House Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Inquiry into the draft Disability (Access to Premises - Buildings) Standards
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6 April 2009
Roundtable for Inquiry into Premises Standards Melbourne on 7 April 2009
The House Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee will hold a roundtable in Melbourne tomorrow with key organisations as part of its inquiry into the draft Premises Standards.
Four key organisations will appear at the roundtable: the Attorney-General’s Department, the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, the Australian Building Codes Board and the Australian Human Rights Commission.
The roundtable will allow the Committee to put issues raised through out its inquiry process to these organisations.
The Committee has received over 120 submissions and has held six public hearings. Some of the reoccurring concerns include: the exclusion of Class 2 buildings, typically apartment blocks, from the scope of the Standards; the appropriateness of the small building exemption; the unjustifiable hardship provision, the use of access panels, and in particular, whether their decisions should be binding; the absence of emergency egress provisions; and, the scope, criteria and timing of the proposed review process.
Committee Chair, Mr Mark Dreyfus QC MP, said “This roundtable provides an important opportunity to gather together the key organisations in this process to discuss the history and reasoning behind some of these concerns.”
“It has taken over eight years for the draft Standards to get to where they are today. The Committee is conscious of this significant delay but we are also committed to ensuring that the Standards achieve their object and purpose,” he added.
Details of the roundtable:
Date: Tuesday 7 April 2009
Time: 12:15 pm – 3:15 pm
Location: Room G8, Ground Floor, Victorian State Parliamentary Offices, 55 St Andrew's Place, Melbourne
Full program details are available.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the roundtable.
Accessibility: Please contact the Committee Secretariat for information about accessibility.
Additional media information
For interview, contact the Committee Chair, Mr Mark Dreyfus QC, MP on (02) 6277 4305 (Canberra) or in his electorate on (03) 9769 1955; or Mr Dreyfus’ media adviser, Tim Lisle-Williams on 0431 178 280.
For background information, including the full terms of reference, please visit the inquiry website at www.aph.gov.au/laca or contact the Committee Secretariat on (02) 6277 2358.
Related link
- Printable version of this media release (PDF 29KB)
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