About us
After almost 10 years, in 2024 CUDA directors decided to make a strategic change to its operations to ensure its viability. In 2025, CUDA came under management of the Melbourne Disability Institute at The University of Melbourne.
A steering committee will begin driving the operations of CUDA from 2025 forward. The committee will work to seek ongoing funding to maintain the website, newsletter, and national and international connections.
How CUDA 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. Find out more about us from the left hand menu.
From the Ground Up: Establishing a Centre for Universal Design in Australia documents the process in a 2018 conference paper.
Our key activity is maintaining this website and producing a weekly newsletter of the latest posts. In October 2017 we launched our first online training, Introduction to Universal Design, 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.
Directors of the Board at the time of transition to MDI: Dr Jane Bringolf, Prof Phillippa Carnemolla, Prof Philip Taylor, Ms Sarah Davidson, Mr John Evernden, Dr Penny Galbraith and Dr Emily Steel.
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Vision and Mission
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.
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.
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.