Resources and Useful Links

Equity

• Australian Human Rights Commission
• The Disability Discrimination Act 1992
• Disability Standards for Access to Premises
• Disability Standards for Education 2005
• AVCC Guidelines Regarding Students with Disabilities (PDF 339Kb)

Information on Specific Disabilities

• Identifying Mental Health Problems/Conditions
• Vision Australia
• JCU Toolkit for Staff 
• Beyond Blue for people and families suffering with depression
• Dyslexia
• Learning Disabilities and related conditions resource for the Higher Education sector Opening All Options II
• The Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET) provides information on specific impairments including ADHD, Asperger's and Autism, Brain Injury, Deafness and Hearing Impairment, Health Conditions, Learning Disabilities, Vision Impairment and Blindness, Mental Illness and Physical Impairments.
  

Assistive Technology

• AccessApps - 50 open source and freeware assistive technology applications which can be entirely used from a USB stick on Windows computer
• Dragon Systems - The Naturally Speaking Company - voice recognition software
• Duxbury Systems - Braille and related technology
• Jaws Screen-reading and screen-magnification software
• MyStudyBar is free software that accommodates and caters to students who struggle with literacy or with different forms and degrees of dyslexia
• Screen readers and Note takers for Blind, Low Vision and Learning Disabilities
• TextHelp Systems - Read&Write 10Gold - a program which "floats" on top of windows applications to provide assistance to users with learning difficulties
• ZoomText - Magnifier that enlarges and enhances everything on your computer screen, making all applications easy to see and use for people with low vision

Disabilities - Services

• Disability and Community Care Services 
• Disability Employment Services 

Other

Creating Accessible Teaching and Support (CATS) - The CATS Project has established a framework for good practice that provides information and resources to help universities create equitable access for students with disabilities and to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act and the Disability Standards for Education. The framework includes a Self Assessment tool to assist universities review performance against benchmarks.

The Australian Disability Clearing House on Education and Training (ADCET) - ADCET provides up to date and comprehensive information about inclusive teaching, learning and assessment strategies, accommodation and support services for people with disabilities in post secondary education and training.

Pod cast (Griffith University)

The Disability Standards for Education 2005 and their application in the Tertiary Education Sector.

Speaker: Mr Graeme Innes AM, 30th October, 2007

Graeme Innes is a lawyer and a Human Rights Commissioner responsible for Disability Discrimination with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. It may be helpful to listen to this pod cast. Some issues addressed include the admission of students who may not be able to complete course requirements, disclosure of disability, reasonable adjustments of workloads, curriculum development, systemic indirect discrimination, placements, duty of care and WHS in placements, harassment policies, recording of lectures and creating an environment that supports rather than challenges a student with a disability.