August 21, 2025 • 15 mins
Jane talks about the review into the Disability Discrimination Act and how to give your feedback.
You can find out more here: https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti-discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:18):
On Vision Australia Radio. This is Vision Xtra with Peter Greco.
S2 (00:25):
The review of the Disability Discrimination Act is on at
the moment. Let's chat about it with Jane Britt. Jane
is a fabulous advocate and also senior consultant and advisor
for the Social Deck. Jane, great to catch up again.
Thanks so much for your time.
S3 (00:39):
Thank you very much, Peter.
S2 (00:40):
How important is this?
S3 (00:42):
Really important. You know, it's a once in a lifetime
sort of opportunity to get in front of, you know,
a disability, royal commission environment and have a say about
how disability discrimination affects people with disability. This could be
a real game changer.
S2 (00:55):
Yeah. Well, of course the Royal Commission has been running one,
if I could put it that way, a number of
recommendations from it. In fact, I think 200 plus a
number of them also regarding the Disability Discrimination Act review.
S3 (01:07):
Yeah, absolutely. And that's why we are having this review
in light of those recommendations that came down. them. And,
you know, also responding to some of the experiences of
violence and abuse and exploitation that we heard from people
with disabilities throughout those four and a half years of
the consultation period. Any, you know, review of the act
means that it will be strengthened, which hopefully means that
(01:29):
it might prevent some of those experiences for people with
disability in the future.
S2 (01:33):
What about the areas where a review is necessary, or
maybe is it tweaking, or is it kind of not
an overhaul? But what? How would you describe what is
needed sort of from this day forth?
S3 (01:43):
It's updating the understanding, really, of disability and disability discrimination
in the act and potentially might look at, you know,
the experiences of people with disability, of being included in employment,
education and other areas of public life, having improved access
to justice and then also potentially positive duty to eliminate discrimination,
or that is ensuring that organisations take actions to prevent
(02:07):
discrimination before it occurs.
S2 (02:10):
Has there been much review of it over the years
because was it 1992, 1993 when it was kind of past.
S3 (02:16):
Yeah, 1992. So this would be, you know, really first
major reform of the process. Obviously, a lot has happened
in the intervening decades between then and now. So certainly
it's the right time for modernization of it.
S2 (02:29):
What about some of your thoughts? Anything specifically that you'd
like tackled? I know you were very much involved with
the well, both the Royal Commission on Aged Care and
also the disability violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people
with disabilities. Anything that kind of stands out. Without giving
too much away, because I'm sure you'll be putting in
a submission.
S3 (02:48):
Yeah, absolutely. So what we are sort of, um, I
think going to see through this is where there's been,
you know, repeated experiences of people experiencing discrimination. The thing
that comes to mind for me is refusal of service
people with assistance animals. Obviously, that's something that's been a
really hot button issue for people over the years, and
(03:09):
potentially something where this review could really help to instigate
the changes that are needed to ensure that compliance actually
occurs and that, you know, organizations and public services take
action before that discrimination occurs of refusing someone service because
they have an assistance animal. We know that section nine
(03:29):
of the act prohibits that, but it doesn't necessarily mean
that in, you know, actual experience that it is preventing
discrimination from occurring. So, you know, that's the thing that
I'm especially hopeful for, for duty holders, that they, you know, um,
respond in such a way that enables people with disability
to be able to access the public services and public
(03:51):
spaces that everyone, um, should be able to have free
and easy access to.
S2 (03:55):
Because, as you say, a lot of these things. Well,
I guess those are kind of live with the disability,
those that are in the kind of echo chamber, if
I can put it that way, of disability, kind of
know about it. But I mean, do you think discrimination
happens sometimes out of ignorance, or do you think it's
more out of bloody mindedness I mean, because that's probably
important as well. Do you think?
