1. Know about your legal obligations
Many organisations aim to create disability‑friendly workplaces that support belonging and wellbeing. Many organisations aim to create disability‑friendly workplaces that support belonging and wellbeing. But employers also have legal obligations concerning accessibility and non-discrimination. Here are the main laws and regulations to be aware of:
- Disability Discrimination Act 1992
- Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986
- Fair Work Act 2009
- Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards 1986.
In addition to these federal laws, there is also state and territory anti-discrimination legislation, which may apply to your organisation.
2. Make reasonable adjustments
Australian law outlines ‘reasonable adjustments’ to help remove barriers at work for people with disability. Employees can request adjustments to the physical workspace, work arrangements, job duties or processes. For general guidance, see Comcare: https://www.comcare.gov.au/. Specific obligations and any hardship exceptions depend on your circumstances; confirm what applies to you.
3. Conduct an accessibility audit of your organisation
Auditing your organisation’s accessibility can help you to identify which areas need improvement. Areas that you can assess in your audit include:
- policies
- procedures
- training
- disability diversity in the workplace.
It is important to consider a range of disabilities in your audit, not just the most visible ones. These could include:
- sensory impairments, such as visual and hearing impairments
- cognitive, learning and neurological disabilities
- motor disabilities
- speech and language disorders.
You can conduct the audit yourself or you could enlist the services of an access auditor. They could identify potential work that needs to be done to improve access, as well as provide costing estimates and give advice about compliance with the law.
4. Create an accessibility action plan
After conducting an audit of your organisation, the next step is to identify the actions required to make improvements. Here are some examples of actions that you could include in your action plan.
- Make all facilities wheelchair accessible.
- Create an inclusiveness checklist for all events in the organisation to ensure that they are inclusive.
- Develop a recruitment strategy to increase hiring of people with disabilities.
- Adapt information and promotional resources to meet the needs of people with vision and hearing impairments.
It is helpful to prioritise actions based on impact and feasibility. Setting realistic timelines and assigning ownership and accountability for each action can help to ensure your actions are implemented. It is also a good idea to regularly review and update your plan.
5. Make your premises physically accessible
Ensuring that everyone can access your premises – employees, customers and visitors alike – makes good business sense. Australian standards and laws address building access and disability discrimination. For details, see the Disability (Access to Premises—Buildings) Standards 2010 and guidance from the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Some things to consider include:
- lifts and ramp access
- accessible car parking spaces
- adequate lighting
- clear markings on steps
- accessible signage with visual, audio and tactile cues
- accessible toilets.
When you are thinking about how to enhance the physical accessibility of your organisation, you might find it helpful to review the Disability (Access to Premises — Buildings) Standards 2010 (for guidelines on the application of the standards, you can visit the Australian Human Rights Commission website). These standards offer guidance on providing public access to buildings for people with a disability. When constructing or renovating your premises, you may also want to consider the principles of universal design.
It is also helpful to think about your organisation’s overall accessibility. This includes, for example, how far your building is from public transport, whether there is a safe drop-off area for taxis with clear access to the building, and whether there is adequate lighting on external pathways.
6. Consider your organisation’s digital accessibility
Digital accessibility is about designing technology products and environments so that they can be used by people of all abilities without any barriers. Ensuring digital accessibility in your workplace involves considering all the touchpoints for employees from the job application process to the company website, internal communications and even social media posts. Consider doing the following:
- equipping all intranets, recruitment portals, employee portals and company websites with assistive technology, such as screen readers and Braille displays
- ensuring alternative input methods are supported. These may include keyboard-only navigation, speech dictation and switch control
- testing the accessibility of your digital products. You can do this by working with internal resource groups or external agencies to have digital platforms accessed to identify areas that need to be refined.
7. Implement universal design principles
The concept of universal design is about incorporating inclusiveness into design. The idea is that products and environments should be accessible to most people, regardless of their age, disability, background or any other characteristics. Universal design can apply to a wide range of domains, from buildings and open spaces to products, services, digital applications, websites and documents. Briefly, the 7 principles of universal design are:
- equitable use
- flexibility in use
- simple and intuitive use
- perceptible information
- tolerance for error
- low physical effort
- size and space for approach and use.
These principles provide a set of accessibility guidelines which can help to enhance the design of your physical spaces, products, services and digital resources.
8. Host inclusive and accessible events
Company events are opportunities for your teams to interact and connect. Ensuring that everyone can participate in these events equally can help people feel they belong and stay engaged. Here are some key factors to consider when organising an inclusive event.
- Choosing a venue that is accessible – for example, with wheelchair ramps and accessible toilets – and close to accessible transport. Every attendee should be able to move around the venue easily.
- Providing an accessibility map, which clearly shows accessible routes and facilities.
- Ensuring inclusive communication. For example, you could provide real-time captioning of panel discussions and seminars, hire sign language interpreters and provide signage that is readable for people with visual impairments.
- Making sensory adjustments to help neurodiverse attendees to feel included, for example, by creating quiet zones or low-sensory spaces and minimising the use of flashing lights or loud noises.
9. Provide employee awareness training
An important part of being an accessible, disability-friendly workplace is creating an inclusive workplace culture. Providing all employees with awareness training can help them to understand the importance of accessibility and learn how to promote it in their roles. Some topics to consider including in your training are:
- the impacts of unconscious bias
- the role of assistive technology
- broader societal issues for people with disabilities
- the importance of providing accessible solutions.
Final thoughts
Creating an accessible workplace is important, and these guidelines offer a starting point. This article provides general information only and is not legal or professional advice.
