Disability Arts History Australia

Items

• “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.
• “The Bolshy Divas present ‘The Other 100 Conversations’ to Australian governments heads”
  In 2011, a group of disability activists called the Bolshy Divas presented a 100-page document, ‘The Other 100 Conversations,’ to heads of all Australian governments who had gathered in Canberra for a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting. The document was addressed “to our elected representatives”. ‘The Other 100 Conversations’ comprised of 100 first-person accounts of participants of disability services in Western Australia, highlighting the lack of support and waiting times experienced.
• “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.”
• “Production company A2K Media founded in 2007, as a 'a Disabled-led production company, creating connections that entertain, educate, and empower'”
  A2K Media is “a Disabled-led production company, creating connections that entertain, educate, and empower.” In 2024, A2K launched their Disability Justice Lens course, which teaches screen professionals how to bring disabled people onto their productions and make their workplaces more accessible and empowering.
• “Queensland Advocacy Incorporated spearhead campaigns to close institutions”
  In 1989, when the Bjelke-Petersen-Ahern Government was coming to an end, the newly established Queensland Advocacy Incorporated was spearheading campaigns around the state to close down institutions and provide financing for individual help for individuals with disabilities.
• "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 Mouth and Foot Painting Artists starts in Australia in 1971”
  The Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA) started in Australia in 1971. The roots of the international organisation of mouth and food painting artists go back to the 1950s in Europe.
• “Fusion Theatre established in 1997”
  Fusion Theatre (Victoria) was established in 1997. "Since its beginnings as a drama group, Fusion has expanded into two main performance ensembles that make up the company. The ensemble members collaborate with professional theatre makers, guest performing artists and designers, to devise theatre performances based on the stories, imagination and ideas of all participants." Fusion Theatre’s ongoing association with Deakin University's Faculty of Arts and Education means that each year, Deakin’s theatre and drama students work with Fusion as artists, performers, assistants, and theatre technicians. Some alumni continue to be involved with the company.
• “Studio A established in 2000”
  Studio A (NSW) was established in 2000 to create access and opportunities for visual artists with intellectual disabilities; their in-house artists’ “practices range from painting and drawing to sculpture, textiles and digital media”. In their own words, “At Studio A, we are dedicated to professionally empower artists with disability and have their voices heard within contemporary Australian culture.”
• “80 wheelchair users and allies halt Melbourne trams, demanding better access to public transportation”
  In a 2000 demonstration organised by the Catch a Tram group, 80 wheelchair users and their allies halted city trams in Melbourne during lunch hours, demanding better access to public transportation.
• “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.
• “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.”
• “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.
• “An ABC video series explores the experiences of deaf and disabled musicians”
  A 2021 video series by ABC Classic featured interviews with four deaf and disabled musicians. The series, made in honour of International Day of People with Disability, explored the musicians’ experiences of the music industry.
• “The Cunningham Dax Collection of artworks opens”
  In 1952, an English psychiatrist Dr Eric Cunningham Dax was appointed as the Chairman of the Mental Hygiene Authority in Melbourne. In the UK, Dr Dax had introduced art therapy in programs for patients in psychiatric care and introduced art programs to Victorian Hospitals. In 1959, Dr Dax organised the first art exhibition of psychiatric patients held at Gallery A, Flinders Lane. The Cunningham Dax Collection of artworks grew, and an official opening occurred in Faraday Street Gallery in the 1980s. “Two distinct eras are represented in the Cunningham Dax Collection; artworks produced within psychiatric hospitals from 1940s into 1970s and artworks donated to the Collection by artists and community groups from 1980s until the present.” Dr Dax had introduced art therapy in programs for patients in psychiatric care and introduced art programs to Victorian Hospitals. In 1981, the National Gallery of Australia received 68 paintings from the Dax Collection - these were returned in 1994.
• “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.
• “Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) recognised as an independent organisation in 1995”
  Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) gained seed funding from the government in 1994 and was recognised as an independent organisation in 1995. The organisation shares a history with Disabled People’s International (Australia) (established 1983) and its National Women’s Network (established 1985).
• “Disabled People’s International (Australia) (DPIA) formed in 1983”
  The organisation Disabled People’s International (Australia) (DPIA) was formed in 1983. Thirteen disabled Australians who attended Disabled People’s International (DPI) first world assembly in Singapore in 1981, the International Year of the Disabled Person, returned home to set up the Australian branch two years later. The Women with Disabilities Australia online history reports that DPIA “from the outset, was dominated by disabled men. Only 3 of the 11 members of its governance structure were women, and there was no mention of women or gender in DPIA goals and objectives.” This led to the establishment of a women’s network within DPIA, known as the National Women’s Network (DPIA).
• “Demonstrators protest inadequate funding for disability support in Adelaide, 1992”
  On the 13th March, 1992, 100 demonstrators gathered in Adelaide to protest inadequate funding for disability support. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services Brian Howe was “heckled” by the group outside an event at Jubilee Hall during a health care expo. Howe agreed later that year to “honour a federal government promise to expand the National Attendant Care Scheme,” that is, after another demonstration by 70 advocates outside Parliament House.
• “Commonwealth Disability Strategy launched in December 1994”
  The Commonwealth Disability Strategy was launched in December 1994. The strategy was meant to ensure compliance by Commonwealth Departments with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (passed in 1992). The Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House reports that “Results have been uneven, especially in employment, but the Act has made some breakthroughs on education and disability access in new buildings.”
• “Accessible Arts (NSW) established”
  Accessible Arts (NSW) was established in 1986. "the peak arts and disability organisation in New South Wales. We advance the rights of, and opportunities for, people with disability or who are d/Deaf to develop and sustain professional careers in the arts and have equitable access to arts and culture across NSW".
• "Disability activist Geoff Bell leads significant advocacy”
  In the 1970s, Geoff Bell was a disability activist who, after a diving accident left him quadriplegic at age 21, was placed in a nursing home. Not accepting nursing homes as appropriate residences for young people, he wrote to the then Minister for Social Security Bill Hayden. The letter was presented to parliament. In April 1978, Geoff Bell led ten members of the Disabled People’s Action Forum as they blockaded the entrance to a Medibank claims office for an hour. The protest was held outside Medibank to raise awareness of the architectural barriers to conducting personal business when Medibank was supposed to be of service. Signs held by the members read “We don’t need a stairway to paradise, We want ramps to independence".
• “The Commonwealth Disability Services Act of 1986 replace the Handicapped Persons Assistance Act of 1974”
  In 1983, The Hawke Labour Government evaluated the initiatives created under the Handicapped Persons Assistance Act of 1974. The HPAA was replaced in 1986 by the Commonwealth Disability Services Act of 1986. Among other changes, this Act represents the shift in nomenclature from 'handicap' to ‘disability’.
• “The national tour of the exhibition BodySuits results in commissions and new opportunities for artists”
  A visual arts exhibition, BodySuits, toured nationally between 1997 and 1999. It was curated by Jane Trengove. This resulted in commissions and new opportunities for artists. Arts Access Victoria published a catalogue for the exhibition in 1997; the exhibition showed in Melbourne from 5 July - 2 August 1997 at 200 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy (a location now known as Gertrude Contemporary).
• “Arts Access Australia established”
  Arts Access Australia was established in 1992 as a national body for arts and disability with funding support from the Australian Council for the Arts.