S3 (04:16):
I do think so. You know, I think a lot
of it probably is related to ignorance. Um, you know,
I do think some of it probably is where there
is a level of knowing that there's, um, compliance, you know, required,
but not necessarily have the mechanisms in place to, you know,
drive that compliance. I think that there's an aspect of
this that is around attitudes towards disability. And probably I
(04:38):
imagine a lot of that will come up in the
responses from people to the act review of saying that,
you know, here's some of the experiences that I've had
that are more about, you know, customer service or, you know,
relations with people in public and ensuring that people's understanding
of disability improves and awareness and how they respond to
people with disability to ensure that, you know, they're not
(05:00):
creating discriminatory actions.
S2 (05:02):
Jane, the review, if you like, takes place, and I
guess then maybe the legislation might change. What about in
terms of punishment? Now, actually, I spoke to, uh, Scott
Hollier from the centre for center for accessibility the other day,
and they have the Golden Carrot Award because, you know,
he figures he could probably get more from, you know,
a golden carrot rather than beating people with a stick.
(05:22):
But is there anything in this that'll sort of change
the punishment or how people are treated if they do discriminate?
S3 (05:30):
I think it's more so around that idea of positive duty,
or ensuring that organizations actually take action to prevent discrimination
before it occurs. So basically that they have to reduce
the barriers that they have in place by, I guess, first,
having awareness of what those barriers are and that they
are showing that they're taking proactive actions to reduce those barriers,
(05:54):
or in other words, making the kind of reasonable adjustments. And,
you know, the the changes in mechanisms that enable people
to access the services and public spaces that they want to.
So I think it's more about making sure that organizations
are proactively taking actions, and that they can prove that
they've taken those actions to prevent discrimination. I think that's
(06:14):
more where we're looking at at the moment, and we're
looking at the requirements for unjustifiable hardship. So basically, at
the moment, duty holders have to make adjustments unless it's
too difficult. And that's called unjustifiable hardship. But the act
is now going to the review will look at what
that definition is and whether it needs changing and how
(06:35):
it needs to change.
S2 (06:36):
Yeah, because I guess I can't afford it. Maybe doesn't
cut the mustard.
S3 (06:39):
Yeah, potentially. You know, there could be a number of,
you know, mechanisms. I sort of, you know, that's not
my expertise. But I do know that there is certainly
we've heard enough from the Royal Commission that there's enough
evidence there to show that barriers do exist, you know,
in all areas of life and that there is definitely
things that can be done to, I guess, change that.
S2 (07:00):
Jane, you touched on the service animals, and in the
time since the last act or the act was introduced
in 1992, there's much more. There are many more service
animals around for different setups, if you like. I'm thinking
of veterans, I'm thinking about people with autism, etc.. Another thing,
of course, has happened in the last 33 years or
so has been the advance of technology and things like
(07:22):
websites and and apps and that sort of thing.
S3 (07:25):
Yeah. And I think, yeah, you mentioned two really important
points there. Like at the moment, we've heard from the
community that with assistance animals that the rules are unclear
and that, um, you know, both for people with disability
and for duty holders and that the review will look
at making the rules clear about training and certification. But
up front, you know, one of the there that I
(07:46):
can foresee being a really important part of this review
is artificial intelligence. We know that AI can have biases
built into it. Um, there's certainly been research evidence to
indicate that at the moment. And maybe this is something
that the review of the app could address. I mean,
I encourage people to make submissions and to come to
(08:06):
consultations and give their feedback on that aspect, because technology
is not going away. It is changing. And it is,
you know, at least I is starting to infiltrate every
part of our lives. So it is going to affect
people with disability. And obviously that's going to need to
be reflected in any updated legislation.
S2 (08:23):
John, that's very astute. I actually spoke to someone from
the University of SA the other day who was in
the area of health, and they'd typed all sorts of
misinformation into EI regarding particularly some of the, um, the
things that are talked about as far as, uh, remedies
for health goes. And he was staggered at the fact that,
you know, that information could then be accessed by people
(08:45):
who would get then get the incorrect information when they're
searching a health topic. And, uh, you know, he was
sort of saying, obviously, consult your doctor, consult your professionals
when it comes to health advice. But, you know, your
point there is that you can use AI or people
can use AI for their disadvantage rather than advantage.
