National accessibility initiatives

The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has prioritised the need for a national strategy on public building accessibility by developing a draft Premises Standard and has revised the Building Code of Australia. These changes are being proposed to align building regulation with Australian Government disability discrimination laws.   They provide a clear statement and set of guidelines for the industry to abide by. 

Background

The proposed changes will significantly improve access to new buildings and existing buildings undergoing new work or change of use, which are publicly accessible.  They will also provide certainty for building owners, operators, designers and certifiers in relation to providing access for all members of the community.

The issue

Since the Australian Government Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) commenced operation in 1993, complaints to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and to several equivalent State and Territory bodies have highlighted inconsistencies between the BCA and Federal disability discrimination laws.

The DDA makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the ground of disability in a number of areas, including work, accommodation, public transport and access to premises. There is a building-related element in all of these, with access to premises being the major one. The DDA, however, does not provide prescriptive details about what someone has to do to comply.

The current situation means that people with a disability have to use the complaints mechanism in the DDA to enforce their rights; and those responsible for buildings, such as owners, occupiers, operators, designers and certifiers cannot be certain about fulfilling their responsibilities.

Over the past few years, the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has made progressive changes to the BCA to try and align building regulations and Australian Government disability discrimination laws.  In 2001, the Australian Government asked the ABCB to undertake a more systematic review of the BCA access provisions and make changes to ensure a revised BCA would meet the requirements of the DDA in relation to the built environment.

The solution

The DDA allows for the Federal Attorney-General to develop Disability Standards in a number of areas including, but not limited to, access to premises. The effect of having a Disability Standard would be that anyone complying with the Standard would be certain they are complying with the DDA.

In the absence of a Disability Standard, people with disabilities, owners, operators, designers and certifiers would continue to rely on the individual complaints mechanism of the DDA as the only means of defining compliance.

In order to align a Disability Standard with the DDA, the Australian Government has asked the ABCB to assist in the development of the Disability Standards for Access to Premises (Premises Standard) which essentially uses a revised BCA as the compliance code. This will mean that, when completed, those responsible for buildings will be certain that if they comply with the revised BCA, they are complying with the DDA in relation to the built environment.

Developing the proposals

The task of developing proposed changes to the BCA and the new draft Premises Standard has been undertaken by the ABCB's Building Access Policy Committee (BAPC).  The BAPC has broad representation from the disability, property, government, design and certification sectors.

The BAPC has now finished the first phase of the project by developing the proposals.  The ABCB will be releasing the draft Premises Standard for public comment in early 2004.

In broad terms, the proposals are an attempt to meet the objectives of the DDA to ensure buildings are as accessible as possible, without imposing what the legislation describes as an unjustifiable hardship on building owners and occupiers. The proposals include:

• Access to most levels in publicly accessible buildings
• Wider circulation space requirements in corridors, through doorways and in accessible toilets;
• Additional accessible entrances to buildings
• Accessible toilets wherever a bank of toilets is provided
• Increased numbers of accessible rooms in hotels and motels
• Hearing augmentation in more rooms with a public address system
• Access to and from swimming pools and
• Additional information and accessible features in lifts.

The work of the BAPC has involved more than just developing the proposed changes to the BCA and the new draft Premises Standard. A Regulation Impact Statement, detailing the costs and benefits associated with the proposal has also been prepared. In addition, extensive consultation has taken place with Standards Australia International, who are responsible for developing much of the technical material referenced in the BCA.

Standards Australia International have revised a number of their standards to reflect the BAPC proposals. They will be co-ordinating the release of their new standards with the ABCB, so that those wanting to comment on the detailed technical provisions of the new proposals will have all the information they require.

Public comment period closed

The proposed changes regarding public accessiblity to the BCA were released as part of a public consultation period which concluded at the end of April 2004.  The draft proposals can be obtained from the ABCB website www.abcb.gov.au/content/access or you can contact the ABCB on 1300 134 631. 

Following the public comment period, an assessment of comments and any necessary revisions, a final proposal will be developed.  This proposal will be forwarded by the ABCB to the:

• State and Territory Governments, who are responsible for the adoption of the BCA through building regulation;
• Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources; and
• Federal Attorney-General, who has authority under the DDA to formulate a Premises Standard and submit it to Parliament for consideration.