Disability Arts History Australia

Items

• "Kevin Byrne AM leads protest outside Parliament House"
  The activist Kevin Byrne AM led a protest outside Parliament House. This coupled with the release of the Richmond Report led to the Hawke Government’s Handicapped Programs Review, which in turn led ‘New Directions: Report of the Handicapped Programs Review’.
• “The report ‘Inquiry into Health Services for the Developmentally Disabled and Psychiatrically Ill’ (aka the Richmond Review) is published by the NSW Government.”
  In 1983, the seminal NSW Government report, ‘Inquiry into Health Services for the Developmentally Disabled and Psychiatrically Ill’ was published. The NSW inquiry, also known as the Richmond Report due to its chair, David T. Richmond, revolutionised the institutional landscape by explicitly linking disability services to human rights for the first time in Australia and highlighting the critical need for advocacy "mechanisms" that actively allowed people with disabilities to "speak for themselves."
• “A national Disability Advisory Council is established in 1983”
  The national Disability Advisory Council (DACA) was established in 1983. Parliamentary information from 26 July that year reports: “Disabled people will form a significant majority on the new body. Announcing this today, the Minister for Social Security, Senator Don Grimes, said the new Disability Advisory Council of Australia represented an important breakthrough for disabled people. For the first time, an Australian Government will be looking to disabled people themselves for advice on government policy and programs affecting them.”
• “Sally Chance works with participants with disabilities, leading to the founding of Restless Dance Theatre”
  In 1989, UK-based community dance worker Sally Chance was invited to participate in the Come Out festival in Adelaide. She returned to South Australia the next year and begun the work with participants with disabilities which lead to the founding (alongside Tania Rose) of Restless Dance Theatre in 1991. Restless Dance Theatre continues to create and exhibit work by integrated ensembles. Their extensive performance history is available in the AusStage database. (see https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/organisation/7046)
• “Lesley Hall leads a protest of the Miss Victoria Quest beauty contest”
  In 1981, Lesley Hall and a group of disability activists protested at the Miss Victoria Beauty Quest (a beauty pagent that was a fundraiser for the Spastic Society in Victoria). The focus on physical perfections was seen “as the norm all must attain if they are to be fully accepted into society”. The protests raised much media attention and marked the beginning of a shift in thinking about the place in Australian society of people with disabilities.
• “WHO International Classification of Impairment, Disabilities and Handicaps (1976)”
  International classification of impairments, disabilities, and handicaps: a manual of classification relating to the consequences of disease, published in accordance with resolution WHA29.35 of the Twenty-ninth World Health Assembly, May 1976
• “The 1985 New Directions Report is released”
  People with disabilities and their families participated in the review for the first time as part of a comprehensive consultation process. The resulting report ‘New directions: report of the Handicapped Programs Review’ was released in 1985. It indicated the need for change in disability policy culture of how people with a disability rights and capacities to realise their individual capacities for development.
• “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’.
• “Documentary ‘Stepping Out’ follows first group of intellectually disabled people to perform at the Sydney Opera House”
  In preparation for the International Year of Disabled Persons, a documentary was made called ‘Stepping Out’ directed by Chris Noonan and narrated by Romayne Grace, a resident at the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home. The documentary follows a group of residents as they prepare for their big debut at the Sydney Opera House. The movie was shown during the International Year of the Disabled's UN closing ceremony. The 1979/1980 Australia Council report had the following statement "A production staged at the Sydney Opera House by residents of the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home for the intellectually handicapped impressed the Theatre Board as both innovative arts-based therapy and worthwhile theatre in its own right." The 1980/81 report further stated "It was the first time anywhere in the world that a group of mentally handicapped people had performed publicly in the cultural centre of their city."
• “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.
• “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".
• “Access Arts (QLD) established”
  Access Arts (QLD) was established in 1983. "Access Arts is Queensland’s leading organisation creating opportunities in the performing and visual arts for people with disability or disadvantage".
• “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.
• “The inaugural National Braille Music Camp takes place”
  In 1986, Ian Cooper was one of the creators of the first National Braille Music Camp, which continues annually.
• “Disabled actors perform at Melbourne Concert Hall”
  In 1982, 50 “handicapped” actors (though none were named in the media) were involved in Access Arts’ ‘Theorem’ at the Melbourne Concert Hall, an example of inclusive arts practice. The performance received broad public attention.
• “Les Murray's poetry is influenced by his autism”
  In 1974, Les Murray wrote a poem about autism, ‘Portrait of the Autist as a New World Driver’. Over the decades since, autism has continued to be a theme, as recognised by Amanda Tink.
