Encouraging ongoing policy development and consultation that fosters universal access and inclusion; Continuing to engage in processes that foster continuous service improvement and staff awareness; Encouraging community feedback; e.g. complaints, consultation comments and general feedback; Conducting a survey regarding staff attitudes to disability, analyse results and develop strategies for improvement. Evaluation Evaluation will be gathered on a 12 monthly basis, and will inform Council in the annual Disability Action Plan report. Review A full review of this Plan will be carried out in 2017, encapsulating recommendations from the 12 month Disability Action Plan evaluations. The conclusions from the evaluations will guide the Action Areas in the new Disability Action Plan. 10. References Australian Federal Government, (1992). Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Retrieved from: Commonwealth of Australia, (2009). Shut Out: the experience of people with disabilities and their families in Australia. National Disability consultation report prepared by the National People with Disabilities and Carer Council. Retrieved from Department of Human Services, (2012). Disability Amendment Act 2012. Retrieved from:
8.1.7 Councillors, Council staff and volunteers understand and actively support the principles and practice of disability access and inclusion. Disability access and inclusion awareness training is made mandatory for all new staff and volunteers and available to existing staff and Councillors by 31 May annually. People with disability report experiencing greater ease of access and inclusion in a bi-annual community access and inclusion satisfaction survey. Rural Access Organisation Development Volunteers Coordinator A survey of Council staff who make facility bookings will be carried out to establish what specific accessibility requirements are being requested. Frequency of use and requirements of particular facilities guides upgrades and upkeep. Council meetings and staff booking Council facilities will make reasonable adjustments to support access and inclusion requirements on request. Feedback from governance indicates reasonable adjustments have been made to support access and inclusion. A Council facilities booking check list will be developed and distributed. Governance Events Services An events guide to promote access and inclusion will be made available by Rural Access and actively promoted to Council conveners and staff by 31 May 2014. 100% of events will utilise the events guide to ensure access and inclusion is factored into planning. Events Services
8.1.14 Council advocates and promotes accessible public transport options on behalf of people with disability in the municipality. Access audits of all Geelong Railway Stations carried out as a baseline measure for advocacy to PTV and V/Line improve railway station access and inclusion. Results from customer satisfaction surveys indicate improved access and inclusion at Geelong Railway Stations. Aged and Disability Services Engineering Street Access Committee Council works with public transport operators to plan and to improve accessible public transport for Geelong on ongoing basis. Results from forums, meetings and customer satisfaction surveys indicate improved access and inclusion at Geelong Railway Stations, buses and taxis. 8.1.15 New Council vehicles purchased and available for community hire by Council are accessible in order to improve inclusion. Council to set priority list and budgets for accessible Council vehicles and the community bus fleet on an annual basis, reported to Rural Access by 31 May annually for the Disability Action Plan report to Council. Increase percentage of accessible Council vehicles demonstrated in the Disability Action Plan report to Council. Community Development Parks and Support Services 8.2 Better access to employment
8.3.1 Community inclusion and participation of people with disability is promoted and supported. To develop and implement an inclusive community event for International Day of People with Disability in December annually. Survey of event participants indicates an inclusive and participatory event. Outcome of events review and participant survey are reported to Council on an annual basis. Rural Access To engage internal CoGG units with a focus on marketing in local community planning and coordination that promotes access and inclusion for people with disabilities on an ongoing basis. People with disability report experiencing greater ease of access and inclusion in a bi-annual community access and inclusion satisfaction survey. All Units, with support of Rural Access To improve access to health care information and services for people with a disability, in line with the CoGG Health and Wellbeing Plan, reported annually to Rural Access by 31 May. People with disability report experiencing greater ease of access and inclusion in a bi-annual community access and inclusion satisfaction survey. Aged and Disability Services 8.3.2 The ‘Communication Access Symbol’ is displayed at Customer Service Centres and in the broader community. To improve communication access and inclusion for people with disabilities, Customer Service Centres and Leisure Services will display the Communication Access Symbol by December 2017. People with disability report experiencing greater ease of access and inclusion in a bi-annual community access and inclusion satisfaction survey. Customer Service and Rural Access
basis. annual Disability Action Plan report. 8.3.5 A broad range of community members with disability are available to be consulted by Council on disability related issues. Focus groups may be held where people with more complex communication support needs may be consulted as required. A register of people is maintained who are available for consultation. Number of focus groups or consultations held is documented. Governance Community Development Aged and Disability Services Corporate Strategy Conduct regular surveys to determine the level of satisfaction with inclusion of people with disability at Council consultations, meetings and events will be conducted bi-annually. Responses to actions and recommendations reported in the annual Disability Action Plan report to Council. Governance Community Development Aged and Disability Services Corporate Strategy
employment An annual staff survey about attitudes to disability is carried out in 2013 and 2017. all staff. The 2017 survey indicates improvement. Staff feel more comfortable disclosing disability. Information Services Corporate Strategy (Research) 8.4.3 Council acts to positively impact on community attitudes towards people with disability. A review of positive Council actions is carried out each year and the report is produced by 30th June which includes: ‘Good News’ Newspaper articles. Annual celebration of ‘International Day of People with Disability’ in central Geelong. Promotion of accessible and inclusive facilities and events on the GeelongAustralia website. The review concludes that people with disability are represented in a positive light in newspaper articles, reports and events held for the general public. Aged and Disability Services Rural Access Corporate Services 8.4.4 Evidence based strategies have been identified to strengthen positive community attitudes to A report to be produced on strategies arising from meetings with community groups and disability agencies that addresses gaps in understanding and Strategies have been adopted by Council and prioritised for action. Community Development Aged and