Australia: Disabled 'apartheid' to end

by YUKO NARUSHIMA AND BELLINDA KONTOMINAS

March 15, 2010

SHOPS, hotels and offices will soon be forced to widen corridors, install ramps and renovate toilets under new rules to improve access for the elderly, families with prams and people with disabilities.

The federal government will announce minimum access requirements today for public buildings built or renovated from May 1 next year. For the first time, there will be uniform building rules across Australia to end the isolation felt by as many as 4 million people who cannot properly use public facilities. The rules go beyond buildings to swimming pools, cinemas and common areas of blocks of flats available for short-term rent.

The parliamentary secretary for disabilities, Bill Shorten, said the laws would help end years of ''practical apartheid'' that excluded people with disabilities.

''If you couldn't enter a building because of your skin colour or gender, there'd be a human outcry,'' he said. ''Yet every day, people with disabilities have that sort of embarrassment.''

Mr Shorten gave examples of ''unthinking barriers'' such as a step that stopped people entering a shop, or the narrow restaurant door that forced diners to the back entrance, or escalators that moved too fast.

''What does that tell you about yourself?'' he asked. ''When we talk about disability and access it also includes young mums with kids, lots of older people with mobility not as good as it once was.'' The costs on businesses would be minimal and could be recouped in increased trade, Mr Shorten said. ''We're really opening doors. This opens up a lot more buildings to a lot more customers.''

The executive director of the NSW Property Council, Ken Morrison, said there would be extra costs for building owners but the council had opposed some of the more costly and ''unreasonable'' standards before they were removed from draft legislation.

''In early drafts there was a requirement for a total upgrade for disability standards across a whole building, even when one or two floors were being refurbished,'' he said. ''We thought that was too expensive.''

Another ''crazy'' element of the legislation, since removed, required the height of many shopping car parks to be increased, Mr Morrison said.

''Yes, it will cost building owners more money when they do these refurbishments but we believe it is better to have some certainty for builders and building owners.''

Graham Wolfe, executive director of the Housing Industry Association of NSW, said the standards would not be much different from the existing code.