Access to Premises Standards

Inside

1 Summary and Major Concerns.
2 Why we have a draft standard.
3 How the draft DDA standard was developed.
4 What the draft standard covers and requires.
    4.1 The buildings that are covered by the current draft.
    4.2 What is required in buildings that are covered by the draft standard.
5 What you need to do to have your say.

1 Summary and Major Concerns

A draft Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standard which is proposed to be incorporated into the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 has been tabled in the Federal Parliament.

The Parliament’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee is presently reviewing the draft and has called for submissions by 27 February 2009.

The Committee will make recommendations to Parliament on the draft, including whether any changes need to be made.

The disability community is concerned that the draft Standard does not ensure adequate access – that is, it exempts too many parts of buildings from being required to provide any access and the access that is required is, in some cases, inadequate. It is likely that “other interests” will be urging the government to water down the provisions – so we, the disability community, need to counter that by pointing out the deficiencies in the draft as it is now, urge it to make the Standard appropriate for people with disabilities, and hope the government does the ethical thing and passes a Standard which ensures we can all enter and use buildings.

The draft, or a variant of it, is expected to be passed by parliament by the middle of 2009. We only have until 27 February to make comments.

If the draft DDA standard for access to premises (buildings) is passed by the federal parliament it will clarify what is required for a building to be considered to be accessible for people with disability.

There are *serious shortcomings* with the current draft standard and the process of commenting on it:

The draft requires buildings to meet several Australian Standards (including AS1428 parts 1 and 4, and AS2890 part 6), but the latest versions of these Australian Standards are not yet adopted and their content is not public. We are being asked to comment on or even accept a DDA standard without knowing the detail of what it requires. And we are particularly concerned that the new AS1428.1 will not have requirements that accommodate 90% of wheelchair users, as we had expected.

Home unit blocks (Class 2 buildings) are not covered by the draft standard at all (but they were covered in the 2004 draft). This is exceptionally short-sighted and discriminatory given that many Local Councils and various state government policies and regulations already require access to common areas and adaptable housing. This means that Local Councils might amend their Development Control Plans and allow developers to return to building blocks of home units with no access to common areas and no adaptable units (both are presently required by many local councils).

The draft requires disability access in small accommodation facilities (like homes converted to B&Bs, purpose built B&Bs, cabins in caravan parks and eco villages) only when there are four (4) or more bedrooms (or cabins). The draft lumps together newly built buildings with converted, existing facilities. Having a threshold of four (4) means almost all B&Bs will be excluded. And exempting new B&Bs, new cabins in caravan parks. and new eco-lodges is considered unnecessary and detrimental to people with disability.

The number of designated disability parking spaces required is 1 or 2% (depending on the type of facility). This is demonstrably inadequate as the number of disability parking permits on issue represents in the order of 10 to 13% of registered vehicles.

No access is required to levels of a multi-storey car park which do not have designated disability parking spaces even though, due to the shortage of accessible parking spaces, many people are required to park on other levels of multi-storey carparks. Some people with disability use vehicles with rear access and park in regular spaces. In future, these people will be able to park only on those levels with designated disability spaces. While parking is important to everyone it more critical to people with disabilities due to the design and location requirements of accessible parking spaces.

Motels and hotels, and aged care facilities (hostels and nursing homes) must, in addition to having access to common areas, have some accessible bedrooms with en-suite accessible bathrooms. However, there is no guidance as to what is needed in a bedroom to provide adequate access. And the number of bedrooms required to be accessible in aged care facilities (the same as for motels) is most inadequate.

There is an urgent need for all of the Australian Standards covering lifts (AS1735 all parts) to be reviewed to ensure lifts are accessible and safe. In addition, the draft has no specifications for the size of lift lobbies – which may mean a person may not be able to turn their wheelchair to continue their journey after exiting the lift.

Fire isolated stairs are exempt from requirements for access features that would assist blind people and people with ambulant disability (such as handrails on both sides of the stairs, no open treads, and TGSIs).

The draft Premises Standard only requires an accessible shower in a health care building, aged care building, child care centre and accessible motel/hotel rooms, thereby exempting aquatic centres, gymnasiums, fitness clubs, B & B’s, caravan parks and the like even though many of these places provide showers for the remainder of the population.

There is scant regard to wayfinding for people with vision impairment or people who are blind despite considerable research in recent years.

AS1428.5 Design for access and mobility - Communication for people who are deaf or hearing impaired is reportedly ready to be adopted by Standards Australia but is not referenced in the draft Premises Standard.

There is no requirement for meeting rooms in aged care facilities to have hearing augmentation.

Numbers of hearing augmentation receivers is limited to 3.5% of an audience – this needs to be increased to at least 10%.

There are also a host of other shortcomings, mostly of a technical nature. These are available in the detailed paper for submissions.

2 Why we have a draft standard

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of disability in providing access to buildings, among other things. This means that the owners or users of a building must provide access for people with disability (unless to do so would cause “unjustifiable hardship”).

However, this doesn’t apply to all buildings – only those to which the public has access. So there is no DDA requirement to provide disability access to private homes, for example.

A problem for building owners and people with disability alike, is the fact that the DDA does not actually tell us what an acceptable level of access is for people with disability. Nowhere in the DDA, for example, is there a guide as to how wide doors should be, or how steep ramps should be, or how and where to put Braille signs, or how and where and when to provide hearing augmentation.

The draft Premises Standards, if adopted by the Federal Parliament, will set out the rules for access. If a building meets the rules, the building complies with the requirements of the DDA.

