Disability News: Vol 1 No 8 - Thursday, 1 September 2005
Enhancing post secondary education, training and employment opportunities for people with a disability RDLO & DCOs National Website http://www.adcet.edu.au/rdco/	Compiled by Timothy Hart DCO for Northern, Central and Southern Sydney

To return to the DCO Disability Newsletter Archive Page go to http://www.cdds.med.usyd.edu.au/dco/newsletter or click here

Conferences:
The Global Access Project (GAP) Inaugural International Forum ‘Sharing the Knowledge’
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION EXTENSION
(plus new concession rates now available!)
Macquarie University September 29 & 30, 2005

The Inaugural International Forum of the Global Access Project is designed to bring Education and Industry together to share knowledge, experience and technologies on accessibility across the globe.

The closing date for Early Bird registration to the Global Access Project’s Inaugural International Forum has been extended to
Friday September 9, 2005.

The Early Bird rate of $680 includes both days of the Forum programme, notes, lunch, morning and afternoon tea and the Forum dinner at Luna Park.

The Day rate for Early Bird registration is $270 (Forum dinner not included).

Student and concession rates of $75 are also now available.
For further information on the exciting line up of international and local speakers go to www.cfl.mq.edu.au/mcas/gap
To register by phone contact Phoebe Dangerfield on 61 2 9850 7570
To register by mail download the registration form here (word format) complete and post it with your cheque to:
The Global Access Project Forum Registration
Attention: Phoebe Dangerfield
c/- Centre for Flexible Learning
Macquarie University
Sydney 2109
New South Wales
Cheques are to be made payable to Macquarie University
http://www.cfl.mq.edu.au/mcas/gap/

DEAN - Professional Development Day, “Disability Discrimination Act Education Standards – Protecting the Student and the Institution”,
DEAN (The Disability Education Association of NSW/ACT) invites you to attend a Professional Development Day, “Disability Discrimination Act Education Standards – Protecting the Student and the Institution”, to be held on Monday 12th September at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
Speakers and panel members on the day's topic include: Karen Toohey, Principal Conciliation Officer with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC); Ken Grime, Legal Officer, ANU; Peter Johnson, Legal Officer, TAFE Legal Services; and Trevor Allan, Disability Liaison Officer, ANU.
The practical implications of the recently introduced Education Standards will be discussed and participants will be given the opportunity to share their experiences and concerns during group sessions. For a copy of the full program, go to http://www.anu.edu.au/disabilities/DEAN/deanpdday120905.htm
The sessions will be of interest to disability education professionals in universities, TAFE and DET as well as those working in Equity.
DATE AND TIME: Monday, 12th September, 9.30am - 2.30pm (followed by AGM)
VENUE: University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) Jones Street (Building 10, Level 2, Room 410).
LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED.
Please RSVP by 5th September. For a copy of the Registration form, go to
http://www.anu.edu.au/disabilities/DEAN/deanreg120905_print.htm

Registration cost: - Members $15; Non-members $25
EVERYONE WELCOME
The DEAN Annual General Meeting will be held at 2.30pm immediately following the Professional Development Sessions in the same venue.

Transforming Disability Conference - November 2005
The Centre for Public Policy at the University of Melbourne invites you to a conference titled Transforming Disability: community inclusion, employment and innovative reform. This one day conference will be held on Wednesday 9th November, 2005 at the University of Melbourne, Australia. The Centre for Public Policy is strongly committed to supporting sustained improvement in the public sector and boasts a strong reputation for teaching, research and our regular program of highly successful events - most recently a three-day international conference titled Transitions and Risk: New Directions in Social Policy which drew together 400 people from all over the world.

2005 marks the 30th year since Professor Ronald Henderson released his report on Poverty in Australia and recommendations for policy and program changes. Proposals for change to income support and employment programs for people with disabilities is again very much in the news. The Transforming Disability conference aims to bring together people with proposals for changes to disability policies and those whose direct experience enables them to provide informed critical comment on current trends and proposed changes.

