Cockburn City Council has adopted its 2023-2028 Disability Access and Inclusion Plan (DAIP), the fourth of its kind since the first was implemented in 2007.
The new DAIP will guide and improve City services to ensure it continues to create an accessible and inclusive community for all residents.
The plan encompasses six outcomes that focus on providing accessible services, information, buildings, customer service, complaint channels and public consultation, and the expansion of the City’s current employment and training pathways for people with disability.
Among a wide range of initiatives designed to achieve these outcomes, some will include ensuring new buildings exceed minimum disability requirements, that information about the City’s accessibility features and services are listed on its accessible website, and that employees continue to participate in disability awareness training.
Disability Access and Inclusion Officer Ben Rowe said the plan was the result of community consultation, with 281 hard copy and online submissions received during a review of the 2017-2022 DAIP.
“We consulted with various age groups and Cockburn’s Disability Reference Group through a survey on the City’s Comment on Cockburn website and at various formal and informal meetings and events,” Mr Rowe said.
“The draft plan was received positively, with more than 62 per cent of feedback respondents satisfied with the plan, and the remainder neutral,” Mr Rowe said.
“Nearly 70 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed the City is welcoming and inclusive of people with disability.
“A popular element of the plan was the inclusion of employment opportunities for people with disability.
“The plan will guide the City as it explores opportunities for traineeships, specialist roles, volunteering and work experience pathways for people with disability.”
Mayor Logan Howlett said the City had made notable progress over many years to improve universal access for all.
“The updated DAIP will help the City improve what we do to enable people with disability achieve increased independence, opportunity and inclusion in Cockburn,” Mayor Howlett said.
“It will continue to help us lead by example to encourage the community to embrace diversity and difference as part of the ‘norm’, every day.”
To read the new DAIP visit the City’s website. If you require an alternative format to a Word or PDF document, call the City on 08 9411 3444.