Hi Everyone,

I have been watching the discussion with quite a deal of interest as here in Australia and particularly in Queensland all 7 Universities have a disability officer.  All but 2 of us are full-time appointments.  At the two smallest institutions we combine the role of disability officer with that of equity and equal opportunity.

At the University of Queensland which is our largest uni there are two Disability Officers (25000 students)  

In the main there are disability officers in every university in Australia (38 unis) and on a pay scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest, most officers are either 7 or 8, which translates to about 20 - 24 thousand pounds.  All staff are non-academic, qualifications range from physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, occupational therapists, special education teachers.

The Disability Officers duties are fairly standard and comprise the following.

Advise on implications and implementation within the University of current Federal and State legislation, policies, intitiatives and standards.

Develop and recommend policy, procedures and guidelines in relation to a wide range of disability issues which impact on students within a tertiary institution.

Provide consultancy to University staff at all levels on disability issues including teaching strategies, building access, technological aids, community and government assistance and the needs of individual students.

Proactively seek to provide education to University staff and students about disability issues.

Coordinate the provision of equity of access to the total university environment for students with a disability through provision of a range of services and support.

Exercise professional judgement and decision making in relation to advice to students and staff about arrangements, accommodations and strategies; use of technological aids; referrals to other professionals and agencies.

Advocate for students with disabilities.

Keep abreast of innovations, practices, technical aids in disability both in Australia and overseas.

Publicise support and services available to students. 

Supervise and co-ordinate volunteer assistants to students with disabilities, eg peer notetakers, tutors etc.

Actively contribute to the integrated professional approach of the professional unit to which the disability officer belongs eg Student services, to provide quality support services to students.

Disability officers meet regularly to discuss relavant issues and there is a national conference held every 2 nd year which is subsidised by the government.

Here in Australia each university is responsible for providing the reasonable academic accommodations required by students.  We do not provide for personal assistance such as carers or funding for housing  accommodation, however we do provide advice on access to buildings.

Each of the Universities are encouraged to develop a disability action plan which covers all faculties and departments within the university.  This requires resources to bring buildings up to standard for access, adjustments to curriculums, recruitment strategies, all written material to be made available in alternative format where requested, info technology aids, employment of staff, access to recreation areas, hearing loops, fire alarms etc.

This requires a major commitment from senior management, but it ensures that the university complies with the disability discrimination act and will be taken into consideration when a person lodges an action in the Human Rights commission or the Anti-discrimination commission. A successful action can be both very expensive and embarrassing for a uni.

 What an Action Plan does is enables the uni to develop a medium term strategy 3-5 years to make the environment fully accessable.  Here in Australia it is very hard for a uni to argue undue hardship in providing reasonable accommodations as the commission takes into consideration the overall budget of the uni in evaluating whether or not its actions were unreasonable in the circumstances.  If the uni has lodged a plan the commission will then say ok, you have said that within say 3 years you will install a lift in X building as an example and find in the uni's favour as it has been able to demonstrate that you are addressing this particular issue.

The big thing to remember is the force of the laws that you now have at your disposal.

I have included a position paper I have just had approved by the Vice-Chancellor's advisory committee which may be of interest to you by way of demonstrating the use of the law as a tool.  The VCAC is all the senior department managers and deans, we do not yet have PVC's.

Hope this information helps with the current discussion.

Di Paez
Equity Officer
Sunshine Coast University 
Locked Bag No 4
Maroochydore South DC 4558
61 07 54 30 1226
61 07 54 30 1231fax
http://www.scuc.edu.au