Registration for this conference is $88 (the price includes GST, as well as morning tea, afternoon tea and lunch). Wheelchair access is available and the first three rows of the theatre have audio loop availability. An interpreter will be made available if requested. A very small number of sponsored places are available in cases of extreme personal hardship - please contact me if you wish to discuss.

For more information about this exciting conference, please visit the dedicated webpage:
http://www.public-policy.unimelb.edu.au/events/transforming_disability.html

Education:
Unis 'in a mess' ... and fees will rise anyway
Bernard Lane
August 31, 2005
THE federal Government's voluntary student union package would bring chaos to universities and student fees are going to have to rise anyway, former Coalition education adviser Andrew Norton has warned.
In a Centre for Independent Studies paper published today, Mr Norton endorsed voluntary unionism but said the total package would set back market reform of higher education, deny choice and leave universities in a mess.
The Coalition package would not only end compulsory membership of student unions, but also prevent universities from requiring students to pay an upfront fee for a bundle of non-academic services such as sports and clubs.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16442457%255E12332,00.html

Campuses 'will suffer under VSU'
By David Rood
Higher Education Reporter
August 31, 2005
UNIVERSITIES will be left "in a mess" if the Federal Government's controversial voluntary student unionism legislation is passed, a conservative think tank paper has concluded.
The laws abolishing student union fees — used to pay for a range of services — would force universities to sacrifice money earmarked for teaching, the research paper for the Centre for Independent Studies argues. In turn, universities would become less attractive to fee-paying international students, further draining revenue and damaging the quality of education.
In his paper, The Free Market Case Against Voluntary Student Unionism, research fellow Andrew Norton argues that students should pay the non-academic "union" fee as a part of a single university charge that is inclusive of HECS or full fees.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/campuses-will-suffer-under-vsu/2005/08/30/1125302570178.html

Labor defends VSU backflip
August 28, 2005 - 10:48AM
The Opposition education spokeswoman, Jenny Macklin, has defended Labor's position on voluntary student unionism, saying colleagues had been properly briefed every step of the way.
Labor leader Kim Beazley recently abandoned his party's long-standing commitment to compulsory student union membership in a bid to safeguard a variety of welfare and support services on campuses.
Under laws introduced into Parliament in March by the Education Minister, Brendan Nelson, university students will no longer have to join student unions and pay compulsory union fees.
The changes would mean the introduction of user pays to subsidised services such as childcare, health care, food, entertainment, sporting clubs, accommodation advice, counselling and student support services.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/labor-defends-vsu-backflip/2005/08/28/1125167539560.html

Teachers reject profit motive
Caroline Overington
August 26, 2005
THE national teachers union has questioned whether schools should be teaching the skills needed to get jobs.
In a submission to the national inquiry into the teaching of literacy, due to report within weeks, the Australian Education Union has questioned the value of knowledge becoming an "economic tool".
The submission said teaching was now "the subject of intense debate by people who have little understanding of the process of education but great interest in the product.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16388048%5E12332,00.html

Students vent anger at ALP's about-face
Louise Perry and Brendan O'Keefe
August 26, 2005
STUDENTS stormed the Labor Party's Victorian headquarters yesterday, barricading themselves inside the building in protest at the party's backdown on voluntary student unionism.
Labor education spokeswoman Jenny Macklin had earlier attempted to address a rally in the Melbourne CBD but was drowned out by shouts of "shame, Labor, shame".
Students yesterday staged their second "national day of action" this month against the federal Government's proposed VSU legislation, which would mean students would no longer have to join student unions and pay compulsory union fees.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16388068%255E12332,00.html

Students slam ALP over uni backflip
Louise Perry and Samantha Maiden
August 25, 2005
JULIA Gillard was left to defend Labor's abandonment of compulsory student unionism yesterday, straining to be heard amid shouts of "shame" and "bullshit" from a large group of angry students.
As Queensland Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce declared he held common ground with the ALP's compromise deal, former student union president Ms Gillard attempted to explain Labor's decision in Melbourne.
"When I became a student activist more than 20 years ago, conservative governments around the country were seeking to legislate against student unions and the truth is, every time they have tried to legislate against it they have got a little bit better at it," she told a VSU forum at LaTrobe University.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16376130%255E2702,00.html

