Disability Arts History Australia

Items

• Julia McHale
• Jennifer Justice
• Catherine Parker
• Bryan Phillips
• Anna Seymour
• “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 The URL link to the Ramp Up page now opens with the following statement: “This website is no longer being updated but remains online as an archive of three and a half years of discussions and conversations regarding disability in Australia.”
• “Genni Batterham stages a protest at the opening of Bondi Junction railway station 1979, makes film in 1980”
  When Bondi Junction railway station opened in 1979, Genni Batterham staged a protest about the lack of accessible transportation options for individuals with disabilities. After receiving a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 1978, Genni became severely disabled very quickly. She did everything in her power to stop the disease's progression and was furious at being "consigned to the world of the disabled." The 1979 Bondi Junction protest was an important moment in the history of the Disability Rights Movement in New South Wales. The Premier, Neville Wran, later said that the experience led him to developing the Disability Taxi Service, the first public transport system designed for people with disability to be launched in Australia. Batterham then made the film ‘Pins and Needles’ (1980) with her husband Kim. Under the direction of Barbara Chobocky and with funding from the Australian Film Commission's Women's Film Fund, the film was screened in five different countries, took home first place at the 1980 Canadian Film Festival, and took home second place at the 1980 New York Film Festival. Genni and Kim would then collaborate on three further films about the phases of her life: Where's the Give and Take? (1981), Artreach (1982), and Riding the Gale (1987).
• “Advocates fight for accessible public transport”
  In 1994, Maurice Corcoran (a wheelchair user) lodged a complaint about the South Australian government ordering 50 new buses that were not accessible. The Australian Human Rights Commission successfully negotiated for all new buses to be fitted with ramps. Then, in 1999, a protest about the lack of public transport options for people with disability saw Citizens for Accessible Public Transport block traffic in Sydney’s city centre.
• "Carriageworks (2015) NSW Arts and Disability Partnership Launched at Carriageworks Including $100,000 Support for Two Major New Works. Carriageworks, 30 January 2015"
  Reads, in part "Sydney, Australia: The NSW Minister for Disability Services, Minister John Ajaka MLC, today launched an extension of the NSW Arts & Disability Partnership, announcing funding of $475,000 for 2015 to support four programs that promote social inclusion through the arts and disability sector. The Partnership includes $100,000 support for Carriageworks to commission two major new works developed by artists with disability in collaboration with NSW arts companies and artists."
• “7-part series ‘Fair Go’ produced by Film Australia”
  In 1981, Film Australia produced a 7-part series, called Fair Go, on Australians with mental and physical disabilities and how it impacted their lives and the lives of their families. “Each program is presented from the viewpoint of the person with the disability and demonstrates the practical implications of coping with a disability in daily life at home, in the community, in the workplace or at school.” Film Australia was consolidated into Screen Australia in 2008.
• Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC)
• Film Australia Limited
• Screen Australia
• “Screen Australia launches an access coordinator training program”
  Screen Australia launched an access coordinator training program in 2023. “The Access Coordinator role is intended for people from the Deaf/Disabled and/or Neurodivergent (DDN) communities who are committed to improving disability representation and removing barriers to inclusion.” Screen Australia partnered with the following organisations for the initiative: the New Zealand Film Commission, Screen Queensland, Screen Tasmania, Screen Territory, Screenwest, VicScreen, the South Australian Film Corporation, Screen ACT, Screen NSW, and the Australian Film Television Radio School.
• Dance Integrated Australia
• "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.
• "Accessible Arts - Avenues into Creativity for People with Disability 1986- Report"
  Accessible Arts - Avenues into Creativity for People with Disability 1986- Report - PANEL ON 'WHY THE ARTS - Joan Hume: Why the Arts? An overview of the Need; - Lydia Fegan: Citizen Advocacy INFORMATION EXCHANGE - Who's Who - What's Happening SPECIFIC PROJECTS - Jo Caust: Arts Access Society Melbourne; - Angelika Pechloff: Good Time Junk Machine; - Laura Hastings-Smith: Adolescent Medical Unit Children's Hospital, Camperdown ON ART - Pam Fairburn: Cromehurst Special School OPEN SESSION: COMMUNITY GROUPS- Rozelle Arts and Drama Group: Sue MacDonald; - Art Reach: Melissa Lee VIDEOS - Linda Dyer: Activities Research Department, RNSH- Arts with the Aged: Jana Cattanach; The Ward Game- Laura Hastings-Smith: Adolescent Medical Unit; Children's Hospital, Camperdown; ENTERTAINMENT: 'Finger Ballet' - Chin Yu; PUTTING IDEAS INTO ACTION - Jana Cattanach: Artist in Residence, Tweed Shire Council; - Margot Currey: Community Artist/Sculptor; - Nan Bosler: Co-ordinator of the Narrabeen Community Learning Centre & Northern Beaches Creative Leisure Movement; ACCESS: OBSTACLES AND SOLUTIONS! - Ellen Bynum: Accessibility Consultant; - Lis Pack: Royal Blind Society; - Wendy Miners: Recreation Project Officer, AAMR; INTEREST GROUPS - Drama & Movement - Alison Lee; - Computer Art - Duncan Wallace; - Music - John Broomhall, Wollongong; - Silkscreen - Nina Angelo; - Craft - Branka Kringas
• Bree Hadley
• "Kevin Cho (1980) 1981 International Year of Disabled Persons. Melbourne, Australia: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology."
• Jo Caust
• Michael Newbury
• "Australia Council - Annual Report 1986-87"
  Australia Council Annual Report 1986-87- discusses functions and objectives, structures, process and membership of Council, Council Committees and members, board members, assessment panels, staff lists, organisation chart, main activities of Council and its Boards, and includes financial statements and lists of grants made including grants for programs, workshops for disabled people in community arts, funding for posters on theme of disability, grant for Theatre of the Deaf Braille Book of the Year award and Sound Pot Purri literary magazine for Royal Blind Society
• Restless Dance
• Royal Rehab Choir
• Royal Blind Society