Acquiring a disability through sport: implications of insurance, compensation and quality of life through an Australian case

This story is not about accessible tourism but what happens when a person acquires a high-level spinal cord injury, questions of insurance, compensation, cost of disability and quality of life. Of course quality of life and cost of disability are inextricably linked to accessible travel where the type of disability and a person's support needs affect the extent to which a person is able to travel. Without the requisite resources to be able to pay for the extra cost of disability with regards to tourism, a person may be unable to travel to the extent, to the destinations, the length of time that they would like to be on holiday for. We hope you find this article of interest.

No other recourse but to sue? The implications of Alex McKinnon's lawsuit against the NRL

Simon Darcy, University of Technology Sydney and Paul Jonson, University of Technology Sydney
Alex McKinnon, who was left in a wheelchair following an on-field tackle in an NRL match in 2014, is set to sue the league and the player deemed responsible for his injury, Jordan McLean.
The legal circumstances are only part of the questions raised by a case like McKinnon’s. There are also discussions to be had over compensation and insurance, and the personal impact of spinal cord injury.

A legal first

McKinnon’s case marks the first time a player has directly sued rugby league’s national governing body over an on-field injury in Australia.
Previously, players have sued other players over injuries deemed to have resulted from illegal play. In other cases, players have also cited the club of the player regarded as having caused the injury.
These cases have tested the legal concepts of:

• duty of care: that is, to whom one is responsible for the negligent behaviour that resulted in the injury and why;
• voluntary assumption of risk: that is, whether the injury arose from behaviour that was an inherent part of the activity and to which the injured party had tacitly accepted the risk, so therefore no-one was legally liable for the damage caused; and
• vicarious liability: that is, the employer is legally responsible because the behaviour that caused the injury occurred while the employee was carrying out their work duties, albeit negligently.

The tackle that injured Alex McKinnon.

Workers’ compensation and sports insurance

In any other sphere of life, if a person is injured at work they are covered by workers’ compensation.
In Australia, depending upon the state you live in, such claims have been limited with respect to monetary compensation. For example, in New South Wales a person acquiring a spinal cord impairment similar to McKinnon’s is limited to a one-off lump-sum payment of A$231,000.
Under any circumstances this figure can be regarded as grossly inadequate when you consider home modifications, purchase of assistive technology, and ongoing care and medical expenses.
Any sportsperson taking to the field typically does so under their state’s sports injuries insurance scheme. However, it is open to the sporting organisation to opt for private insurance as a substitute or complement.
Under the sports injury insurance scheme, payments of benefits are made in respect of deaths and certain injuries suffered by people participating in sporting and recreational activities.
Significantly, the benefits payable are predetermined and limited, with a maximum benefit for a single incident capped at $171,000. Hence – unless private insurance has been taken out – under workers’ compensation or the sports injury insurance scheme the degree of coverage for spinal cord injury is inadequate.

Spinal cord injury

There are around 12,000 people living with spinal cord injury in Australia, with some 370 new cases each year. Of these, some 80% are male and 20% female. Most occur through motor-vehicle accidents (23%), unprotected road users (23%, including cyclists or pedestrians), high falls (18%), low falls (10%), being struck by objects (9%), or water-related injuries (9%).
Of those injuries, some 20% occurred in sport or leisure activities and 15% in work-related environments. Once a person has a spinal cord injury their employment rate declines from 78% pre-injury to 29% post-injury.
Any spinal cord injury is devastating to the person involved, their immediate family, and their circle of friends. At best it can be a lengthy hospitalisation, and end in a “miracle” story of the person walking out of the hospital.
Medically, spinal cord injury is at worst a lifelong change that affects every daily function of the human body – beyond merely walking. Socially it can mean a loss of job and income, the family home requiring major modifications if it can be made accessible, changes in family responsibilities, and the way members of the family relate to each other.
On top of all this, McKinnon has had his spinal cord injury and circumstances played out in the public realm.
As the tackle that injured McKinnon shows, spinal cord injury can take place in a split second. Whether the person is an elite athlete or not, there is a massive psychological adjustment that takes place. This period of adjustment can go on for years.
Depending on level of injury, personal care is an ongoing cost that is essential to maintaining good health and a functioning family unit. Then there is transport, housing modifications, assistive technology, ongoing medical expenses and specialised equipment for work and leisure. These have been estimated at a lifetime cost of $9.5 million for a quadriplegic.
As McKinnon progresses in his recovery, the true cost of disability and his needs over a lifetime are only just starting to be realised. He has said:

It’s only been in the last few weeks that I have understood that it will cost $100,000 per year just to get me up out of bed in the morning.

