Australian Government Disability Policy, Programs and Legislation


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.


Related Government Policies, Programs, Legislation

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.


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This site was developed by Carolyn Frohmader for Women With Disabilities Australia.