So it’s very important to make sure the DDA standard contains rules which, if applied correctly, will genuinely provide access to as many people with disability as possible, in as many situations as possible.

3 How the draft DDA standard was developed

Work first started on the Premises Standards in 2000 when the Federal Government asked the Australian Buildings Code Board (ABCB) to develop a draft.

The ABCB set up a committee called the Building Access Policy Committee (BAPC) which had representatives from the disability community, government, building professionals, property developers and building approval bodies,

After extensive consultation and negotiation an initial draft was released for community consultation in 2004.

Following the community consultation the BAPC still could not find agreement on a number of critical issues, including lifts in smaller buildings, access to swimming pools, access to the “common areas” of blocks of home units, and the upgrading of existing buildings.

Between 2005 and 2008 very little progress was made in finalising the proposed Premises Standards.

However, in December 2008 the Government released the present draft Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standard. The draft was finalised by the Attorney General and the Minister for Innovation Industry, Science and Research after taking into account the views of both the building industry and the disability community. In other words, it’s a compromise.

4 What the draft standard covers and requires

    4.1 The buildings that are covered by the current draft

The draft standard covers (that is, it requires at least some access to and within) most new commercial and government buildings (except the upper levels of most small two and three storey buildings - small buildings are those with 2 or 3 floors and in which all upper levels are less than 200 square metres floor area on each floor).

This includes all new shops, offices, factories, hotels and motels, bed and breakfasts, cabins in caravan parks, hospitals, aged care facilities, halls, cinemas and theatres, schools, TAFEs, universities, sporting venues, swimming pools and public toilets.

Existing buildings must be upgraded to provide access when ever a “building application” is made for changes to a part (or all) of a building. The upgrade, however, has to include only the “new” part and the path of travel to it from the entrance. And there is an exception even to that: if the building has more than one tenant, and a tenant (i.e. not the owner or manager) makes the application for a building approval, only the new work has to be accessible (but not the path of travel to it). This could result in a building having accessible facilities – like a uni-sex toilet – that is impossible to reach in a wheelchair. This exception is a concern to the disability community.

    4.2 What is required in buildings that are covered by the draft standard

This is quite detailed and somewhat complicated, but in general the following is required:

Shops, offices, factories, schools, TAFEs, universities, halls, cinemas and theatres must have access to and within all areas normally used by the occupants.

Motels, hotels and aged care facilities must provide access to all common areas on the entrance level and on any other level with lift or ramp access. In addition, if there are facilities or services (like a dining room, swimming pool or gymnasium) one of each type of facility must be accessible.

In most instances wherever there is a block of male and female toilets a unisex accessible toilet also has to be provided.

In each standard male and female toilet block at least one of the cubicles has to be fitted out so that it is accessible for people with ambulant disabilities.

All stairways have to have accessible features such as handrails and luminance contrast step nosings.

Motels and hotels, and aged care facilities (hostels and nursing homes) must, in addition to the above, have some accessible bedrooms with en-suite accessible bathrooms. However, there is no guidance as to what is needed in a bedroom to provide adequate circulation access.

Parking areas in most places must provide a percentage of designated (i.e. signposted) accessible parking bays. However, the percentage is either 1 or 2% (depending on type of building) and this is insufficient to meet the needs of people with disabilities.

Most small buildings are exempted from the need to provide access to upper levels (small buildings are those with 2 or 3 floors and in which all upper levels are less than 200 square metres floor area on each floor).

New lifts generally have to have lift cars of at least 1400 x 1600mm (there are, however, many problems with the Australian Standards covering lifts which need to be addressed as a matter of urgency). As an example, the draft has no specifications for the size of lift lobbies – which may mean a person may not be able to turn their wheelchair to continue their journey after exiting the lift.

Swimming pools with a perimeter in excess of 40 metres must have a means of wheelchair access. Swimming pools with a perimeter 70 metres or greater cannot use a sling and hoist type of entry.

5 What you need to do to have your say

If you want to be able to adequately access buildings in the future you must write to the Parliament’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee (address below) and urge it to amend the draft so it becomes equitable.

You should also meet with your local member of parliament and bring these problems to her/his attention and ask for her/him to write to the Committee as a matter of urgency. Point out to your MP the negative effects of this draft standard on you – make it personal.

In particular, you should be concerned about blocks of home units not being covered – this may mean you cannot buy a new home unit, or even visit family or friends living in one.

If you live in a country town or outer suburb where most buildings are small, point out to your MP (and also state in your letter to the Committee) any difficulties you have finding a dentist, doctor, accountant, solicitor, or other professional because they have rooms on an inaccessible level. Even if you have found one you can use, point out your lack of the same choices as other people.

If you’re approaching retirement age and think you may need to live in an aged hostel or a nursing home, make sure you raise the issue of only 10% of rooms needing to have an accessible en-suite.

The address of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee is:

Committee Secretary
House of Representatives Standing Committee on
Legal and Constitutional Affairs
PO Box 6021
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
AUSTRALIA

E-mail: laca.reps@aph.gov.au

More information is here: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/laca/disabilitystandards/index.htm

Read the “Preparing a submission” brochure – although a simple letter is all that is needed.

Your local MP’s address can be found at:

http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/index.htm

If you know your local member’s name use the alphabetical list, otherwise the electorate list will find her/him.

More information

The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) has more information, including details of all major concerns with the draft Standard, and sample letters you can copy and use.

See www.afdo.org.au