After working in the access industry for more than 30 years, I cannot remember a time when the focus on the need for improved access features in housing to meet the wide-ranging needs of the community, has been highlighted as much as it is now. After many years of advocacy and work by a wide … Read More
Clarifications re the SDA Design Standard Interpretations 10 December 2021 This is the 4th update of Clarifications re the SDA Design Standard Interpretations. This 4th Update also includes the content from Updates 1, 2 and 3. Apart from some grammatical modifications, changes in this document made since Update 3 are highlighted in purple. The SDA … Read More
Ms. Joe Manton, Director Access Institute, ACAA & Williamson Fellow Access Consultants have been operating in the marketplace for more than thirty years. The profession began with a few interested people, some with disabilities, who were working in the design and development of the built environment and recognised the need to ensure buildings were accessible … Read More
Ms. Joe Manton, Director Access Institute, ACAA & Williamson Fellow In an ABC Opinion piece by Rory Blundell posted on Tuesday 4 April 2017, Rory states: ‘Like most people who consume almost a litre of soft drink while seeing a movie at the cinema, I really need to pee. A familiar, prickly feeling of anxiety … Read More
After much work across a wide range of sectors, the National Building Ministers forum has agreed that new minimum accessibility Standards, based on the Silver Performance Level of the Livable Housing Australia (LHA) Design Guidelines, will be incorporated into the National Construction Code (NCC). Ministers also agreed that a voluntary Gold Level technical standard for … Read More
Clarifications re the SDA Design Standard Interpretations 12 April 2021 This is the third update of Clarifications re the SDA Design Standard Interpretations. This 3rd Update also includes the content from Updates 1 and 2. The SDA Design Standard has now been in use for over 12 months and there are currently more than 60 … Read More
Ms. Joe Manton, Director Access Institute After spending my very early years trudging through the back yard to the outdoor ‘dunny’ in the winter, I developed a great appreciation, as did many others, for a comfortable, warm, clean, ‘spider free’ toilet, as these were introduced to homes across the country. Of course, you just need … Read More
The Comfort of Social Distancing With cafes and restaurants opening up again after the long hibernation it’s time to celebrate with a night out at our favourite eatery. With social distancing in place it may mean that people will be more comfortable at the dining table without the elbows of the diner next to them … Read More
27 October 2020 This is the second update of Clarifications re the SDA Design Standard Interpretations. The SDA Design Standard has now been in use for 12 months and there are currently more than 50 Accredited SDA Design Standard Assessors registered with Livable Housing Australia. Details can be found at https://sdaassessors.org.au/ As could be expected … Read More
Support to Councils providing advice and reviews of proposed Parklets Introducing Parklets to support local traders coming out of COVID 19 lockdown will be a great way to stimulate business and get the local economy moving again. Providing parking bays for use as trading and dining areas will bring vibrancy back to local precincts and … Read More
Discussion Paper 2020 The NRF for building Practitioners – Discussion Paper 2020, identifies an important role relating to Access Consultants, with specific expertise in regard to the National Construction Code (NCC) and access requirements for buildings. The proposed NRF has the potential to have significant impact on the role of Access Consultants in assessing compliance … Read More
By (Ms.) Joe Manton, Director Access Institute There is no doubt that the introduction of the Commonwealth Disability (Access to Premises- Buildings) Standards in 2011 has seen improvements in access to new buildings and some upgraded buildings, for a variety of building users with disabilities. These minimum standards reference the technical Australian Standards that provide … Read More