Monash Memo - 11 July 2001

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Accessibility under the spotlight

Captain of the Australian Paralympic Team Mr Sandy Blythe presented a seminar today at the Clayton campus on building accessible environments at Monash.

Mr Blythe is director of Morris-Walker consultants, a disability management firm specialising in reviews of buildings to ensure they comply with the Disability Discrimination Act.

He was the guest of the Monash University Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities and the Equity and Diversity Centre.

Mr Blythe, with his experience, is well placed to give advice on how to make buildings more accessible to people with a disability.

"I had nineteen years of kicking around a footy, knowing nothing about the problems that people with a disability face, and then nineteen years in a wheelchair dealing with those problems everyday," he said.

He believes it is imperative for organisations to take disability access into consideration when they are designing new buildings or assessing existing buildings.

"The statistics speak for themselves, nineteen percent of the Australian community have a disability - that's one in every five people. It's good business to provide access for people with a disability," he said.

In his presentation, Mr Blythe spoke about specific barriers to access - such as lack of ramp, lift and parking provisions - and the processes needed to overcome these barriers.

He said Monash had a clear commitment to being proactive in dealing with accessibility issues and in complying with the Disability Discrimination Act.