The love of McKinnon’s partner, family and friends can only do so much where professional allied health, medical and therapy interventions are required to lead an independent and dignified life as possible.
While the NRL has been supportive and offered McKinnon a job for life, he is starting to realise the real ongoing costs of disability may not be met by the generous charity that has already been provided.
McKinnon does not just want his basic needs met; he wants to be compensated for the life he envisioned a professional football career would give him, and what has been taken away through catastrophic injury. While the National Disability Insurance Scheme will provide for his basic needs, it does not provide for everything people with disability require to offset all loses because of their disability. Instead, it only meets requirements that can be regarded as “fair and reasonable”.
Given these circumstances, McKinnon has been left with no other recourse than to litigate to receive compensation for his loss of lifestyle.

Simon Darcy, Professor & Co-Director Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre - UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney and Paul Jonson, Associate Professor, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Observations on the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Accessibility

'Grotesque spectacle'? Rio has a long way to go to become more accessible

Tracey J Dickson, University of Canberra; Jorge Knijnik, Western Sydney University, and Simon Darcy, University of Technology Sydney

It was quite a reality check. With one phrase, “Espetáculo grotesco” (“grotesque spectacle”), Portuguese journalist Joaquim Vieira created a major controversy with his denigration of the Paralympic Games.

Through his choice of words, and his throwback to disability as a “freak show”, he highlights the difficulty of moving the discourse and practice from a medical model to a social approach.

The former sees people with disabilities as abnormal, deviant or inferior, with disability a “personal tragedy”. A social approach focuses on the abilities rather than deficits, challenging the disabling environments, attitudes and behaviours of individuals, organisations and societies.

Without this transformation, the vision espoused in the IPC Accessibility Guide to improve host city accessibility and attitudes towards people with disability will remain a distant aspiration rather than a reality.

The Paralympic Games will never be a panacea for the social issues facing a host city and nation. But can they be a beginning to enabling social, cultural and environmental change?

Focus on accessibility

Rio is a city already facing accessibility challenges. This is after Rio hosted the 2007 Parapan Games and was also involved with the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where accessibility was on the agenda.

The accessibility agenda seeks to be inclusive of the ten different impairment types that compete within the athlete classification system. Yet, accessibility at the Paralympics moves beyond athletes to spectators, officials, employees and volunteers who should be able to move freely, independently and with dignity around the city.

According to the Rio 2016 Accessibility Technical Guidelines, nearly 24% of Brazilians have some kind of disability. So an improvement in accessibility levels not just in Rio, but throughout Brazil, will be one of the biggest and most enduring legacies of the Olympics.

But there are challenges making large cities that have existed for centuries more accessible. Following the 2012 Games, David Bamford noted that London had made improvements to accessibility, particularly with public transport, but there was still more to be done.

For a host city to be accessible for the event and beyond requires a range of facilitating factors, including policies, codes, legislation, funding, strong disability advocacy coalitions and education.

What Rio didn’t need was a downturn in its economy that saw it descend into a recession in the lead-up to the Games, and political turmoil that resulted in the impeachment of its President between the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

           
           

              The residences for athletes have good accessibility, but what about the rest of the city?
              OIC
           

         

Rio 2016 Paralympic accessibility

Sally Swanson, an architect and registered journalist at the Games, sponsored by Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, told us via personal correspondence that accessibility was not factored into planning for the Games and was only implemented after the construction was completed. The exceptions she noted were the athlete’s village and the integration of the transportation system.

Together with others on the ground in Rio, we note a few examples that highlight the gaps in planning, design, construction, funding, operations and management of accessibility.

There have been many efforts to enhance accessibility, but existing infrastructure makes universal accessibility difficult. In the Fort Copacabana area, where the triathlon and marathon are held, there are kilometres of black and white “Portuguese pavements”.

These tell some of the history of the land, but in reality, they have not been well maintained. The surface is often undulating, tiles are missing and they are very slippery when wet or sandy.

There are also limited public toilet facilities in Fort Copacabana, none of which are accessible. However, many retail stores and cafes in the area have made an effort to have ramps available to improve access.

