Grants to Increase Accessibility for Disabled
25 January 2011 at 12:13 pm
Grants of up to $100,000 are available to help local councils make their communities more accessible for people with a disability.
Applications from local councils for grants of up to $100,000 are being accepting as part of the Gillard Government’s $5 million Accessible Communities program.
The small infrastructure grants, which are open to individual councils or consortia of councils, will help improve the accessibility of public buildings and facilities for people with a disability, so they can participate fully in the community.
This includes making improvements such as access ramps, lifts, hoists and accessible public toilets to community infrastructure such as playgrounds, swimming pools, libraries and town halls.
Parliamentary Secretary for Disability and Carers, Senator Jan McLucas says people with a disability and their carers deserve the same opportunities as other Australians in their local community.
Senator McLucas says these grants will give local councils financial assistance to upgrade their public buildings and facilities so people with disability and their carers can participate in the local community.
The Accessible Communities program is part of an $11 million accessibility package to support the Government’s National Disability Strategy.
The Government says the strategy will set a 10-year reform plan for all governments to address the barriers faced by Australians with a disability and encourage greater social inclusion.
Applications for grants close on 25 February 2011. The grants must be matched by applicants with an equal or greater amount of funding.
More information on the program, including application forms and guidelines is available here: www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/disability/funding
it is nicely news for disabled community.
Yes it is. Too bad they don’t make it more public and notify the correct organisations before the grant closes.
In my opinion they should be offering grants like this straight to the disability organisations, who else would have a better idea what is needed?
Being a wheelchair user i laugh/ cry half the time the council try to make things “accessible” which is why i don’t bother to leave the house most of the time. You can only handle falling out of your chair so many times.