Govt minister 'feared violence at uni'
August 25, 2005
Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson said he called off his visit to the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) because he feared it could have provoked violent protests.
Dr Nelson said he arranged Thursday's visit to UTS to talk to education staff about national teacher training months ago, but earlier this week thought it better to postpone the meeting.
"I made the decision to not go to the university because it was the national day of action put on by students and me going to the university on that particular day is like putting a live rabbit in front of a group of greyhounds," he told the Nine Network.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Govt-minister-feared-violence-at-uni/2005/08/25/1124562973080.html

Beazley leads on students
Samantha Maiden
August 24, 2005
KIM Beazley has backed the right of university students to choose whether to join a student union under a historic policy shift designed to outmanoeuvre warring Coalition MPs, and protect sporting clubs and services on campus.
The landmark decision signals the Labor Party has abandoned its long-held philosophical commitment to compulsory student unionism after a 30-year-battle between conservatives and the Left on campus.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16364965%5E601,00.html

Row erupts over TAFE funding
August 20, 2005
Labor has accused the federal government of abandoning more than one million students across the country with its decision to withhold TAFE funding from all states and territories.
But the commonwealth says state governments are the ones to blame due to their stalling on a new funding agreement, which has been under negotiation for the past couple of years.
The key sticking point is the states' failure to sign off on a training agreement proposed by the commonwealth because they disagree with conditions such as the requirement to offer individual contracts to staff.
New South Wales Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt received a letter this week from the federal government saying the state's share of the $5 billion funding had been withheld.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/row-erupts-over-tafe-funding/2005/08/20/1124435181359.html

TAFEs hit for $300m in payback
Elizabeth Colman
August 20, 2005
TAFE colleges across the nation have had $300 million slashed from their federal funding by the Howard Government because state governments refused to offer individual contracts to teachers.
The reprisal comes despite federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson's pledge to continue TAFE funding while negotiations over the Australian Workplace Agreements were taking place.
The money was cut off on Monday, two days before state governments received a letter from Dr Nelson and junior minister Gary Hardgrave telling them it might happen later.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16321132%5E2702,00.html

Anti-VSU protesters hit parliament
August 18, 2005 - 5:14PM
Usually non-political university religious groups and sports clubs have voiced their concerns over federal government plans to introduce voluntary student unionism (VSU).
Several federal MPs and dozens of students protested outside Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday as part of the long-running campaign against VSU.
National Union of Students president Felix Eldridge said the protest included representatives from various NSW and ACT university sports, social and religious clubs who were not normally involved in student politics.
Labor senators Kate Lundy and George Campbell, Australian Democrats senators Lyn Allison and Natasha Stott Despoja, Australian Greens senator Kerry Nettle and Labor MPs Tony Burke and Bernie Ripoll joined the protest.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/AntiVSU-protesters-hit-parliament/2005/08/18/1123958172840.html

Employment:
Work for welfare proposal attacked
Lachlan Heywood
31aug05
THE controversial $3.6 billion welfare-to-work package is likely to be watered down ahead of legislation being introduced to Federal Parliament next month.
Mounting concern in senior Government ranks that more welfare recipients than planned will be worse off under the reforms has raised the prospect of 11th-hour changes.
It is understood Employment and Workplace Minister Kevin Andrews is not as committed to the original package as Workforce Participation Minister Peter Dutton, who oversaw its early development.
The Government last week released figures showing more than 75,000 new disability pensioners would be worse of under the reforms within three years.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16441232%255E953,00.html

Nursery crimes
August 27, 2005
A head start … children enter the world of books at Minto Family Centre.
Photo: Brendan Esposito
Professor Fiona Stanley says it's time for Australia to wake up and look after its children. Adele Horin reports.
They used to be called troublemakers and slow learners, and every school had their share. But as Australia has grown more prosperous, its gross domestic product larger, its citizens richer, a funny thing happened to our children. More of them, it seems, have problems - behavioural, learning, psychological, even health. More of them are fatter, asthmatic, or autistic, or depressed. The troublemakers seem to be getting younger, and the girls are as aggressive as the boys. At the same time, at the other end of the spectrum, the smart kids are getting smarter, tech savvy, resourceful and resilient.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/nursery-crimes/2005/08/26/1124563033728.html

