The WWDACT E-Bulletin, Issue 01/19 is out now. View this e-Bulletin in your browser here. Fill out the form here to subscribe.
Message from the Chair
Dear Members and Friends,
Since the last e-Bulletin, I have had cause to reflect on how much going backwards makes you cross. When hard-won accessible facilities are lost, or rendered unusable, it is hard to keep positive. So I was very disgruntled when I learned that a car hire company had discontinued it hand-control car service (see article below).
Accessible toilets, mandated under the Access to premises standards, which are then used as storerooms make me cross too. Lack of wheelchair access in private detached housing makes me irate as well. In 2019 the Australian Building Codes Board will publish a Regulatory Impact Statement discussion paper to look at the feasibility of changing the Building Code to mandate minimum accessibility features in all housing. I hope there will be a ground-swell of support so that all types of housing, both public and private will have at least one level entry.
For me, I have to report that the Hand-control car I hired from Avis in Adelaide worked perfectly, and meant that I could access a service in (almost) the same way as a non-disabled person. This is the underlying philosophy – that we want improved accessibility, and improved inclusion, and improved independence for all of us.
Regards
Sue Salthouse
Chair, WWDACT