Life to Live

The history of people with disabilities in Australia - 100 years

A resource guide prepared by: Disability Services Australia Ltd

Timeline


1901 — Alice Betteridge born: first deafblind person to receive education in Australia.

1933 — First folding, tubular steel wheelchair was invented.

1941 — Discovery of the link between rubella in pregnant women and blindness in newborn babies

1945 — United Nations formally established

1948 — Helen Keller visits Australia.

1950s — First sheltered workshops for children with disabilities

1952 — First guide dog training centre in Australia established in Perth

1960s — Text telephones invented

1969 — Vaccine for Rubella became available.

1975 — United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons

1976 — First print-to-speech reading machine invented (Kurzweil Reading Machine)

1970s — Electric wheelchairs became available in Australia.

1970s — The wearing of seat belts in cars became compulsory across Australia.

1978 — The world's first cochlear implant operation was performed at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.

1981 — International Year of Disabled Persons

1982-1993 — United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons

1985 — National Occupational Health and Safety Commission Act

1986 — Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Discrimination Act

1986 —Disability Services Act

1992 —Disability Discrimination Act

1993 —United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for People with Disabilities

1996 — National Disability Advisory Council established.

1999 — Carer Allowance introduced

2000 — Paralympics, Sydney

2001 — International Year of Volunteers