Single mums in job boom
Patricia Karvelas
August 24, 2005
THE number of single mothers and disabled pensioners entering the workforce has doubled, without the stick of the Coalition's long-awaited welfare reforms.
A campaign by Centrelink to encourage the two groups to look for work put 27,800 single parents into jobs in the past financial year, compared with 13,658 the previous year.
Centrelink's efforts to refer disabled pensioners directly to job agencies was just as effective, with 8500 people with disabilities finding work in the year, compared with 3983.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16364985%5E2702,00.html

Howard can't win a trick
By Louise Dodson
August 23, 2005
WHILE it's no surprise the unions and Labor fiercely oppose plans to create a national industrial relations system, emerging disquiet within business circles about how it will work shows just what sort of problem John Howard and his ministers have on their hands. If business sees difficulties with the new industrial relations system, what hope has the Government got in winning over the voting public?
Hugh Morgan, from the Business Council of Australia, which covers Australia's biggest companies, says the suggested reforms are not enough by themselves to bolster prosperity.
What is needed to boost productivity are reforms to encourage people off welfare and back-to-work education and training policies, and incentives to keep older people from quitting the workforce, Morgan says.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/howard-cant-win-a-trick/2005/08/22/1124562800489.html

Welfare:
75,000 disabled pensioners 'to get less money'
August 23, 2005 - 2:31AM
More than 75,000 disabled people will get less money under the government's controversial welfare-to-work package, new figures show.
A response to questions from Labor Senator Penny Wong at budget Senate estimates hearings earlier this year said about 75,700 disability support pensioners (DSP) would be pushed onto the lower Newstart Allowance under the changes.
Senator Wong, the opposition's workforce participation spokeswoman, said all of those DSP recipients would be at least $77 a fortnight worse off.
Under the government's welfare-to-work changes, single parents, the disabled and long-term unemployed would be forced into jobs.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/75000-disabled-pensioners-to-get-less-money/2005/08/23/1124562813487.html

76,000 to go from pension to dole
By Josh Gordon
Economics Correspondent
Canberra
August 23, 2005
ALMOST 76,000 people are expected to get the dole instead of the disability support pension by 2008 as a result of the Federal Government's welfare-to-work overhaul.
Under changes announced in the May 10 budget, people with disabilities will qualify for the disability support pension only if judged incapable of working 15 hours a week or more. Otherwise, they will get the dole, which pays $77 less a fortnight and requires recipients to search for work.
The Government has argued that the change will boost workforce participation rates, part of a strategy to help tackle future costs of the ageing population.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/76000-to-go-from-pension-to-dole/2005/08/22/1124562804944.html

MPs fret over mental health
By Mark Metherell Political Correspondent
August 17, 2005
The widespread jailing of mentally ill patients is fuelling demands by Coalition MPs for the Federal Government to take the lead in upgrading psychiatric services.
A senior Liberal backbencher, Warren Entsch, one of five MPs voicing concerns, wants the Government to use its response to the Palmer report into the detention of asylum seekers to ensure improved care for other mentally ill people who end up in jail because of a lack of services.
If Australia could release illegal migrants from detention, "surely we can do that for our citizens … hundreds, if not thousands, of whom are incarcerated because they are mentally ill", he said.
For the rest of the article go to
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mps-fret-over-mental-health/2005/08/16/1123958064928.html

Media Releases:
Release of the Interim Report for the National Inquiry into Employment and Disability
I am pleased to announce the release of the Interim Report of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's National Inquiry into Employment and Disability. The Inquiry was launched on 4 March 2005 and is due to be completed by the end of this year.
The purpose of the Interim Report is to:
(a) summarise the concerns and suggestions contained in the submissions made to the Inquiry to date;
(b) make Interim Recommendations on the basis of those submissions;
(c) propose a platform for action in the remaining months of the Inquiry.

