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Australian access regulation

Australia currently has a variety of legislative and policy instruments which mandate and support accessibility.

Read the page on Australian access regulation.

Our research

Media Access Australia has put together a list of useful research and policy databases for those interested in finding out more.

Visit our research page.

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Convergence Review

In the world of communications technology, ‘convergence’ refers to the major platforms (broadcasting, telecommunications and online) coming together so that their once separate functions overlap.

Read our page on convergence review.

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Latest Research & Policy News

Thursday, 14 September 2017
More retailers under the hammer for inaccessible websites

A new wave of lawsuits has begun in the USA with Kmart, McDonald’s, Sears, Ace Hardware, and GrubHub among the latest to be sued by blind and vision-impaired people for having inaccessible websites that exclude them from ordering products online.
Wednesday, 9 August 2017
Push for mandatory captioning in New Zealand

Change is being urged in New Zealand when it comes to TV and film captioning for Deaf and hearing impaired people. The reality behind this call to action is the fact that this important section of society is missing out on a huge amount that contributes to their quality of life when captioning isn't available.
Tuesday, 27 June 2017
New funding cap of National Relay Service leads to fears of reduced services

While the Government’s recent recommitment to support the National Relay Service (NRS) is welcomed, there are fears that services will have to be cut. This is because the Government will have NRS funding capped at the 2012 level of $20 million (ex GST) per year, rather than a user-need model, and this will lead to less people being able to access and use this service.
Wednesday, 21 June 2017
ACMA releases review of captioning rules

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has just released the final report into its statutory review of captioning rules. While ACMA, as the independent statutory authority, does not recommend specific legislative amendments in the report it has just tendered, it has made three key findings.
Monday, 30 January 2017
Major review of NDIS costs now underway

In late January 2017 the Federal Government announced that the Productivity Commission is to conduct a study to review the costs of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which is due to be operational and available to around 500,000 people by 2019.
Wednesday, 18 January 2017
Website inaccessibility court cases on the rise

In March 2016 ‘Colorado Bags n’ Baggage’ became the first retailer in the US to lose a litigation case because their website was inaccessible. Today, there are dozens of court cases that are either scheduled to be heard or that have already settled out of court, as a surge of legal cases bring web accessibility into the mainstream, with broader implications for Australia and around the world.
Friday, 13 January 2017
Section 508 gets ICT upgrade to match WCAG Level A & AA standards

In a move welcomed by disability groups and advocates, the U.S. Access Board has updated their accessibility requirements for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) within Section-508 of the Rehabilitation Act,to bring it into line with European and WCAG (Level A, AA) standards.

Research & policy

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Australian consumers have rights to access electronic media and the industry has responsibilities to provide access through a range of Australian and international access policies.

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Tags: Research & policy