Council Minutes - 27 October 2009 - City of Greater Geelong

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Greater Geelong City Council 27 October 2009 Minutes of Ordinary Meeting SECTION B - REPORTS Page 6 1. DISABILITY ACTION PLAN 2009-2013 (CONT’D) Report Background Council has had an effective Disability Action Plan (DAP) since 2002. The DAPs have gone through various iterations and have responded to the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Local Government Act 1989, the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 and the Disability Act 2006, the latter, which came into effect 1st July 2008. The latest DAP as attached, is for the period 2009-2013. It has been developed by the Rural Access Unit of the Aged and Disability Services Department in consultation with all relevant departments within Council and in consultation with Council’s Disability Advisory Committee (DAC). The adoption of the Plan extends the commitments of Council made in the first Disability Action Plan and promotes the policy statement that: “The City of Greater Geelong is committed to the goal of a community that is fully accessible and inclusive of people of all abilities. The principles underpinning this policy are: • A person with a disability is an individual who cannot be simply defined by their disability. • People with disabilities have the same rights of equal and equitable access to services and facilities as every other community member. • Changes to the physical and social environment are necessary to remove barriers to access and inclusion.” Discussion The Disability Action Plan responds to the four areas of inclusion in a practical and measurable way. The actions listed are included in departmental business plans and headline activities are reported upon in Corvu. In the area of making Council’s activities and services more accessible, the actions include; reviewing the list of completed access audits of Council’s community and corporate facilities in relation to eliminating any physical barriers to access; providing Council meeting minutes and agendas in accessible online formats on the Geelong Australia Website and undertaking further works to ensure the Geelong Australia Website is W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) ‘Best Practice’ compliant. It is proposed to provide support for persons with a disability to participate in Council meetings and consultations by provision of attendant care or Auslan interpretation; and continue to resource the Disability Advisory (DAC) and Street Access Advisory (SAC) Committees.
Greater Geelong City Council 27 October 2009 Minutes of Ordinary Meeting SECTION B - REPORTS Page 7 1. DISABILITY ACTION PLAN 2009-2013 (CONT’D) The next area of activity is around improving access to employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Without access to employment, full participation and choice in the social and economic life of the community is denied. The actions include Council introducing the ‘Disability Action Plan 2009 – 2013’ into staff induction packages and enabling managers when recruiting, training and equipping employees who have a permanent or temporary disability. This may include ‘’reasonable adjustment’’ being made in the workplace. Further, regular training in disability awareness will be offered to staff through a variety of media. The third area of the plan revolves around creating a community culture of inclusion. Actions include; participation in the annual ‘International Day of Disability’ celebrations; hosting appropriate community and civic functions; promoting local and regional forums that increase disability inclusion and awareness and providing Council documents in a range of accessible communication and language formats, e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape and ‘Easy English’ upon request. Further, Council Meetings will continue to be made accessible with availability of attendant care, hearing loop and accessible venues. The fourth action area involves creating a change in the culture of the community and removing discrimination. This will involve; making minor changes to Council’s customer service, marketing and promotion including monitoring of any access and equity complaints; enabling customer feedback modes such as email, telephone, hearing loop, Braille and easy to read documents. Companion Card procedures will be refreshed and managers and supervisors will be consulted regarding access and inclusion training needs. The Disability actions are all listed with measurable outcomes. The results will be reported to Council and the DAC annually. Environmental Implications There will be physical impacts on the environment where it is necessary to modify or provide facilities that improve access for people with disabilities. These physical changes will in turn improve access for all community members. Impacts on the environment, including energy use and green house gas emissions will be lessened when accessible services and facilities are planned from the outset. Financial Implications Strategies outlined in the Action Areas of the 2009-2013 Disability Action Plan are generally within current business unit budgets. As part of the commitment to equity of access to services and facilities, Council will be required to continue to ensure adequate funding for the implementation of the 2009- 2013 Disability Action Plan and future plans. Ongoing savings will be achieved by ensuring that access requirements are considered and addressed during the initial planning and construction phases of all projects, thereby eliminating the costly remedial activity.
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Council Minutes - 27 October 2009 - City of Greater Geelong

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