Access for All Australians

Last week I attended Arts Access Australia’s “Arts and Disability Meeting Place” in Hobart, where I heard the term, “Access for all Australians” used for the first time.  But what does the term mean? 

It quiet simply means creating a society that all Australians can enjoy at every stage of life. For too long in this country we have scene “access issues” as a issue for those experiencing a physical disability.

During the day we also discussed ‘language’, the use of language when referring to someone with an impairment or mental illness can also have a disabling effect as I discovered recently. So when we begin to talk about ‘Access for all Australians’, we can achieve both objectives.  In terms of addressing access issues un general if we determine to create a society which all of us can access at anytime, we remove the need to use language that needs to label others are different to the norm.

In a truly inclusive society everyone has equal access to buildings, employment, education, sporting opportunities, leisure, the arts, community venues, newspapers, the internet, housing, transport, health care and the list goes on.  In such a society there would be need to find terms to label and identify those who may be different to ourselves.

Since we are yet to achieve a society that is even remotely inclusive for all Australians for the purpose of this discussion please excuse me if I use terminology that you personal find isolating,  correct and inclusive language is a whole another debate and I find people who have a permeate impairment that affects their ability to function in some capacity, like to identify themselves in a number of different was and many choose not to identify as having an impairment for fear of being judged, mistreat or isolated for this reason.

Recently this has been particularly true in the Arts in Australian at present with the release of the Cultural framework policies.  But this is not a language debate but a debate on giving all 

Australians true access to all aspects of our cultural community.  The reality is each of us at some point in our life face an access barrier to something.  Not to experiences some type of barrier at some point would be highly unlikely.

Sadly when we being to dialogue about access we all think of the obvious, the stairs, ramps, footpaths, buildings, transport and toilets, but access is deny in so many other ways.  Language is a larger barrier for many Australians and rarely discussed.

Language whether it is written, read or spoken is difficult for millions of Australians. Reading or accessing technology dependent on a persons ability to read if a barrier for a cross section of Australians.  We often underestimate how much we read.  So much of our lives are direct by signs and instructions.  The inability to read either caused by English being a second language, learning difficulties, lack of education opportunities, undiagnosed learning impairments, lack of access to eye care, visual impairments and often laziness to read instructions and signs can all prove barriers to many in our community, unless all these barriers are address we do not live in a society that gives equal access to all Australians.

This access to written information or visual stimulation may be permanent or temporal as in the case of someone learning English.  In our society most signs are written in English, to have signs written in every language would be a logistical nightmare. There are those for other reasons who can not read and will never be able to read.  The challenge then is how do we make information accessible to them. 

Even those who can access written language may still experience language barriers due to an inability to write, speak, hear or a combination of these impairments. Even I with a mild speech impairment and dyslexia with my university education still experience some level of barriers in terms of language and communication, especially when it involves a telephone and an impatience person on the other end of a telephone.

Even within what we like to label mainstream society, we have subcultures with their own ‘lingo’ I’ll leave you to Google that one just to prove my point of the many different language barriers that prevent all Australians from having equal access to all areas of life.

Hopefully I am starting to defuse the myths that access is an issue of primarily concern of those living with some level of temporary or permeate impairment. You may of noticed I been referring to temporary impairments, unlike other issues or needs of those living with permeate disabilities access or lack of access with create barriers for each of us. 

Written and spoken language is a great example as we look across a persons lifespan as we experience different levels of access to language at different ages for many reasons.  A child must learn to talk and read & write before the can fully communicate in an adult world. At the opposite end of the spectrum as we age people experience a range of impairments from hearing and sight loss; to loss of memory, mobility and daily functions.

Either end of the age spectrum isolation barriers due to access is an issue. It may not be one of communication, mobility or intellectual ability, it could be one of social acceptance.  Social acceptance may be a matter of your simply trying to access inappropriate social settings such as a teenager trying to enter a night club underage, or some at ninety may not be so welcomed; and a five year old doesn’t belong at a bowling green.  Social acceptance isn’t solely determined by tolerance of those around us.

Indigenous cultures and tribes are govern by their social structure is a prefect example of who social exception is not always the result of discrimination. I think if people in our society could be more grown-up and honest in the way we discuss issues social isolation and access for all of us as Australians, great grounds towards social inclusion could be made.  Especially if we owner our fears and prejudgouses. We are all human and to deny their reality in my book delays the need for intelligent discussion towards understand and social inclusion.

To own my own humanity and failings in this debate is an illustration of how our language regardless of the topic of conversation can be inclusive rather than exclude key players in the debate.  

So your probable wondering how all this affects the arts.  Well to remain inclusive ‘the arts’ is essentially about creative communication that requires the use of one or more our five senses.  When one of these sense is impaired the person ability to access artworks and performances as its produces intended.

Most notably in terms arts this impairs those with sensory impairments most significantly and to increase Australian ability to access the areas across the board we need to look to technology to bridge the caps.  In terms of the performing arts we are looking at making captioning available in chimera and theaters. As well as audio descriptions of performances and visual for those with impaired visions.

While physical access continues to be a barrier for some Australians as new venues are designed due to government legislation demands all new buildings meet accessibility standards.  What better time to ensure these venues continue to be accessible for all Australians in the future to ensure all building have the capacity to include all Australians in the ability to enjoy the arts in the format in which  it is produce.

The O

Access 4 All

at MONA in Hobart, Tasmania Australia

Interesting when I visited Mona Art Gallery and Museum later in the week the use a electronic advice called the‘O’ which allows patrons to access two or more media for information able the artwork and give personal reviews. This technology gives all Australians better access to the visual arts not just those affected by impairments.

Access should not be about enabling a few Australians to attend art festivals and chimera but all of us accessing every aspect the arts has to offer us as individuals.  By increasing the capacity to reach a greater audience we to will invite a greater diversity of artists to participate in all art forms and their production.

The arts industry has an incredible opportunity to lead the way in making society accessible for all Australians and advocate for social inclusion. It is such be to great of gift for us not to take up the challenge.  In the digital age the access issues look very differently to the previously generations.

I hope that helps you my readers understand what I mean by access for all Australians. As we have an incredible bright future ahead of us.