promote the mental health of the Australian community;
To, where possible, prevent the development of mental disorder; Reduce the impact of mental
disorders on individuals, families and the community; and assure the rights of people with mental illness.
National Drug Strategy
www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au
The National Drug Strategy, a cooperative venture between Australian, State and Territory
Governments and the non-government sector, is aimed at improving health, social and economic
outcomes for Australians by preventing the uptake of harmful drug use and reducing the harmful
effects of licit and illicit drugs in our society. On this website you will find information
about the National Drug Strategy and the advisory structures that support the Strategy; links
to the current drug campaign sites with information on initiatives at national, state/territory
or community levels; the key research and data components supporting the Strategy, publications
and key links to relevant government, professional organisations and drug-related portal sites.
The National Strategy for an Ageing Australia
www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/Publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-ofoa-agepolicy-nsaa-nsaa.htm
The National Strategy for an Ageing Australia is primarily
concerned with developing a proactive response to the emerging
issues related to population ageing.
Sex Discrimination Act
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sda1984209/
The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 gives effect to Australia's
obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination Against Women and certain aspects of the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 156. Its major
objectives are to:
Affirmative Action Act (Equal Opportunity for Women) Act
1986
www.eowa.gov.au/About_EOWA/Overview_of_the_Act/The_Act.asp
The Federal Affirmative Action Act (Equal Opportunity for
Women) became law in 1986. The Act was developed to encourage
organisations (particularly large organisations) to identify the
problems and remove the barriers that women face in employment.
The legislation was aimed at responding to the range of
inequalities that women in Australia experienced in comparison to
men. The Affirmative Action Act covers private businesses; higher
education institutions; and voluntary organisations with over 100
or more paid workers.
This site was developed by Carolyn Frohmader for Women With Disabilities Australia.