Disability Arts History Australia

Items

• “Arts Access Australia CEO encourages other non-disabled CEOs of disability organisations to step down”
  In 2012, Kate Larsen stepped down from role as CEO of Arts Access Australia. In a Ramp Up article, she explained “Now, I love my job. I'm good at it. I think that I've been useful here. But on the same day I accepted the position last February I also did something else. I gave notice of my resignation, and undertook to hand over the organisation by the end of 2012. The reason? Because I believe that Arts Access Australia should be led by a person with disability.” Upon her resignation, she encouraged other non-disabled CEOs of disability organisations to step aside to make space for disabled people to take up these leadership roles.
• “Arts Access Australia launches its ‘Don’t Play Us, Pay Us’ campaign in response to 'cripping up'”
  In 2012, Arts Access Australia launched its ‘Don’t Play Us, Pay Us’ campaign in response to 'cripping up,' where non-disabled performers play disabled characters on stage or screen.
• “Office of the Arts releases 'Creative Australia – National Cultural Policy' (2013) , is critiqued for its reference to 'tolerance' of disabled people”
  The national cultural policy ‘Creative Australia’ was published in 2013. It was critiqued for its lack of disability arts funding and its reference to 'tolerating' disabled people. As Arts Hub reported, “By now you will have heard that the National Cultural Policy offers little for Australians with a disability. Not only is there no funding for the National Arts and Disability Strategy, but instead, the policy calls for a culture of tolerance towards people with a disability.”
• “Activism leads to a Disability Royal Commission”
  Decades of activism led to a 2019 Senate motion calling for a Disability Royal Commission. The first public hearing of the Royal Commission took place on 16th September, 2019 at Brisbane’s Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Commission resulted in a report in 12 volumes. Several volumes include Volume 3: Nature and extent of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, Volume 6: Enabling autonomy and access, Volume 7: Inclusive education, employment and housing, Volume 9: First Nations people with disability, and Volume 10: Disability services. Overall, the Commission presented “222 recommendations on how to improve laws, policies, structures and practices to ensure a more inclusive and just society that supports the independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.” In 2023, the final report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability was published with 220 recommendations for a more inclusive nation to reduce exploitation, violence, abuse and neglect of people with disabilities.
• “Creative Australia releases reports on arts participation, including d/Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent artists and audiences”
  A series of reports about arts and disability in Australia published in the mid-to-late-2010s are summarised on the Creative Australia website. Sources for the summary include Connecting Australians: Results of the National Arts Participation Survey (June 2017), Making Art Work: An Economic Study of Professional Artists in Australia (2017), Creating Pathways: Insights on support for artists with disability (2018), and Arts and Disability in Australia: Meeting of Cultural Ministers (2018). The overview of this research series demonstrates that disabled Australians’ participation in the arts had increased as access had grown, though equity for disabled artists, especially those with intersecting marginalised identities, continued to face barriers. It reports that work by disabled artists is innovative and transformative.
• “The National Disability Strategy 2010–2020 is launched and, later, Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031”
  The Australian Government launched the National Disability Strategy 2010–2020 in 2011. All levels of government were involved in a united national approach to improving life for people with disabilities, their families and carers. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was an outcome of this process. In 2021, the Disability Strategy Advisory Council was established and the most recent iteration of the strategy, Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031, outlines a vision for a more inclusive and accessible Australian society where all people with disability can fulfil their potential as equal members of the community.
• “The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is launched”
  Following the spike in interest in the mid to late 2000s, significant steps were made towards the development of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). It came about as the result of discussions about alternatives of disability support arrangements from 2007 to 2011. This included National Disability Strategy 2010–2020. A trial phrase of the NDIS was launched in 2013, and the scheme was rolled out across the country from July 2016. The 2022 change of government, which saw the Labor party voted in for the first time in nine years, reflected voter concern for climate change and social policies. The new prime minister Anthony Albanese ordered an independent review of the NDIS. The NDIS Review report was published in 2023 and had a number of recommendations, including affording funding based on functional impairment rather than diagnosis, increasing support for children, a requirement that all providers be registered, and state governments providing supports through other services for people who do not meet NDIS criteria.
