Something is rotten in the arts and cultural state of OZ. At this point in time there is a critical need for arts, cultural organizations and venues (as providers of goods and services) to recognize that we in Australia have a moral and, more importantly, legal obligation under the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act to provide reasonable and adequate services to people experiencing disabilities.

Of course we might forgive the general arts and cultural sector for its tardiness to comply, at least in the spirit of the act, given the dearth of ‘disability’ arts and cultural policies at a national and state level. Given that the arts and cultural sector see themselves as being on the ‘high ground’ in relation to cultural development, human rights, free speech and such matters, it puzzles that few in the sector are acting on the problems that people with disabilities face in accessing the diverse arts and cultural activities that most of us working in the sector enjoy. For example: poor accessibility to venues and events, inadequate professional development opportunities, barriers to tertiary education and opportunities to work within the sector.

I am also concerned that we don’t validate a current extremely narrow view, that somehow people experiencing disabilities are only viewed from an arts business perspective as simply potential consumers or audience. Artists and creative individuals work as professionals in the sector, and yet their developmental needs as artists first, and persons experiencing disabilities second, are not serviced well by the type of policy intervention suggested by the peak commonwealth funding body, the Australia Council for the Arts document Access All Areas: guidelines for marketing the arts to people with disabilities. I encourage you to download the document as an example to this well-meaning but one-dimensional level of thinking.

Finally, I wish to alert you to a simple but profound proposition about people experiencing disabilities and disadvantage “One does not know a culture until one knows the perspectives of its disabled citizens” spoken by Kinzaburo Oe, writer and Nobel Prize Winner.

One of the most powerful things we can do as a sector is recognize that a number of people experiencing disabilities are active arts and cultural producers across all art forms. Many more could be and would appreciate your active support in assisting it to happen.