Disability Arts History Australia

Items

• "1963 and 1967 sees the introduction of the Disabled Persons Accommodation Act and Sheltered Employment (Assistance) Act, respectively."
  With increasing pressure to provide more services to people with disabilities, the 1960s was a decade of Commonwealth Government initiatives to support organisations providing work and accommodation to people with a disability, including the Disabled Persons Accommodation Act and Sheltered Employment (Assistance) Act.
• "The Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service (CRS) established in 1941."
  Following the first and second world wars, there was better recognition of veteran disability and the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service (CRS) was established.
• "The United Nations makes comments on the rights of people with disabilities."
  In 1951, the United Nations made comments on the rights of people with disabilities."The focus of the United Nations on disability issues shifted in the late 1950s from a welfare perspective to one of social welfare."
• “Assistance to Composers Advisory Board created by the Commonwealth government.”
  In 1967, the Commonwealth government created the Assistance to Composers Advisory Board with an aim to advise on funding needs for music composition and promotion of Australian composers. The Board was to judge work based on “musical distinction or excellence of its kind, and on the promotion of Australian composers both in Australia and abroad”. The Board’s functions were later absorbed by the Australia Council.
• "The Australian Council for the Arts established in 1968"
  The Australian Council for the Arts was established in 1968. This came after a push during the late 1960s for better support of the arts in Australia. The Council replaced the Elizabethan Trust as Australia’s main arts body, although the Trust continued to receive funding from State governments. The Council was later given statutory authority in 1975 and called Australia Council. Prime Minister Gough Whitlam is recognised as a key political supporter of the arts. The election of Whitlam (serving from December 1972 to November 1975) gave unprecedented and considerable attention and funding to an arts policy which would establish an Australian cultural identity raising international awareness. The Australian Council for the Arts received an unprecedented $14 million in funding in the 1973/74 budget. This was “more than double the allocation the bodies out of which it evolved had received the year before. The Council’s allocation was increased by a further 50 per cent in the 1974/75 Budget."
• "Founder of the Victorian Association of Braille Writers and the Association for the Advancement of the Blind publishes her memoirs"
  In 1947, “Memoirs of Tilly Aston: Australia's Blind Poet Author and Philanthropist” was published. “Memoirs of Tilly Aston” is an autobiography by Mathilda Ann Aston who was the first blind person in Australia to go to university. Aston founded the Victorian Association of Braille Writers and the Association for the Advancement of the Blind.
• "Soprano Marjorie Lawrence performs in her wheelchair in the 1940s"
  In the 1940s, Australian soprano Marjorie Lawrence contracted polio and performed in her wheelchair, both nationally and internationally, showing veterans life after disability was possible. Platforms were modied for her wheelchair so she could perform.
• "The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust begins operations in 1954"
  The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust began operations in 1954. The key role of the trust was to support the arts in Australia leading to the independent companies of: Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet Foundation, National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and Bell Shakespeare Company. At this time there was little involvement of people with disabilities in the arts.
• "The report Shut Out: The Experience of People with Disabilities and their Families in Australia is published in 2009"
  In 2009, Shut Out: The Experience of People with Disabilities and their Families in Australia was published. This report was commissioned by the Australian Government as part of the National Disability Strategy. It was prepared by the National People with Disabilities and Carer Council.
• "The first Arts Activated conference takes place"
  Accessible Arts NSW started biennial Arts Activated conferences in 2007 "to inform, connect and activate people and organisations involved with Australia’s arts and disability sector" https://aarts.net.au/arts-activate/
• "The Other Film Festival launched in 2004"
  In 2004, Australia’s first international disability film festival, The Other Film Festival, was launched at the Melbourne Museum. In 2022, Screen Australia began providing funding for festival.
• "National Inquiry into the Human Rights of People with Mental Illness Report launched in 1993"
  The National Inquiry into the Human Rights of People with Mental Illness Report was launched 20th October, 1993. This led to deinstitutionalisation.
• "Making the arts work for everyone: a resource and information kit about arts and disabilities produced in 1995"
  Arts Access Victoria and Australia Council published 'Making the Arts Work for Everyone: A Resource and Information Kit about Arts and Disabilities' in 1995.
• "Dr G. Yunupingu plays keyboards, guitar and percussion on Yothu Yindi's 'Treaty'"
  Geoffery Gurrumul Yunupingu, an indigenous Australian from the Gumati Clan on Echo Island, was a blind musician, singer and song writer. As a child taught himself to play a guitar "upside down". He started as a guitarist, key board player and percussionist for the pop/rock band Yothu Yindi who had the international hit "Treaty" in 1991.
• "Weave Movement Theatre formed"
  Weave Movement Theatre was formed in 1997 following a series of workshops (organised by Arts Access) led by Adam Benjamin, director of CandoCo, a world-renowned inclusive dance company. Janice Florence was asked to facilitate classes prior to the workshops.
• "Australia Council commissions a research study on people with disabilities' participation in arts activities"
  Australia Council commissioned a research study on the problems faced by people with disabilities attempting to participate in art activities (Australia Council Annual reports 1979/1980 and 1980/1981).
• "First ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC)"
  An ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) starting in 1981 and made people with disability more 'visible' for services and highlighted differences of experiences.
• "Victoria's Disability Resources Centre (DRC) created"
  1981 saw a number of Disability Activists create the first Australian Disability Resources Centre (DRC) for Victorians with disabilities.
• "Back to Back Theatre established"
  The theatre company Back to Back was established in 1987. They are a drama group comprising artists with intellectual disabilities who have since toured both nationally and internationally in mainstream Australian theatre.
• "International Year of the Disabled Person (IYDP)"
  In 1976, the General Assembly proclaimed 1981 would be the Year of the Disabled Person. The 1981 International Year of the Disabled Person inspired an increase in awareness and disability arts. While UN theme was “full participation and equality” the theme in Australia was “Break down the Barriers”, raising the prole and issues of people with disabilities. The international year of the disabled persons was a catalyst for connecting Australian disability activists to each other and the international disability rights movement (Royal Commission, 2021, p. 6). Australia saw an increase in disability-themed theatre from 1981 to 1984; however, these performances were largely staged with non-disabled casts. Records of these productions can be found on the AusStage database.
• "DADAA Inc and Arts Access Australia (2012) public Art Works: Employment in the Arts for People with Disability.  http://www.dadaa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Art-Works-Full-Report-Web.pdf"
  Reads, in part "This document provides a short overview of the full Art Works report, which captures the results from national research into employment levels, barriers and strategies around employment in the arts for people with disability. The report was produced in response to one of the key focus areas of the National Arts and Disability Strategy, released in 2009."
• "Arts Access Australia appoints Emma Bennison (2012) and Megan Shand (2017) as CEO"
  Prior CEO Kate Larsen statesin 'Disability Leadership: If You're Gonna Talk the Talk .... ABC: Ramp Up, 30 March 2012' - "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."