The Australian government is reviewing the law that ensures persons with disabilities, family members, carers and friends, have equal access to public buildings.
The Disability (Access to Premises – Building) Standards 2010 (Premises Standards) set the requirements and technical specifications building practitioners must comply with when designing public buildings. This includes common access areas in apartments and facilities. The National Construction Code contains these requirements, and states and territories enforce them.
The Minister for Industry, Science and Technology in consultation with the Attorney-General is starting the review of the Premises Standards through a discovery process. This will help shape the review, terms of reference and an issues paper for the second round of consultation.
Anyone affected by the Premises Standards is welcome to provide input. We’re particularly keen to hear from people living with a disability, and those who assist and advocate for them. For example, we’d like to learn more about their experiences accessing public buildings and common areas day to day.
We’d also like building developers, managers and certifiers to tell us their experiences complying with the Standards and National Construction Code. This may include navigating differences in each state and territory’s approach to exemptions and concessions.
This consultation is open until 2 November 2020. There will be more opportunities to have your say throughout the review. We expect to wrap up in May 2021 with improvements to the Standards.
