Universal Design in Housing in Australia: An Example of People Power.

This paper follows three previous ones which have reflected on the grass-roots campaign in Australia to mandate a basic access standard in all new housing. The original negotiations with government and the housing industry for this reform were at first disingenuous then reluctant despite human rights obligations. A tenacious campaign over two decades by user stakeholders, researchers, and principled housing providers finally convinced political leaders to mandate national access provisions for all new housing in the National Construction Code.

Can I Get There? Can I Play? Can I Stay? Creating an Inclusive Playspace Guide in Australia.

Playspaces bring children and adults together for fun and social interaction but are rarely designed for the inclusion of all community members. In Australia, local government authorities (councils) are responsible for parks and playspaces. The New South Wales state government launched their inclusive playspaces policy in 2017.

From the Ground Up: Establishing a Centre for Universal Design in Australia.

The universal design movement arrived in Australia well before the turn of the century. A handful of individuals, often working as lone voices, are doing their best to incorporate the concepts into their everyday work and promote the concepts more widely. As is often the case elsewhere, the term "universal design" is misunderstood and confused with special and separate designs for people with disability rather than inclusion for everyone.

Using the ICF in economic analyses of Assistive Technology systems: methodological implications of a user standpoint.

Purpose: This paper identifies key methodological issues for economic analyses of costs and effectiveness of Assistive Technology (AT) systems based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Following the biopsychosocial model of the ICF, the paper explores the consequences for cost-effectiveness analyses of AT systems when a user centred approach is taken. In so doing, the paper questions the fiction of neutrality in economic analyses and discusses the distinction between weak and strong objectivity.