S3 (09:02):
Yeah. And certainly that's been borne out already in some
of the legal cases that have been put before the
courts around AI use and some of the misinformation that
it has supplied, supply. Even in legal cases that are
being brought forward by AI that aren't actually existing legal cases,
it's hallucinated information that doesn't exist.
S2 (09:21):
Yes, that's a great point. Yeah, it's a great point.
Hallucinated information. I'll write that down and use in the future. Jane.
It looks to me, and I've only read the the
synopsis of the summary of what is going on. It
looks like, you know, they're trying as in the review
is trying as hard as it can to make it
as inclusive and to get people to have their say,
(09:43):
almost like in any way possible.
S3 (09:45):
Absolutely. And I'm facilitating some of the sessions face to face.
I'm actually in Hobart speaking to you right now for
a session tomorrow, but we are starting from tomorrow onwards
to have sessions in capital cities that will be face
to face, but also will have an online component so
people can access the sessions from wherever they are within
(10:05):
the state and be able to put forward their, um,
particular views around this review. The other way that people
can get involved is to feel in the community survey,
on the Attorney General's website, or to even make a
longer submission if they like. So we are quite happy
to take, you know, people's feedback in whatever is the
most accessible format and way for them. And our forums
(10:27):
are certainly taking into account accessibility for anyone with disability
to make sure that they can participate as they, you know,
need to.
S2 (10:34):
Tell us a bit more about your involvement than Jane,
as you say. Well, as I said at the beginning,
you've been very much involved with advocacy for a long time.
You write about it, you speak about it. You you
hire a person with lived experience. Were you kind of
co-opted into this role or did you apply for it?
How did that happen?
S3 (10:49):
I'm a senior consultant for the Social Deck, which is
a consultancy firm which is currently helping with the Attorney-General's
Department running of the review. So we are doing a
lot of the consultation oversight so that people can have
their say in the most accessible way. And then the
Attorney General's Department will take the information that they're provided
(11:10):
and make final decisions about, obviously what goes forward into legislation.
S2 (11:15):
I feel a little bit tongue in cheek. Jane, I
wonder whether a bit of AI will be used to
kind of, uh synopsize all the information that's given, because
I'd imagine there's going to be pages and pages of it.
I guess similar to the royal commissions that we touched
on earlier.
S3 (11:27):
I can assure you that a lot of our data
analysis is also done by hand. Um, we have very
much been involved in that process.
S2 (11:35):
What about in terms of the, if I can call
it turnaround time or people give evidence and, you know,
make their submissions, etc.? What about when something might come
of this sort of in a more concrete way or
indeed go to Parliament?
S3 (11:48):
Yeah, it's unclear exactly what the timelines will be beyond this,
but we do know that consultations will go on through
August and September. Uh, we have some, uh, you know,
obviously the sessions in each capital city. Then we'll have
a few online roundtables that will go to specific topic
areas around employment, education, access and inclusion, and community safety.
(12:11):
So at least the review process will wrap up into the,
you know, back end of the year. And then potentially
we will have a bit of a time until we
have to get to our finalized legislation. So yeah, we'll
see see what the future holds.
S2 (12:27):
And I don't know if you can comment on this,
but generally speaking, the political parties are kind of in
lockstep as far as a change being needed. And and,
you know, I guess they wait till the legislation comes
before them to kind of see how they vote on it.
But do you sense that, you know, we're all kind
of pulling in the right or in the same direction
as far as this goes?
S4 (12:45):
I may not be able to comment on that, uh,
just because.
S3 (12:48):
Of our.
S4 (12:48):
Our work.
