By the end of 2014 the major cinema chains of Hoyts, Village, Event, and Reading cinemas had rolled out around 240 accessible screens across 130 cinemas around the country. This was part of the Commonwealth Government’s Cinema Access Implementation Plan that saw every major chain cinema complex in the country have accessibility services on at least one screen per venue.
The online survey, which was conducted over two weeks, aimed to identify the most important human rights issues facing persons with disabilities, the priorities for improving their employment outcomes, and the most strategic ways to focus the resources of the AHRC on these issues. For each question, respondents were asked to pick three out of 10 to 16 options. A total of 541 respondents took part in the survey.
Speaking at the National Disability Forum 2014, President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs, said the complaints process was one of the most effective ways to help the commission advocate on behalf of people with disabilities.
The challenge, announced earlier this year, is being run by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), and is sponsored by Telstra.
For the category of 'Most accessible mainstream app', the finalists are: Energy Rating, ACCC Shopper and My Bus (Canberra Transport).
Innes, who has been blind since birth, completed a law degree in 1977. He was a hearing commissioner with the then Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission from 1994 to 2001, Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner from 1999 to 2005, and has been Disability Discrimination Commissioner since 2005. He contributed to the drafting of the United Nations’ ‘Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities’, and was an advisor during the development of the National Disability Strategy.
The Rights Talk was well attended with approximately 50-60 people filling the room at the AHRC offices. Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes chaired the event and began by introducing the concept of human rights and how the internet and access to it is integral for society.
He asked Collins and other panel members if they perceived internet access as a human right.
