Government launches review into minimum standards for disability-specialised homes

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Housing for people with disability will be under increased scrutiny as the federal government launches a review into the minimum standards used to design specialised homes. The design standards look at the accessibility for features that are funded under the NDIS.

Transcript

00:00Look, they are dotted all across Australia and in recent years they've sort of popped

00:06up more around regional centres. There's been a little bit of criticism in recent time about

00:11how many of them in those sort of areas are not necessarily next to shops, public transport

00:17or those sort of allied health professional centres that people with disability need

00:22to be living near, but really the people who live in these sorts of homes, these specialist

00:27disability accommodation houses are people with quite profound disabilities and they

00:32do require the accessible things like, you know, open sort of no step entries, wider doorways

00:39and corridors, layouts in bathrooms and kitchens that are wider, you know, with long, the sort

00:46of benchtops that can move up and down and so lower heights, for example, to move wheelchairs

00:52and have multiple people in a small space if you're, say, transferring someone from wheelchair

00:57to shower, wheelchair to bed. So they are specialised accommodation.

01:01And how's this review come about?

01:03This has come about, the federal government has announced it and it will be a 12 month review

01:08and the NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister says really it's because the standards around design for

01:14these homes were introduced in 2019 and more than five years down the track. There have been

01:20lots of advancements, particularly in technology. When you think about some people in these homes

01:26might be using voice activated technology to turn on lights, to get appliances working,

01:32to control the temperature in their homes. And all of these technologies have been sort of changing

01:39very rapidly. So the government is saying it's very important to make sure that the standards around

01:43the design of these homes are also keeping up pace with best practice and building standards.

01:49And what's the reaction likely to be from the sector to the review?

01:52Look, I think it's safe to say that everybody across the sector will welcome any review that tries

01:58to bring about improvements and advancements for the rights of people with disability,

02:03in particular housing. We know there's been a lot of stories in recent time, particularly around the

02:09Disability Royal Commission, where housing came under the spotlight. And, you know, the NDIS Minister

02:17Jenny McAllister today has said this is all about providing housing that is of high quality and that

02:23is of course safe for people with disability.

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