S2 (12:49):
Yeah. That's fine, that's fine. Well, yeah. I mean, I
guess something that was passed in. No. Well, I'm going
to say it. You don't have to comment even, but
something that was passed in 1992, in 2025 or 2026,
you probably think, well, it probably needs some updating. And
as you say, particularly given the fact that there's been
a couple of very extensive, expensive royal commissions in the interim.
S4 (13:12):
And certainly that.
S3 (13:13):
What we'll need updating there is the correlation to how
it applies to the standards that sit underneath it. Obviously,
those standards have been through different reviews like the transport standards,
the premises standards, and at the moment we are looking
at aviation standards that will apply to the air travel
sector around how they make air travel accessible and inclusive
(13:35):
for people with disabilities. So there's certainly changes in the
environment that need to be reflected in the act itself.
S2 (13:41):
And Jane, you've been coaching your people to get involved.
We'll put the details of the phone number and website,
email address, etc. on our show notes. But obviously you'd
be very encouraging of people to to have your say
because I guess, you know, saying nothing is is not
very good.
S4 (13:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
S3 (13:57):
I would encourage anyone that is interested in this and
certainly who is affected by it, which I would say
is every person with disability and obviously other duty holders too,
to have their say. Consultation is going to be open
until the 24th of October, so there's still quite a
bit of time. And you don't have to be a
legal expert to get involved. You can just be a
(14:17):
citizen who, you know, has some of the experiences that
you want to share, and maybe some of the solutions
that you've thought about. Imagine that there's a lot of
people out there listening that have thought about things over
the years and, you know, come to conclusions about how
things could be better. So tell us, we want to
hear all of it. And, uh, we look forward to
hopefully getting a, you know, really solid bit of legislation
(14:40):
out of this.
S2 (14:41):
Great to catch up. We'll speak again soon, I'm sure.
S3 (14:43):
Yeah. Thank you very much, Peter.
S2 (14:45):
So Jane, what a wonderful consultant and very well explained
as far as the review of the Disability Discrimination Act
will put those details up with our show notes.
S1 (14:55):
Thank you for listening to Vision Xtra with Peter Greco.
You can find this interview on the Focal Point podcast.
This show was produced in the Adelaide studios of Vision
Australia Radio.
On Vision Australia Radio. This is Vision Xtra with Peter Greco.
S2 (00:25):
The review of the Disability Discrimination Act is on at
the moment. Let's chat about it with Jane Britt. Jane
is a fabulous advocate and also senior consultant and advisor
for the Social Deck. Jane, great to catch up again.
Thanks so much for your time.
S3 (00:39):
Thank you very much, Peter.
S2 (00:40):
How important is this?
S3 (00:42):
Really important. You know, it's a once in a lifetime
sort of opportunity to get in front of, you know,
a disability, royal commission environment and have a say about
how disability discrimination affects people with disability. This could be
a real game changer.
S2 (00:55):
Yeah. Well, of course the Royal Commission has been running one,
if I could put it that way, a number of
recommendations from it. In fact, I think 200 plus a
number of them also regarding the Disability Discrimination Act review.
S3 (01:07):
Yeah, absolutely. And that's why we are having this review
in light of those recommendations that came down. them. And,
you know, also responding to some of the experiences of
violence and abuse and exploitation that we heard from people
with disabilities throughout those four and a half years of
the consultation period. Any, you know, review of the act
means that it will be strengthened, which hopefully means that
(01:29):
it might prevent some of those experiences for people with
disability in the future.
S2 (01:33):
What about the areas where a review is necessary, or
maybe is it tweaking, or is it kind of not
an overhaul? But what? How would you describe what is
needed sort of from this day forth?
S3 (01:43):
It's updating the understanding, really, of disability and disability discrimination
in the act and potentially might look at, you know,
the experiences of people with disability, of being included in employment,
education and other areas of public life, having improved access
to justice and then also potentially positive duty to eliminate discrimination,
or that is ensuring that organisations take actions to prevent
(02:07):
discrimination before it occurs.
S2 (02:10):
Has there been much review of it over the years
because was it 1992, 1993 when it was kind of past.
