Access a barrier to full life

Planners and architects still had a significant challenge to ensure major community facilities were accessible to people with a disability, says Minister for Community Services Christine Campbell.

Speaking at a workshop of the National Access Working Group, Ms Campbell said barriers to access were still a major stumbling block stopping people with a disability from fully participating in community life.

‘Support services for people with disabilities have been developed and expanded to promote integration into the community, although I recognise there is still a long way to go,’ said Ms Campbell.

‘Despite improvements to building design over the past two decades, access to the built environment still presents some of the most significant challenges to people’s sense of belonging and inclusion in community life.’

Ms Campbell said the conference was timely as it coincided with an exciting period in the development of DisAbility Services in Victoria.

‘As Minister for Community Services, I was pleased to announce a $50 million funding boost to DisAbility Services portfolio in the 2000/2001 financial year.

‘This extra funding is providing unprecedented opportunities for people with a disability in Victoria and is contributing to the achievement of the Government’s vision of One Community.

‘The work of the National Access Working Group crystallises many of these issues and provides some clear directions for how we might begin to develop a coherent and consistent set of strategies for dealing with these issues,’ Ms Campbell said.