Commonwealth/State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA)
The Commonwealth State Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) provides the national framework for the delivery, funding and development of specialist disability services for people with disabilities. Through the Agreement, the Australian, State and Territory Governments strive to enhance the quality of life experienced by people with disabilities through assisting them to live as valued and participating members of the community.
The Commonwealth Disability Strategy
The CDS was introduced in 1994 as a ten-year planning framework to assist Australian Government agencies meet their obligations under the (Commonwealth) Disability Discrimination Act (1992). Under the Strategy, Commonwealth Government agencies are obliged to remove barriers which prevent people with disability from having access to policies, programs and services. The CDS includes a reporting framework built around a number of key roles performed by Commonwealth Government agencies (policy advisor, regulator, purchaser, provider and employer). This framework requires all Commonwealth Government organisations, with the exception of Government Business Enterprises, to provide data on their performance against the framework in their respective annual reports. The Australian Government is in the process of developing a National Disability Strategy (NDS). The NDS will serve as an overarching policy statement setting the national view, direction and priorities to tackle the complex needs of people with disability and their carers.
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1992
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
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.
The Disability Services Census collects information each year from certain disability services funded by the Australian Government, including for example: supported employment services (also known as Australian Disability Enterprises); advocacy services; print disability services; and, disability information and captioning services. The Disability Services Census collects information about services, such as hours of operation and staffing hours. Supported employment services are also asked to provide certain information about each of their service users.
National People with Disabilities and Carer Council
The National People with Disabilities and Carer Council provides advice to the Australian Government, through the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services, on issues affecting people with disability, their families and carers in Australia. The formation of this Council creates a single advisory body on the inter-related issues of disability and the caring relationships.
The National Disability Advocacy Program
The National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP) assists people with disability to overcome barriers (i.e. physical access, discriminatory attitudes, abuse, neglect etcetera) that impact on their daily life and their ability to participate in the community.
The National Relay Service is an Australia-wide telephone access service provided for people who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment. It is also available to anyone who wants to call a person with a hearing or speech impairment.
National Auslan Interpreter Booking Service
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
Through the Print Disability Services Program, the Australian Government funds nine print disability service providers to produce alternative formats of printed material for 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.
National Information and Captioning Services
Media Access Australia and NICAN are funded by the Australian Government under the Disability Services Act 1986 to provide National Information and Captioning Services for people with disabilities.
Postal Concessions for the Blind Program
Through the Postal Concessions for the Blind Program, Australia Post is reimbursed by the Australian Government for the cost of posting 'eligible items' for people who are blind.
National Disability Conference Funding Program
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 Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs through the Disability Policy and Coordination 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)
The Continence Aids Assistance Scheme (CAAS) is an Australian Government program that assists eligible people who have permanent and severe incontinence to meet some of the costs of continence products. The CAAS is currently administered on behalf of the Australian Government by Intouch, the commercial arm of the Spinal Injuries Association Incorporated. People eligible for the CAAS receive a subsidy, which is indexed annually, for continence products ordered through Intouch. The CAAS is available to people 5 years of age and over with permanent and severe incontinence where it is caused by an eligible neurological condition. People who have permanent and severe incontinence caused by another condition may also be eligible, provided they hold a Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card.
The National Disability Awards are part of the Australian Government's celebration of International Day of People with Disability. The awards celebrate and acknowledge the achievements and contributions that individuals with disability make to our community, and recognise individuals within our community who have contributed to the disability sector.
The National Mental Health Strategy
The National Mental Health Strategy is a commitment by the Australian Government and state and territory governments to improve the lives of people with a mental illness. It was endorsed in April 1992 by the Australian Health Ministers' Conference (AHMC) as a framework to guide mental health reform. The National Mental Health Strategy aims to: Promote the mental health of the Australian community; 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.
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.
The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy in a range of areas of public life. These areas include work, accommodation, education, the provision of goods, facilities and services, the activities of clubs and the administration of Commonwealth laws and programs. Among other things, the Sex Discrimination Act seeks to eliminate discrimination involving dismissal of employees with family responsibilities and to eliminate sexual harassment in areas of public activity. The rights and responsibilities of pregnant and potentially pregnant workers in the workplace were clarified by the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Pregnancy and Work) Act 2003.
Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999
The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Cth) came into effect on 1 January 2000, renaming and updating the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986. The Act requires: Private sector companies, Not-for-profit/Community organisations, Non-government schools, Unions, Group training companies, and Higher education institutions - with 100 or more people to establish a workplace program to remove the barriers to women entering and advancing in their organisation.
This site was developed by Carolyn Frohmader for Women With Disabilities Australia.
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