S3 (02:16):
Yeah, 1992. So this would be, you know, really first
major reform of the process. Obviously, a lot has happened
in the intervening decades between then and now. So certainly
it's the right time for modernization of it.
S2 (02:29):
What about some of your thoughts? Anything specifically that you'd
like tackled? I know you were very much involved with
the well, both the Royal Commission on Aged Care and
also the disability violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people
with disabilities. Anything that kind of stands out. Without giving
too much away, because I'm sure you'll be putting in
a submission.
S3 (02:48):
Yeah, absolutely. So what we are sort of, um, I
think going to see through this is where there's been,
you know, repeated experiences of people experiencing discrimination. The thing
that comes to mind for me is refusal of service
people with assistance animals. Obviously, that's something that's been a
really hot button issue for people over the years, and
(03:09):
potentially something where this review could really help to instigate
the changes that are needed to ensure that compliance actually
occurs and that, you know, organizations and public services take
action before that discrimination occurs of refusing someone service because
they have an assistance animal. We know that section nine
(03:29):
of the act prohibits that, but it doesn't necessarily mean
that in, you know, actual experience that it is preventing
discrimination from occurring. So, you know, that's the thing that
I'm especially hopeful for, for duty holders, that they, you know, um,
respond in such a way that enables people with disability
to be able to access the public services and public
(03:51):
spaces that everyone, um, should be able to have free
and easy access to.
S2 (03:55):
Because, as you say, a lot of these things. Well,
I guess those are kind of live with the disability,
those that are in the kind of echo chamber, if
I can put it that way, of disability, kind of
know about it. But I mean, do you think discrimination
happens sometimes out of ignorance, or do you think it's
more out of bloody mindedness I mean, because that's probably
important as well. Do you think?
S3 (04:16):
I do think so. You know, I think a lot
of it probably is related to ignorance. Um, you know,
I do think some of it probably is where there
is a level of knowing that there's, um, compliance, you know, required,
but not necessarily have the mechanisms in place to, you know,
drive that compliance. I think that there's an aspect of
this that is around attitudes towards disability. And probably I
(04:38):
imagine a lot of that will come up in the
responses from people to the act review of saying that,
you know, here's some of the experiences that I've had
that are more about, you know, customer service or, you know,
relations with people in public and ensuring that people's understanding
of disability improves and awareness and how they respond to
people with disability to ensure that, you know, they're not
(05:00):
creating discriminatory actions.
S2 (05:02):
Jane, the review, if you like, takes place, and I
guess then maybe the legislation might change. What about in
terms of punishment? Now, actually, I spoke to, uh, Scott
Hollier from the centre for center for accessibility the other day,
and they have the Golden Carrot Award because, you know,
he figures he could probably get more from, you know,
a golden carrot rather than beating people with a stick.
(05:22):
But is there anything in this that'll sort of change
the punishment or how people are treated if they do discriminate?
S3 (05:30):
I think it's more so around that idea of positive duty,
or ensuring that organizations actually take action to prevent discrimination
before it occurs. So basically that they have to reduce
the barriers that they have in place by, I guess, first,
having awareness of what those barriers are and that they
are showing that they're taking proactive actions to reduce those barriers,
(05:54):
or in other words, making the kind of reasonable adjustments. And,
you know, the the changes in mechanisms that enable people
to access the services and public spaces that they want to.
So I think it's more about making sure that organizations
are proactively taking actions, and that they can prove that
they've taken those actions to prevent discrimination. I think that's
(06:14):
more where we're looking at at the moment, and we're
looking at the requirements for unjustifiable hardship. So basically, at
the moment, duty holders have to make adjustments unless it's
too difficult. And that's called unjustifiable hardship. But the act
is now going to the review will look at what
that definition is and whether it needs changing and how
(06:35):
it needs to change.
S2 (06:36):
Yeah, because I guess I can't afford it. Maybe doesn't
cut the mustard.
