Australia’s overseas aid program aims for inclusive development and projects are expected to adhere to principles of universal design. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has an Accessibility Design Guide based on universal design principles. The Guide was developed in 2009 but remains the key reference to inclusive development related to disability.
“This guide is a rich resource of ideas which development practitioners can consider when applying universal design. The aim is to support Australia’s aid program so it minimises barriers and becomes more accessible.”
The Guide supports the 2015-2020 Development for All strategy. The issue of gender is acknowledged in this publication and how this impacts women and girls. The importance of disability-inclusive development and how Australia can make a difference is part of the introduction.
The objectives
The objectives of disability inclusive development are to improve the quality of life of people with disability in developing countries. This will be achieved through:
- enhancing participation as contributors, leaders and decision makers
- reducing poverty
- improving equality in all areas of public life, education and employment.
It is interesting to note that the Australian Government applies universal design thinking to projects in other countries, but not across Australian projects. Nevertheless, DFAT claims it “supports Australia’s own commitment to people with disability …”. Accessibility standards for the public domain are not universal design and insufficient to create an inclusive society..
The Guide remains on the DFAT website (November 2024) with links to more detailed documents. This includes a more recent brochure with a list of top 10 tips to promote universal design. However, the thinking behind both documents is that universal design is only about people with disability. Of course the concepts have moved on to include the diversity of the population and intersectionality.