• “Research project ‘Disability and the Performing Arts in Australia: The Last Avant Garde’ investigates the creative and aesthetic strategies of the Australian disability arts sector”
  A research project beginning in 2016, ‘Disability and the Performing Arts in Australia: The Last Avant Garde,’ investigated the creative and aesthetic strategies of the Australian disability arts sector. The project sought to map “disability arts practice across the nation” by examining “the role of artistic experimentation,” “co-design[ing] accessible strategies,” and raising “critical recognition, employment and funding opportunities for artists.” The project team describes themselves as a collective “of deaf and disabled and non-disabled researcher artists, performers, writers, arts managers and theatre makers.” The work was the result of a collaboration between Arts Access Victoria, University of Melbourne, and University of Sydney. The Australia Research Council provided funding for the research.
• “Carriageworks ‘New Normal’ program plan to commission ten new works presents three performances - Lady Eats Apple (Back to Back Theatre, 2017), Off the Record (Force Majeure, Dance Integrated Australia, 2016), Simple Infinity (Urban Theatre Projects, 2016)"
  New Normal is Carriageworks “national strategy for the development of disability arts practice.” Carriageworks state an aim to “commission ten new major works across contemporary performance, music, dance and visual arts.” As part of the program, Back to Back Theatres’ Lady Eats Apple (2017), Force Majeure and Dance Integrated Australia’s Off the Record (2016), and Urban Theatre Projects’ Simple Infinity (2016) each presented at Carriageworks. Since then, there has been no update on Carriageworks’ goal, suggesting the program may have fallen short of its initial objectives.
• “In 2014, the Australia Council introduces its first grant specifically for artists with disabilities”
  In 2014, the Australia Council introduces its first grant specifically for artists with disabilities. Then Australia Council CEO Tony Grybowski announced “the Artists with Disability Pilot Program; the Council’s Disability Action Plan for 2014-2016; and additional funding for Arts Access Australia to increase career development and employment opportunities for artists with disability.” The pilot program granted $300,000 to disabled artists to develop and present their work. Following this, the program was extended for another three years. The “million dollar investment” would “provide development grants of up to $25,000 and project grants of up to $50,000 for individuals and groups.” That same year, the Australia Council received its first ever grant application in Australian Sign Language (Auslan). However, in 2019, Australia Council ended its dedicated funding program for disabled artists and replaced it with the National Arts and Disability Awards.
• “The documentary series ‘You Can't Ask That’ premieres in 2016”
  The ABC started a documentary series in 2016 called ‘You Can't Ask That,’ which asks "outrageous, uncomfortable and shocking questions to uncover the truth behind some of the most marginalised and misunderstood Australians." The series has featured episodes focused on people with short stature, Downs syndrome, schizophrenia, and autism, Deaf people, blind people, and wheelchair users.
• “Screen Australia commissions the reports ‘Seeing Ourselves’ (2016) and ‘Seeing Ourselves 2’ (2023)”
  In 2016, Screen Australia commissioned a report "Seeing ourselves: Reflections on diversity in Australian TV drama". The report highlighted the lack of characters on TV with a disability. When characters with a disability were part of the story they were played by actors without a disability and were portrayed as either unemployed or retired. Screen Australia commissioned a follow-up report in 2023 called "Seeing Ourselves 2 - Diversity, equity and inclusion in Australian TV drama". This report shows that, while diversity is a global conversation and there is an increase of disability representation, it remained significantly lower than the actual disabled population.
• “ABC appoints Stella Young as editor of Ramp Up”
  In 2010, ABC announced the appointment of Stella Young as editor of its first (and short-lived) dedicated disability platform, ABC Ramp Up. Shawn Burns’s 2014 article in The Conversation laments the closure of the initiative and the loss of a vital platform for better disability representation in Australian media. The URL link to the Ramp Up page now opens with the following statement: “This website is no longer being updated but remains online as an archive of three and a half years of discussions and conversations regarding disability in Australia.”
• “NuunaRon (QLD) is established in 2018”
  NuunaRon (QLD), "a group for Aboriginal and Torres Strait artists and emerging artists living with disability," was established in 2018. The name NuunaRon is a portmanteau in honour of two disabled artists, Elders Aunty Nuuna (a saltwater Noonuccal woman) and Uncle Ron (a Kamilaroi man). The organisation is supported by Elders Living With Disability Australia (ELDA). NuunaRon “provides a safe space for people to share stories of resilience and keeping strong via yarning, painting and creating art.”