The Executive Summary, Interim Recommendations and Next Steps for the Inquiry have been collated into Issues Paper 6 (Interim Report). You can find a copy of that Issues Paper at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/employment_inquiry/docs/Issue6_Interim_Report.doc

A full copy of the report can be downloaded from http://www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/employment_inquiry/index.htm.

For all other information about the Inquiry, including Terms of Reference, previous Issues Papers and the submissions received to date, please visit the Inquiry website at: www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/employment_inquiry/index.htm.

The Commission is strongly committed to a cooperative and responsive approach to developing solutions to the issue of employment opportunities for people with disability in the open workplace. We are therefore eager to hear your comments about the Interim Report and Interim Recommendations.

Please feel free to distribute this email to any person or organisation you think may be interested in reading the Interim Report or making a submission to the Inquiry.
The deadline for comments and submissions is Friday 30 September 2005.
All comments and submissions should ideally be sent by email to employmentinquiry@humanrights.gov.au
Alternatively, submissions may be sent in hard copy to:
Employment Inquiry
Disability Rights Unit
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
Questions can be directed to Cristina Ricci (Inquiry Officer) or Vanessa Lesnie (Secretary to the Inquiry) at employmentinquiry@humanrights.gov.au, (02) 9284 9600 or 1800 620 241 (TTY).

The Disability standards for education are now in force
The Standards require all education providers in Australia to consult students/associates about whether students have a disability which will affect their education, and about whether proposed adjustments will give students with disabilities an education on the same basis as students without disabilities. Once the Standards are proclaimed, Education Providers will be required to take the views of suidents and their associates into account, when making adjustments in the areas of enrollment, participation, curriculum, and support services, and they will have to take steps to prevent harrassment and victimisation.
More info from HREOC http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/index.html#new
or direct at http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/agdHome.nsf/AllDocs/1821B1CD1293253DCA2570610014D867?OpenDocument
To view the Disability Standards for Education, and the supporting documents, go to:
http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/programmes_funding/forms_guidelines/disability_standards_for_education.htm

COMMONWEALTH DISABILITY STRATEGY EVALUATION:
HAVE YOUR SAY!
The Commonwealth Disability Strategy (CDS) was introduced in 1994 to help Australian government agencies make sure that their services, programs, employment opportunities can be accessed by people with disabilities.

To ensure that the CDS continues to meet its goals, the Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) is evaluating the CDS with the assistance of Erebus International. You can find out more about the CDS and the evaluation by visiting the FaCS website at http://www.facs.gov.au/disability/cds/index.htm

The evaluation will look at the overall effectiveness of the Commonwealth Disability Strategy. This will be achieved by talking to Australian government agencies, disability organisations and people in the community (with and without a disability) to find out what they think.

To have your say you can respond by 16 September 2005 in one of the following ways:

• Phoning Erebus International on 1300 139 287 and completing a short survey over the phone on Monday 22 August or Tuesday 30 August or Wednesday 7 September*; OR.
• Completing a short survey by calling TTY Hot-line facility (02) 9871 8400 on Monday 22 August or Tuesday 30 August or Wednesday 7 September between the hours of 10:00AM and 10:00PM ; OR
• Providing a written response about the CDS by visiting the Erebus International website at www.erebusinternational.com.au/currentprojects.html and following the links. You can then return your comments by 16 September either by:
o Posting to CDS Evaluation, Erebus International, Suite 31, 1-7 Jordan Street, GLADESVILLE NSW 2111 OR;
o Emailing to administrator@erebusinternational.com.au .
*An interpreter can be arranged if required.
Remember, the closing date for having your say is Friday 16 September 2005.