           
           

              Barriers were placed across access tactile tiles.
              Author provided
           
         

There is a new subway line L4 that was 30 years in the planning. It was opened in time for the Games and is for exclusive use of accredited personnel and ticket holders during the event. With 15 new trains, the poster behind the barrier (see image right) boasts “agility is first”, but agility for whom?

There is good lift access and tactile tiles, but when these became active, it is clear that the message has not been conveyed to operational managers as to what tactile tiles are for. Barriers to manage pedestrian flow were placed across the tiles.

Services were also cut back before the Paralympic Games as a cost saving measure.

In Barra Olympic Park, in front of the entry to Main Press Centre, there was a trip hazard that was unmarked. No one seemed concerned, nor was anyone doing anything about it.

As noted by Sally Swanson in personal communication, the curb cuts in the Park were also installed after construction and were not marked for vision-impaired.

At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Opening Ceremony, the final torch bearer who used a wheelchair had to push himself up a ramp that appeared to well beyond the 5-6.25% of incline as recommended Rio 2016 Accessibility Technical Guidelines. Of further concern was whether it was of a suitable surface given the heavy rain that came over the stadium as he ascended the final ramps.

Media coverage

In the week prior to the Paralympic Games, Brazilian mainstream media was mostly highlighting stories about personal triumph, of how Paralympic athletes have suffered and overcame personal barriers to be where they are.

Even with the large number of people with disability in the country, there were no discussions about diversity and social topics surrounding disability. These conversations continue to be omitted in mass media, which appeals only to individual efforts of the “warriors” as the way to overcome hurdles they face due to their disability.

There were a few exceptions, such as the history of Natalia Mayara, a Brazilian tennis player who wants to be acknowledged not by her life dramas but as an elite athlete. These may be indicative that there is room for positive changes in the social imagination.

Despite the media focus on the sentimentality of athletes, the main open TV broadcaster (Rede Globo) has a very weak coverage of the Games. It only broadcasts live on its pay TV channels, which have had a major increase in their audience levels since the start of the Paralympic Games. The broadcast of the Paralympic opening ceremony has broken all audience records on these pay TV channels.

Public TV (TV Brasil) is covering most of the games live, but few people access it,  and the new government after Dilma Roussef’s impeachment is planning to reduce or even to close this very important public vehicle.

Accessibility for tourists

In the lead up to the Games, the IPC ran workshops for tourist organisations and tourism businesses on the opportunities for accessible tourism.

The international media spotlight also brings with it initiatives such as the Accessible Rio City Guide by Lonely Planet. The guide was developed in conjunction with IPC support and is provided free on the Lonely Planet website.

           
           

              Old cities often have significant accessibility issues, and Rio is no exception.
              OIC
           
         

While developed with the dual idea of servicing both athletes and visitors with disabilities, the guide also provides a certain amount of corporate social responsibility cachet for both organisations.

Historically these types of CSR programs are part of a plethora of strategic alliances that the IPC has worked with in the lead up to the games and announced strategic alliance extensions of during the games.

How will we know if there is an accessibility legacy? Within Rio and Brazil this may involve the improved visibility of people with disability in life but without baseline research on current levels of social participation how will we know improvements have been made? Another KPI might be to look at the growth in competitors and countries at successive Paralympics, if there are more athletes and/or more countries then this might be a signifier of the increasing accessibility of the International Paralympic movement.

Access game changers

One missed opportunity is the training of the 70,000 passionate volunteers as “game-changers” for access. Typically, disability is just a small fraction of the overall volunteer training (which may be less than three days per volunteer). We are not even sure that accessibility is addressed in the training at all.

If volunteers were given more training in accessibility and disability, which could be done very simply and cheaply via online training such as with Vancouver 2010 and Rio 2016, they could also become the “game changers” for access in their communities after the Games.

The volunteers would be able to support accessibility during the games, and then have the knowledge, skills and vision to support accessibility in their communities when they return home, enabling a true accessibility legacy for the host country.

It’s important we remember that accessibility does not happen by accident, it happens by design.



Tracey J Dickson, Associate Professor, Centre for Tourism Research, Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra; Jorge Knijnik, Senior Lecturer, School of Education; Researcher, the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, and Simon Darcy, Professor & Co-Director  Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre - UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games - a foundation for destination development

Previous posts on the blog have examined the possible contribution of Olympic and Paralympic games to accessible tourism development. In particular, the recent Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games identified tourism and accessible tourism as one of five identified disability legacies (2010 Legacies Now, 2010a, 2010b). There is a growing body of literature on the specifics of Paralympic legacy, which is being brought together in an edited collection by Legg and Gilbert in The Paralympic Games: Legacy and Regeneration (2011).