S3 (06:39):
Yeah, potentially. You know, there could be a number of,
you know, mechanisms. I sort of, you know, that's not
my expertise. But I do know that there is certainly
we've heard enough from the Royal Commission that there's enough
evidence there to show that barriers do exist, you know,
in all areas of life and that there is definitely
things that can be done to, I guess, change that.
S2 (07:00):
Jane, you touched on the service animals, and in the
time since the last act or the act was introduced
in 1992, there's much more. There are many more service
animals around for different setups, if you like. I'm thinking
of veterans, I'm thinking about people with autism, etc.. Another thing,
of course, has happened in the last 33 years or
so has been the advance of technology and things like
(07:22):
websites and and apps and that sort of thing.
S3 (07:25):
Yeah. And I think, yeah, you mentioned two really important
points there. Like at the moment, we've heard from the
community that with assistance animals that the rules are unclear
and that, um, you know, both for people with disability
and for duty holders and that the review will look
at making the rules clear about training and certification. But
up front, you know, one of the there that I
(07:46):
can foresee being a really important part of this review
is artificial intelligence. We know that AI can have biases
built into it. Um, there's certainly been research evidence to
indicate that at the moment. And maybe this is something
that the review of the app could address. I mean,
I encourage people to make submissions and to come to
(08:06):
consultations and give their feedback on that aspect, because technology
is not going away. It is changing. And it is,
you know, at least I is starting to infiltrate every
part of our lives. So it is going to affect
people with disability. And obviously that's going to need to
be reflected in any updated legislation.
S2 (08:23):
John, that's very astute. I actually spoke to someone from
the University of SA the other day who was in
the area of health, and they'd typed all sorts of
misinformation into EI regarding particularly some of the, um, the
things that are talked about as far as, uh, remedies
for health goes. And he was staggered at the fact that,
you know, that information could then be accessed by people
(08:45):
who would get then get the incorrect information when they're
searching a health topic. And, uh, you know, he was
sort of saying, obviously, consult your doctor, consult your professionals
when it comes to health advice. But, you know, your
point there is that you can use AI or people
can use AI for their disadvantage rather than advantage.
S3 (09:02):
Yeah. And certainly that's been borne out already in some
of the legal cases that have been put before the
courts around AI use and some of the misinformation that
it has supplied, supply. Even in legal cases that are
being brought forward by AI that aren't actually existing legal cases,
it's hallucinated information that doesn't exist.
S2 (09:21):
Yes, that's a great point. Yeah, it's a great point.
Hallucinated information. I'll write that down and use in the future. Jane.
It looks to me, and I've only read the the
synopsis of the summary of what is going on. It
looks like, you know, they're trying as in the review
is trying as hard as it can to make it
as inclusive and to get people to have their say,
(09:43):
almost like in any way possible.
S3 (09:45):
Absolutely. And I'm facilitating some of the sessions face to face.
I'm actually in Hobart speaking to you right now for
a session tomorrow, but we are starting from tomorrow onwards
to have sessions in capital cities that will be face
to face, but also will have an online component so
people can access the sessions from wherever they are within
(10:05):
the state and be able to put forward their, um,
particular views around this review. The other way that people
can get involved is to feel in the community survey,
on the Attorney General's website, or to even make a
longer submission if they like. So we are quite happy
to take, you know, people's feedback in whatever is the
most accessible format and way for them. And our forums
(10:27):
are certainly taking into account accessibility for anyone with disability
to make sure that they can participate as they, you know,
need to.
S2 (10:34):
Tell us a bit more about your involvement than Jane,
as you say. Well, as I said at the beginning,
you've been very much involved with advocacy for a long time.
You write about it, you speak about it. You you
hire a person with lived experience. Were you kind of
co-opted into this role or did you apply for it?
How did that happen?
S3 (10:49):
I'm a senior consultant for the Social Deck, which is
a consultancy firm which is currently helping with the Attorney-General's
Department running of the review. So we are doing a
lot of the consultation oversight so that people can have
their say in the most accessible way. And then the
Attorney General's Department will take the information that they're provided
(11:10):
and make final decisions about, obviously what goes forward into legislation.
