Parliamentary question without notice | Changing Places Bathrooms
29/10/2014
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the minister representing the Minister for Disabilities questions regarding Changing Places toilet facilities.
Leave granted.
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: When I visited London on a study tour in 2012, I met with the staff of Mencap—the UK’s leading organisation representing people with intellectual disability, or learning disabilities, as they are more commonly referred to in the UK. During this meeting, I learned of a very interesting campaign that they were running at the time for a specific type of public toilet and bathroom facility.
These facilities are called Changing Places. The UK now has 600 Changing Places, and the campaign has been a huge success. These Changing Places bathrooms come with a height-adjustable, adult-sized changing table, a trucking hoist system and space for a person with a disability and one or two carers or support workers if necessary as well as a non-slip floor and a safe and clean environment. They are appropriate for people with significant disabilities who require a changing table, for people who are accompanying people with dementia, for example, for people with sensory disabilities such as autism, and for people with an array of other disabilities including chronic illness or health conditions.
At present, people who require large change tables and a hoist for toileting are changed on the floor or in accessible public toilets. I don’t think I need to explain how inappropriate and undignified this can be for many people. As many accessible and other toilets do not provide adequate changing facilities, particularly for adults, people with significant disabilities cannot access their community or have to sit for hours on end in soiled clothing, sometimes leading to infection.
Following funding announced by the Victorian state government and outlined in an article in The Age last month entitled fantastically—get ready for this, Hansard—’Loo bewdy: new bathrooms mark clean getaway from “toilet horror”‘, Victoria will now get six new cutting-edge accessible bathrooms. They will be in popular public places: the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the zoo, the revamped Rod Laver Arena, and in three other locations yet to be chosen by a poll of people who will use them. There will also be a new accessible mobile bathroom, the Marveloo, that can be hired for events. The cost of these new bathrooms will be around $750,000.
The push for Changing Places has come after a campaign from Maroondah Council, which has installed five Changing Places in their community. I also note that the Adelaide City Council is planning to install a Changing Place at the North Adelaide Aquatic Centre. My questions to the minister are as follows:
1.Does the minister agree that Changing Places facilities are an essential development addition that would ensure people with disabilities can safely and dignifiedly access their community?
2. Will the Minister for Disabilities agree to funding three Changing Places toilets for popular venues, for example, like Adelaide Oval, the Convention Centre, and the Adelaide Entertainment Centre?
The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) ( 16:36 :13 ): I thank the honourable member for her most interesting question aimed at the Minister for Disabilities, in the other chamber, on the topic of Changing Places. It is a very innovative infrastructure provision for people who have a range of health challenges and significant disabilities, giving them the ability to access community facilities with some degree of confidence and, as the honourable member said, dignity. I will take that question to the minister in the other place and seek a response on her behalf on that very substantial question.