A media release from the International Paralympic Committee identifies the tremendous spotlight that an international mega event can bring to host cities and countries (International Paralympic Committee, 2011). Disability and access are part of the operational partnership between the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee that host cities are required to address. There is a very strong Australian connection between the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the International Paralympic Committee in what was described as the Benchmark Games (Cashman & Darcy, 2008). Photo 1 shows one of the lasting legacies of the Sydney Games, the inclusions for mobility and vision sports spectator facilities at the Sydney Olympic Stadium (now ANZ Stadium), Sydney Olympic Park.

Photo 1: Accessible seats & tactile ground surface indicators at  ANZ Stadium (© Fiona Darcy 2000)

As the media release identifies the delegation included the Vice President Greg Hartung, who at the time of the Sydney Games was the President of the Australian Paralympic Committee, and the CEO of the IPC Xavier Gonzales, who at the time of the Sydney Games was the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee’s General Manager Sport and Games Operations. The international spotlight the IPC focuses on the host city offers an opportunity to leverage the games into an opportunity for an accessible destination of the future. We already know from previous entries that some excellent work is being done in Brazil on the accessibility of airports through the Masters by research project of Rafael Teixeira de Castro.

There are a number of groups who are working towards this goal through the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic specialist groups involving people with disability and tourism. A very active group of professionals can be found on LinkedIn through subgroup forums. The importance of the strategic planning for the Rio 2016 Games, the integration of disability and access, and the future leverage for accessible tourism is needed now to make sure that it moves beyond potential to a reality after 2016. I wish Rio the best in these endeavours.

International Paralympic committee media release 16 June 2011

IPC Complete Week of Meetings in Rio, Brazil

An International Paralympic Committee (IPC) delegation including Vice President Greg Hartung, Chief Executive Officer Xavier Gonzalez and Paralympic Games Senior Manager Thanos Kostopoulos has concluded a week of activity in the Brazilian capital of Rio de Janeiro to see how preparations are going for the 2016 Paralympic Games.

Hartung is a member of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Co-ordination Commission for the Rio 2016 Games which met for second time in Rio to observe the progress made so far.

This included meetings with government officials, venue tours and updates from the Organizing Committee's in different areas. The Co-ordination Commission was also updated on preparations for the Paralympic Games.

Following the conclusion of the IOC's Co-ordination Commission, the IPC held an Executive Project Review with Rio 2016 on Friday 10 June.

The Organizing Committee presented to the IPC their plans on different areas including Rio 2016 organizational structure and its focus on the planning of the Paralympic Games. Sport and venues updates were also given after the inclusion of two new sports (Para-Triathlon and Para-Canoe) in the Paralympic Sport programme as well as the progress on the development of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games emblem which will be launched later this year.

Another important part of the visit was the progress reports from all levels of Government which made clear of the intention to leave a long and lasting legacy for people with an impairment in Rio after the Games.

Xavier Gonzalez said: "A lot of progress has been made since the last time we met which is extremely encouraging and I'd like to thank Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman and his team for their continued hard work. 

"One area which we are particularly excited about is the launch of the Paralympic Games emblem.

"The emblem will gain national and international exposure and will be the symbol of the event. It needs to have the right look and feel for the Games and feature the Agitos, the symbol of the Paralympic Movement. We are confident the final design will achieve this."

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will take place 7-18 September 2016 and will consist of 22 sporting events. For further information, please visit www.rio2016.com

References

2010 Legacies Now. (2010a). Accessible Tourism Strategy: accessibility rating icon guidelines business   Retrieved from http://www.2010legaciesnow.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Accessible_Tourism/Brand_Standard-Business.pdf

2010 Legacies Now. (2010b). Disability programs  Retrieved 9 February, 2010, from http://www.2010legaciesnow.com/disability/

Cashman, R., & Darcy, S. (Eds.). (2008). Benchmark Games: The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. Petersham, NSW Australia: Walla Walla Press in conjunction with the Australian Centre for Olympic Studies.

International Paralympic Committee. (2011). Media release - IPC COMPLETE WEEK OF MEETINGS IN RIO, BRAZIL - 16 June 2011. Bonn: International Paralympic Committee.

Legg, D., & Gilbert, K. (Eds.). (2011). The Paralympic Legacies. Champaign, IL USA: Commonground Publishing.