Objectives of the Disability Services Act 1986:

• Services should have as their focus the achievement of positive outcomes for people with disabilities, such as increased independence, employment opportunities and integration into the community.
• Services should contribute to ensuring that the conditions of the every-day life of people with disabilities are the same as, or as close as possible to, norms and patterns which are valued in the general community.
• Services should be provided as part of local co-ordinated service systems and be integrated with services generally available to members of the community, wherever possible.
• Services should be tailored to meet the individual needs and goals of the people with disabilities receiving those services.
• Programs and services should be designed and administered so as to meet the needs of people with disabilities who experience a double disadvantage as a result of their sex, ethnic origin, or Aboriginality.
• Programs and services should be designed and administered so as to promote recognition of the competence of, and enhance the image of, people with disabilities.
• Programs and services should be designed and administered so as to promote the participation of people with disabilities in the life of the local community through maximum physical and social integration in that community.
• Programs and services should be designed and administered so as to ensure that no single organisation providing services shall exercise control over all or most aspects of the life of a person with disabilities.
• Organisations providing services, whether those services are provided specifically to people with disabilities or generally to members of the community, should be accountable to those people with disabilities who use their services, the advocates of such people, the Commonwealth and the community generally for the provision of information from which the quality of their services can be judged.
• Programs and services should be designed and administered so as to provide opportunities for people with disabilities to reach goals and enjoy lifestyles which are valued by the community generally and are appropriate to their chronological age.
• Services should be designed and administered so as to ensure that people with disabilities have access to advocacy support where necessary to ensure adequate participation in decision-making about the services they receive.
• Programs and services should be designed and administered so as to ensure that appropriate avenues exist for people with disabilities to raise and have resolved any grievances about services.
• Services should be designed and administered so as to provide people with disabilities with, and encourage them to make use of, avenues for participating in the planning and operation of services which they receive and the Commonwealth and organisations should provide opportunities for consultation in relation to the development of major policy and program changes.
• Programs and services should be designed and administered so as to respect the rights of people with disabilities to privacy and confidentiality.

This legislation provides protection for all Australians against discrimination based on disability. It enables everyone to share in the overall benefits to the community and economy that flow from participation by the widest range of people.
The Act ensures, as far as practicable, that persons with disabilities have the same rights to equality under the law as other members of the community. The broad objects of this Disability Discrimination Act are:

1. to eliminate, as far as possible, discrimination against persons on the ground of disability in the areas of:

• work, accommodation, education, access to premises, clubs and sport; and
• the provision of goods, facilities, services and land; and
• existing laws; and
• the administration of Commonwealth laws and programs;

2. to ensure, as far as practicable, that persons with disabilities have the same rights to equality before the law as the rest of the community;

3. to promote recognition and acceptance within the community of the principle that persons with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as the rest of the community.

A brief guide to the Disability Discrimination Act. Australian Human Rights Commission. The links from this page provide a brief outline of the Act as it applies to a number of areas of life (i.e. joining in ‘sport’).

Legislation was passed by the Australian Parliament to enact the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). From July 2013 the NDIS has been rolled out in the States and Territories in stages, through the National Disability Insurance Agency.

• National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. The Act supports the independence and social and economic participation of people with disability; and provides reasonable and necessary supports to enable people with disability to exercise choice and control in the pursuit of their goals and the planning and delivery of their supports and to facilitate the development of a nationally consistent approach to the access to, and the planning and funding of, support for people with disability.

ACT Government Sport and Recreation

Sport and Recreation assists local sport and recreation providers and clubs to increase their capacity to provide participation opportunities for people with a disability. They help with the planning process, linking facilities with program partners, promoting good practices, identifying professional development opportunities, providing funding, and supporting grant recipients when required.

Sport and Recreation have Sports Ability kits available for schools, disability service providers and sport organisations in the ACT to borrow.

Office of Sport

The Office of Sport provides information and resources to help support clubs to develop opportunities for people with disability to be involved in an inclusive environment.

• Don'tDISmyABILITY. This campaign successfully ran for 14 years and aimed to foster inclusion of persons with a disability into every aspect of society is the aim of this campaign.
• See the Possibilities campaign. Launched December 2017, the campaign aimed to engage with employers to help them understand the value that people with disability bring to business.

Department of sport and recreation

Sport and recreation provides information and resources to help support clubs to develop opportunities for people with disability to be involved in an inclusive environment.

Total Recreation

Total Recreation was established in 1991 to acknowledge the major part that leisure plays in people's lives. People with a disability have the right to the same opportunities as other members of society to participate in sport and recreation activities.

Department of sport and recreation

Getting out and about. The Queensland Government provides a range of programs and activities that encourage people with disability to get involved in sport and physical activity.

Office of Recreation and Sport

The Government of South Australia, Office of Recreation and Sport, believes that an inclusive environment is one where everyone feels welcome and supported to participate and make a valued contribution. The Office manages grant funding and provides a range of initiatives to increase opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in sport.

Communities, sport and recreation

The Tasmanian Government, Communities, sport and recreation, has developed a Tasmanian Sport and Active Recreation Framework for People with Disability. The framework sets out the State Government's vision for an inclusive Tasmanian sport and recreation sector.

• Time to get into Sport. A video promoting positive images of Tasmanians with disability participating in sport and active recreation with the goal of encouraging participation

Sport and Recreation Victoria

Access for All Abilities is a Victorian Government initiative coordinated by Sport and Recreation Victoria. The program supports and develops inclusive sport and recreation opportunities for people with a disability throughout Victoria. The program funds organisations to work at a community level to develop inclusive sport and recreation opportunities for people of all abilities. Clubs working in partnership with the Program can increase membership numbers and participation, and sporting competitions can enjoy more diversity. This promotes greater levels of inclusiveness, livability, improved health outcomes and a stronger sense of belonging in local communities.

The Victorian Government has also developed a series of resources and guidelines promoting Universal Design principles. The concept of Universal Design is to simplify life for everyone by making the built environment more usable to as many users as possible. It is separate from accessible design as Universal Design is based on the equitable use of a facility and social inclusion and not the measurement of accessible design features and meeting minimum legislative requirements. Applied holistically to a building without an alternative for different groups, Universal Design addresses issues of having a different approach for different users, which not only improves and simplifies the way a facility is used but also eliminates user segregation to maximise participation by users of all abilities.

• Design for Everyone Guide, Sport & Recreation Victoria, (2017). A practical resource to assist the planning, design and development of inclusive sport and recreation facilities.

La Trobe University

Be prepared! Sport and active recreation programs for people with a disability. La Trobe University has created a website containing free resources and information for volunteers and staff working in the sport and active recreation sector. Sport and active recreation programs provide unique opportunities for people with disabilities to explore their potential and focus on their ability. Funding for this project came from the Victorian Government’s Outdoor Sector Development Fund.

• Be Prepared! Sport and Active Recreation Programs for People with a Disability, Kappelides P, La Trobe University (2014). This resource kit has been written for volunteers and staff who provide sport and active recreation programs for people with disabilities. It was developed with the support of Sport and Recreation Victoria, a division of the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure.

Sport and Recreation

Sport and Recreation (WA) is a division of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. To ensure organisations can meet the needs of people with disability, their families and carers, Sport and Recreation (WA) provides funding and consultancy services to support the modification of programs so that everyone can participate.