About us

How we began

At the inaugural Australian Universal Design Conference in 2014, the call was made for a centre for universal design. Speakers and delegates supported this idea. At the 2nd Australian UD Conference an announcement was made about the establishment of Centre for Universal Design Australia as a not for profit entity. We gained Charity status in November 2017 and tax deductibility in April 2022. Jane Bringolf tells the story in the video below. 

The process is documented in a 2018 conference paper titled, From the Ground Up: Establishing a Centre for Universal Design in Australia. 

Centre for Universal Design Australia (CUDA) is established as a non-discriminatory health promotion charity. We promote the health and wellbeing of people with physical, sensory and cognitive impairments through the application of universal design principles. 

Our key activity is maintaining this website and producing a weekly newsletter of the latest posts. Our first online training, Introduction to Universal Design was launched on October 2017 and our second on housing policy in April 2020. We held our 3rd Australian Universal Design Conference in Brisbane in September 2018. The 4th was  held in May 2021 in Melbourne. You can download our Annual Reports to find out more about our past activities.

The Directors of the Board are: Dr Jane Bringolf, Assoc Prof Phillippa Carnemolla, Prof Philip Taylor, Ms Sarah Davidson, Mr John Evernden, Dr Penny Galbraith and Dr Emily Steel. 

Support the aims and goals of CUDA by becoming a member and subscribe to the newsletter of latest web posts. Follow us, like and share on Linked In, Facebook and Twitter. There is a donation button on the left hand menu. Our Privacy Policy explains how we keep your information confidential.

Vision and Mission

Centre for Universal Design Australia logo in blue.

Vision: Our vision is to live in a world where everyone can participate in all aspects of social and economic life.

Mission: Our mission is to promote the health and wellbeing of people with physical, sensory and cognitive impairments through the application of universal design principles.

To enact our mission:

CUDA provides advice, information and education on design processes and outcomes that:

      • reduce the differences in current health status
      • ensures equal opportunities and access to resources
      • enables all people to achieve their fullest health potential

CUDA supports individuals and groups to optimise physical, mental and social wellbeing by changing or coping with the environment.

We advocate for the fundamental conditions and resources for health. This includes the availability of shelter, education, and income for all people regardless of disease, health condition or impairment. 

CUDA gathers and shares knowledge and experience about designs for health and wellbeing. The emphasis is on people with health conditions and/or impairments. 

CUDA provides information and evidence from sectors within and beyond health.

We communicate the connection between universal design and health, and how inclusion in all sectors is consistent with the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. 

CUDA collates and curates universal design strategies and programs to build healthy public policy through coordinated action for increased equity. 

CUDA maintains a strong global network of researchers and practitioners to ensure knowledge on health and design are current.

There is more detail in our 2021-2022 Strategic Plan.

Charity status logo

Support CUDA’s work with a donation

 

Updated March 2021