S2 (11:15):
I feel a little bit tongue in cheek. Jane, I
wonder whether a bit of AI will be used to
kind of, uh synopsize all the information that's given, because
I'd imagine there's going to be pages and pages of it.
I guess similar to the royal commissions that we touched
on earlier.
S3 (11:27):
I can assure you that a lot of our data
analysis is also done by hand. Um, we have very
much been involved in that process.
S2 (11:35):
What about in terms of the, if I can call
it turnaround time or people give evidence and, you know,
make their submissions, etc.? What about when something might come
of this sort of in a more concrete way or
indeed go to Parliament?
S3 (11:48):
Yeah, it's unclear exactly what the timelines will be beyond this,
but we do know that consultations will go on through
August and September. Uh, we have some, uh, you know,
obviously the sessions in each capital city. Then we'll have
a few online roundtables that will go to specific topic
areas around employment, education, access and inclusion, and community safety.
(12:11):
So at least the review process will wrap up into the,
you know, back end of the year. And then potentially
we will have a bit of a time until we
have to get to our finalized legislation. So yeah, we'll
see see what the future holds.
S2 (12:27):
And I don't know if you can comment on this,
but generally speaking, the political parties are kind of in
lockstep as far as a change being needed. And and,
you know, I guess they wait till the legislation comes
before them to kind of see how they vote on it.
But do you sense that, you know, we're all kind
of pulling in the right or in the same direction
as far as this goes?
S4 (12:45):
I may not be able to comment on that, uh,
just because.
S3 (12:48):
Of our.
S4 (12:48):
Our work.
S2 (12:49):
Yeah. That's fine, that's fine. Well, yeah. I mean, I
guess something that was passed in. No. Well, I'm going
to say it. You don't have to comment even, but
something that was passed in 1992, in 2025 or 2026,
you probably think, well, it probably needs some updating. And
as you say, particularly given the fact that there's been
a couple of very extensive, expensive royal commissions in the interim.
S4 (13:12):
And certainly that.
S3 (13:13):
What we'll need updating there is the correlation to how
it applies to the standards that sit underneath it. Obviously,
those standards have been through different reviews like the transport standards,
the premises standards, and at the moment we are looking
at aviation standards that will apply to the air travel
sector around how they make air travel accessible and inclusive
(13:35):
for people with disabilities. So there's certainly changes in the
environment that need to be reflected in the act itself.
S2 (13:41):
And Jane, you've been coaching your people to get involved.
We'll put the details of the phone number and website,
email address, etc. on our show notes. But obviously you'd
be very encouraging of people to to have your say
because I guess, you know, saying nothing is is not
very good.
S4 (13:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
S3 (13:57):
I would encourage anyone that is interested in this and
certainly who is affected by it, which I would say
is every person with disability and obviously other duty holders too,
to have their say. Consultation is going to be open
until the 24th of October, so there's still quite a
bit of time. And you don't have to be a
legal expert to get involved. You can just be a
(14:17):
citizen who, you know, has some of the experiences that
you want to share, and maybe some of the solutions
that you've thought about. Imagine that there's a lot of
people out there listening that have thought about things over
the years and, you know, come to conclusions about how
things could be better. So tell us, we want to
hear all of it. And, uh, we look forward to
hopefully getting a, you know, really solid bit of legislation
(14:40):
out of this.
S2 (14:41):
Great to catch up. We'll speak again soon, I'm sure.
S3 (14:43):
Yeah. Thank you very much, Peter.
S2 (14:45):
So Jane, what a wonderful consultant and very well explained
as far as the review of the Disability Discrimination Act
will put those details up with our show notes.
S1 (14:55):
Thank you for listening to Vision Xtra with Peter Greco.
You can find this interview on the Focal Point podcast.
This show was produced in the Adelaide studios of Vision
Australia Radio.
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