Step by step guide for employers
With one in five Australians having a disability, creating accessible premises and ensuring accessible services makes good business sense. Not only does it mean that your staff can work in an environment free of barriers, but that the needs of your customers are also being met.
What is accessibility?
Accessibility refers to the ability for someone to make use of your services and enter your premises. Often the design of a building, the lighting, signage or parking presents a barrier for a person with disability. Accessibility is all about removing barriers so that everyone has equal access.
Accessibility and the law
Australia is a society that encourages equality. It is unlawful in Australia to directly or indirectly discriminate against a person with disability with regard to access and use of premises.
As an employer, you should be aware of your rights and responsibilities in this area:
Assessing your current accessibility
You can use our online checklists to get a sense about any issues that might affect the level of access that staff and clients with disability have to your services, premises, goods and facilities:
An access auditor can also be engaged to assess the accessibility of your premises and facilities.
Access auditors review your premises and facilities and identify the work that is required to provide appropriate access. Many auditors will also provide indicative costings, review plans for new developments, provide an assessment of properties you are currently moving to, provide advice about compliance with the law and help you plan changes using a Disability Action Plan.
The Association of Consultants in Access Australia, the national peak body for access consultants, provides a list of access auditors on their web sit (see our Related Links).
Making changes
There might be some things that you can action immediately at very little cost to your organisation. Rearranging furniture in your building to allow enough room for people in wheelchairs to move through freely is one example.
Our Workplace Adjustment Tool has range of ideas for improving access to your premises and you can discuss these ideas with experts, the JobAccess Advisers, free of charge:
If a modification to your premises is required because a staff member with disability has particular needs and the modification will ensure they can do their job, the JobAccess Advisers can even pay for the cost of the modification through the Employment Assistance Fund.
For modifications that are longer term or more complex, it’s a good idea to plan and document your approach.
A Disability Action Plan is a way for an organisation to plan the removal, as far as possible, of discrimination against people with disability. An action plan identifies ways that you can ensure that your premises, goods, services and facilities are accessible and non-discriminatory to people with disability.
Ongoing improvements
Accessibility is not a set-and-forget thing. You should review your premises at regular intervals to ensure that your organisation and services remain barrier free.
Need help?
Call the JobAccess Advisers on 1800 464 800.