• “Australia Council praises NSW Theatre of the Deaf and provides some funding to the Deaf theatres throughout the 1970s”
  The 1976/77 Australia Council annual report stated: "The NSW Theatre of the Deaf is a significant achievement. The only funded organisation in Australia working in nonverbal theatre, its production of King Lear received widespread praise. This company is now accepted as operating in a legitimate area of theatre rather than performing mime works for the deaf. This offers wide scope for innovation." The Council’s 1977/78 annual report recorded that it granted funding to the NSW Theatre of the Deaf “towards salaries of artistic director, deaf director, and tutors’ fees in 1978” for $25,000; the “presentation of theatre pieces (mime, clowning, puppetry) in public performance” for $2,500, and “towards costs of a production in 1978” for $4,000. It also awarded $1,980 to Queensland Theatre of the Deaf “towards the cost of transporting company to Sydney for seminar with NSW Theatre of the Deaf”. Drama Resource Centre (Victoria) received $2,840 “to develop student theatre at Victoria School for Deaf Children” and $630 went to Children’s Activities Time Society (Western Australia) for the “cost of deaf mime artist, Rae Gibson, to undertake four week visit to Melbourne and Sydney to work with deaf artists”. The following annual report for 1978/79 recorded that the Council granted $25,000 to the NSW Theatre of the Deaf “towards salaries of artistic director, administrator and tutors” in 1979. The Council also awarded $1,800 to the Queensland Theatre of the Deaf towards a salary for Geoffrey Rush to work with the company in 1979. The 1979/1980 Australia Council annual report mentions funding “provided for a playwright-in-residence at the NSW Theatre of the Deaf.”
• “Australia Council grants funding for projects about disability or for disabled participants throughout the 1970s”
  The 1974/75 Australia Council annual report states $1,350 in funding granted to Spectrum Films (NSW) to "develop a screenplay for a feature film of the social pressures on a deaf mute”, as well as a $4,500 travel/study grant to Lloyd Nickson (QLD) "to attend summer schools in children's theatre and theatre for deaf children (USA and UK) for six months". In the same year, the Council reported Bryan Gracey as one of numerous individuals in receipt of Experimental Film funding for his short film ‘The World of a Blind Child’ (1975) about the emotional and physical difficulties 10-year-old Peter faces and how he navigates his disability. In the 1974/75 financial year, Australia Council’s crafts board awarded $1,288 to the Wheelchair and Disabled Association (NSW) for "Jewellery making tools and equipment". The 1979/1980 Australia Council annual report describes the following funding: "As in previous years, a grant was given to the Braille and Talking Book Library for its Braille Book of the Year.”
• “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.
• “Alan Marshall writes ‘I Can Jump Puddles’ in 1955”
  Alan Marshall wrote 'I Can Jump Puddles' in 1955., the first in a series of works about growing up with a disability. The subsquent books were 'This Is the Grass' (1962), 'In Mine Own Heart' (1963), and 'Hammers Over the Anvil' (1975). Marshall contracted polio at age six and became physically disabled.
• “The Deaf Film Society creates the documentary ‘Our World’.”
  In 1970, the Deaf Film Society created a documentary called ‘Our World’ on the lived experience of people who were d/Deaf. The Adult Deaf Society assisted with the project.
• “Arts Project Australia is founded in 1974”
  In 1974, Myra Hilgendorf OAM founded Arts Project Australia, an organisation whose aim is for artists with an intellectual disability to have their work presented in a professional manner. In 1984, Arts Project moved to Hawthorn, Melbourne and started a studio workshop program. The organisation became an Incorporated Association in 1986. In 1994, Arts Project Australia artists exhibited their work internationally. Exhibitions occurred at MADMuseé and Centre d’Art Differencié in Belgium. Artist Julian Martin was selected for the Moët & Chandon Touring Exhibition. Arts Project published an education/slide kit in 1994 called ‘Between the Lines: Visual Arts and Intellectual Disability’. The organisation first published ‘Outline: News from Arts Project Australia’ in 1996. Arts Project Australia was recognised by the National Gallery of Australia in 2013 for having international significance.
• "The Australia Council establishes the Community Arts Committee in 1973 and the Community Arts Board in 1978"
  The Australia Council established the Community Arts Committee in 1973 and the Community Arts Board in 1978. The purpose of the latter was to encourage wider participation in the arts, especially for groups with little social capital. The Board was “the first funding body to identify the community arts phenomenon and respond with definition and policy." This occurred under the directorship of Rosalie Bower, the first director of the Community Arts Board, who wrote in a paper entitled 'The Case for a Community Arts Centre': “The activities within a centre should be accessible to children, aged people, the physically handicapped, ethnic groups and those whose time is severely restricted by work and family ties. The activities supplied by the centre should be conducted free from competitive elements which otherwise might discourage people from participation, and they must be inexpensive and accessible at almost any time. They must not pre-suppose education or income levels which would cut them off from any section of the community.'" (Australia Council 1979/1980 Annual Report, page 32)
• “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).
• “Senator Margaret Guilfoyle creates a committee of people with disabilities representing their own interests”
  In 1979, Senator Margaret Guilfoyle, the Federal Minister for Social Security created a committee of people with disabilities representing their own interests. This followed a complaint by Richard Llewellyn that he was the only token disability representative. This committee led to the formation of formal advocacy groups such as People with Disability Australia (PWDA) and Disability Resource Centre (DRC). The PWDA celebrated their 30th year anniversary in 2011.