• “The 2010s sees numerous new disability performing arts companies established”
  The 2010s saw the establishment of several new disability performing arts companies and collectives, both professional and community-based, across the country: Beyond the Square (NSW, 2011), ‘stArts with a D’ Performance Ensemble (NT, 2011), Theatre on Wheels (VIC, 2011), Can You See Me? Theatre (NSW, 2012), Company AT (SA, 2012), Sprung!! Integrated Dance Theatre (NSW, 2013), Screech Arts (QLD, 2014), IndelibilityArts (QLD, 2015), AHA Ensemble (QLD, 2015), Murmuration (NSW, 2015), Raspberry Ripple (VIC, 2015), Deafferent Theatre (VIC, 2016).
• “Writeability (VIC) is established in 2012”
  The Writeability program was established in 2012, beginning as a partnership between Writers Victoria and Arts Access Victoria. "Writeability program supports writers with disability wanting to develop their skills and writing careers." It aims to remove barriers and provide information, resources, and fellowships so disabled writers can “tell their own stories in their own way”.
• “Flow Festival, Australia’s Deaf Arts festival, is founded”
  Flow Festival, Australia’s Deaf Arts festival, was founded in 2018 by Ramas McRae, Irene Holub, and Medina Sumovic. The Deaf-led biennial festival provides a groundbreaking and dedicated platform for established and emerging Deaf/Hard of Hearing artists. Flow is held in Victoria but is described as “Australia’s national celebration of Deaf arts and culture”.
• “Sit Down Shutup and Watch, a screen festival for people with learning disabilities, is launched in 2014”
  In 2014, Tutti Arts launched Sit Down Shutup and Watch (SDSW). SDSW is a collective led by people with learning disabilities; They present a biennial international screen festival which features the work of disabled creators. The committee also hosts workshops and online resources.
• “Arts Access Australia launches Meeting Place”
  Arts Access Australia launched Meeting Place in 2012, an annual forum where artists and industry leaders meet to discuss arts and disability and to network. The forum includes keynotes, panels, and workshops.
• “Perth International Arts Festival partners with DADAA to promote the inclusion of Deaf and disabled artists”
  As the Artistic Director of the Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF), Wendy Martin enabled first significant inclusion of Deaf and disabled artists. This inclusion was driven by a partnership (2016-19) between PIAF and DADAA (Disability in the Arts, Disadvantage in the Arts, WA).
• “Sydney Film Festival launches Screenability program in 2017”
  Sydney Film Festival launched its Screenability program in 2017. The international program was intended to offer a platform for screen practitioners with disability. Sofya Gollan was Screenability’s inaugural programmer and remained in the role until 2021.
• “The inaugural Undercover Artist Festival, a biennial, disability-led performing arts festival, is held in 2015”
  In 2015, the inaugural Undercover Artist Festival took place. The festival was founded by Access Arts in consultation with Access Arts participants and a group of artists with disability. The festival has consistently been directed by leaders who identify as experiencing disability.
• Theatre performance ‘Take Up Thy Bed & Walk’ integrates ‘aesthetic access’”
  The 2012 performance ‘Take Up Thy Bed & Walk’ designed by Gaelle Mellis and produced by Vitalstatistix proved that accessibility measures could be aesthetic. As Creative Australia describes it “is credited as Australia’s first performance work incorporating ‘aesthetic access’. It embedded the performer’s physicality and communication styles – and those of potential audiences – at the centre of the creative process. The work integrated audio description, captioning, sign language and interactivity uniquely into the core of the work.” Gaelle Mellis has said of the performance that “aesthetic access can be used in ways that add layer, texture, meaning and richness to a work. Art, at its simplest, is primarily about communication. Aesthetic access, at its simplest, is a form of communication that communicates to everyone.”
• “Protesters gather in Lismore (NSW) to oppose proposed cuts to services”
  In 2004, 300 disabled persons, along with their relatives and carers, gathered in Lismore to protest proposed cuts to adult, training, learning, and support programs, among other services. These were a part of a series of demonstrations against the state government that included hundreds of demonstrators in Newcastle and resulted in the state government reversing its position on modifications to the Post-Schools Options Disability Program.
• “In 2003, a demonstration outside Canberra’s Parliament House protests changes to Centrelink guidelines”
  In 2003, the Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Disabled Soldiers Association staged a protest outside Parliament House in Canberra, over changes to Centrelink guidelines that could have cost them up to $200 per week in income. “He said in Parliament that our payments are adequate, he's somebody who has never had the time to speak to us,” Association President John Ryan remarked of then Prime Minister John Howard.