Nelson Rejects Labor's Sensible Solution On Uni Services
Jenny Macklin

Media Statement - 24th August 2005
Today's refusal by Education Minister Brendan Nelson to consider Federal Labor's sensible solution to save university services is clear evidence he is motivated by ideology and not solutions.
Brendan Nelson has been saying for months and as recently as last parliament that the issue driving his attack on university campuses is compulsory membership of student organisations:
For the rest of the Media Release go to
http://www.alp.org.au/media/0805/msedu240.php

Howard Government Breaks Its Word On Tafe Funding
Jenny Macklin

Media Statement - 20th August 2005
Around 1.25 million students across Australia have been stranded this week after the Howard Government broke its promise and refused to deliver federal funding to Australia's TAFE colleges.
The Howard Government this week stopped paying its 30 per cent share of TAFE funding - despite a clear promise that the funding would flow.
The latest quarterly payment of Commonwealth funding to TAFEs was due last Monday but has not been paid leaving TAFE students across Australia in limbo
For the rest of the Media Release go to
http://www.alp.org.au/media/0805/msedutrg200.php

Campaigns:
GetUp is running a campaign against Volunteer Student Unionism (VSU)
In the next two weeks the Howard Government wants to pass a law that will drastically cut services and jobs on university campuses around the country. These services, like childcare, sporting facilities and health services, are used by the whole community.
We need to act now to block this radical bill before it becomes law:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/PutCommunitiesFirst
This bill even prevents universities from collecting an amenities fee to keep these basic community services operating.
Liberal Party ideology is being put before common sense and the interests of communities.
That's why some Howard Government members are mounting a last minute effort to block this radical bill. These members need to know that they have wide community support.
There's still a chance to stop this bill. We need to send these members a letter of support asking them to stick to their convictions and vote against the bill.

Jobs:
Equity Research Centre - Project Field Officer
Project Field Officer
Time Fraction: .6 plus
Salary range: $50,000-$55,000 (pro rata)
The Equity Research Centre is a not-for-profit organisation and advisory body to the Victorian Government. We work to promote equity and diversity in post-compulsory education and training and employment.
The Offender Education and Training in ACE Project was established to address offender education, training and employment needs through contracting ACE Organisations and to test models to provide innovative education and training programs for offenders.
We are seeking a Project Field Officer to support the successful achievement of the strategic objectives, guidelines and standards of this project including provision of advice on project implementation, support for participating ACE organisations and development of community learning partnerships.
The role requires excellent written and verbal communication skills, ability to work effectively in a small team and a commitment to social justice.
Qualifications: Tertiary qualifications in education, management and/or community development
Time Fraction: .6 with probability of extra session work up to one day per week
Length of contract: 12 months
For further information and a position description phone 03-9417-5355 or email admin@equityresearch.org.au
Applications close on Wednesday 7 September 2005.

New Resources:
http://www.australiantechnicalcolleges.gov.au/

‘Do Yourself a Favour – Employ Someone with a Disability!
This guide for employers is MDAA’s latest publication, funded by Parramatta City Council and supported by the Parramatta Chamber of Commerce, and provides information and ideas about the benefits for businesses that diversify their employee and customer base. It dispels the misconceptions about employing someone with disability; and explains how employers can get help to recruit, train and support employees. To read or download a copy, see the 5th publication on www.mdaa.org.au/publications/index.html.

Note that all ABS research publications are now available free from the ABS website is http://www.abs.gov.au/.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) was given additional funding in the last Budget to allow free access to electronic versions of ABS publications on the ABS web site. This improves the availability of official statistics to all Australians but is of particular use for program designers and social researchers.
You can now access an expanded range of free publications on the ABS web site, including:
* electronic publications (PDF and HTML based content); and
* electronic tables in spreadsheet or data cube format which contain publication tables.
The ABS is also considering adding further free on the web content from 1 January 2006. Pending a final decision, this may include most, if not all, remaining standard priced products such as:
* time series spreadsheets; and
* other spreadsheets and data cubes.
The ABS website in the process of being redeveloped. In the past data was sometimes difficult to find and the content categories were not obvious to the casual user. The improvements include an enhanced search function, clearer categories and descriptions, and an easier to use entry page. The improvements make using the site a far more time-efficient.
Check it out, it could be useful for your programs.

Vol 1 No 8
Compiled by Timothy Hart DCO for Northern, Central and Southern Sydney

To return to the DCO Disability Newsletter Archive Page go to http://www.cdds.med.usyd.edu.au/dco/newsletter or click here