What do disability aware workplaces do?

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Disability aware leaders:

• Have clear rules about including people with disabilities. They tell staff about the rules and check them often.
• Have clear rules about treating people with disabilities fairly. They tell staff about the rules and check them often.
• Have people with disabilities as leaders at work.
• Include people with disabilities in committees.
• Train all staff to help them understand disabilities.
• Follow laws and rules about disabilities.
• Teach workers what they should and shouldn't do when it comes to disabilities.

programs and services that are disability aware:

• Value working with people who have disabilities.
• Ask people with disabilities to help create programs and services.
• Think about the needs of people with disabilities when planning services. For example, they make sure things are easy to access.
• Give people with disabilities options to help design things. For example, they could get information, join talks, be part of expert panels, or become leaders.
• Share information in ways that are easy to understand. This could include using Easy Read, Plain English, AUSLAN interpreters, and captions.
• Make sure people with disabilities can get around easily. Examples include having wheelchair access, ramps, and quiet areas.
• Offer different ways to communicate. For example, people can choose to write or talk, and make contact online or in person.
• Use respectful pictures of people with disabilities to show diversity. Diversity means you include all different people, like people of different abilities, families and cultures.

Disability aware workplaces:

• Teach all workers about different disabilities. This includes disabilities you can see and ones you can't.
• Make sure people with disabilities can get around easily. For example, they have ramps and bathrooms they can access.
• Provide technology and tools that people with disabilities can use. For example, they offer screen readers and desks you can adjust.
• Use language that shows respect for people with disabilities. It means you avoid saying things that are rude. Don’t assume you know what someone can or can’t do. If you need to talk about someone’s disability, ask them what words they would like you to use.
• Have clear ways for employees to ask for and get help if they need it.  For example, they might need help with tasks at work, meetings, or training.
• Have rules and practices that support employees with disabilities. For example, you could offer flexible hours or let two people share the same job.
• Make sure everyone feels like they belong and can talk about their disabilities if they want. Celebrate the good things that people with disabilities offer the team.

How to lobby your workplace

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Step 1: Research.

Learn about:

• The challenges people with disabilities face.
• The importance of accessibility. Accessibility means everyone can easily go to a place, use a service or get information. If something is accessible, people with disabilities can use it just like anyone else.
• Laws about disability in your state or territory.
• The UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities.

Step 2: Make a team.

Make a team of workers who care about making things fair for people with disabilities.

Your team should have:

• People from different parts of the workplace. For example, include counsellors, admin workers and people in the communications team.
• People from different levels. For example, include workers, managers and senior managers.
• A mix of genders, disabilities, and cultural backgrounds

Having a team makes your efforts stronger. It shows that many people at work want to be disability aware.

Step 3: Identify people with influence.

Learn who in your organisation can make decisions and talk about being disability aware. This might be:

• People from Human Resources (HR)
• Managers
• The communications team
• People who make policies
• People in charge of making sure everyone feels included.

Learn what's important to them so you can explain why they should support disability awareness at work.

Step 4: Make a Plan.

Write a plan explaining why it's important for the workplace to understand disabilities better. Give details.

Your plan could have:

• Facts and numbers about disabilities and access needs at work.
• Stories about other organisations that have made people with disabilities feel welcome.
• Ideas for ways to measure what workers know about disabilities.
• Information about the benefits of understanding disabilities. It could be about how it fits with workplace values and helps the community. You could explain that it makes workers feel better and work better.
• What the organisation is already good at and where it could do better,
• Specific things you want the organisation to do.

Step 5: Share Your Plan.

Share your plan with the right people. You could:

• Meet with important people to explain your plan, like a senior manager or the CEO.
• Send your plan in an email.
• Talk about your plan at a staff meeting.

In your plan, you should:

• Explain clearly what you want to do and how you'll do it. Describe the benefits of the plan.
• Talk about any worries people might have. Explain why your plan is important. Say what it will cost.
• Be ready to share more information if people need it.

Step 6: WORK WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INFLUENCE.

Work with the people you picked in step 3 to:

• Be disability aware in different parts the workplace.
• Change rules and ways of doing things to be disability aware.
• Teach workers about disabilities.
• Make sure everything is easy to get to and use for people with disabilities. Make sure this is true in person and online.

Step 7: Spread the Word and Make Everyone Feel Included.

• Arrange things like campaigns, workshops, events, and written information to teach workers about disabilities.
• Make sure everyone feels included in these things.
• Talk openly. Listen to what people have to say. Keep getting better at including everyone.
• Celebrate positive changes at work.

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Step 8: Watch how it goes. Make Changes if Needed.

• Check to see if the workplace follows the plan.
• See if the changes work well.
• Ask people with disabilities what they think. Ask other workers, too.
• Find out where the workplace needs to get better. Make changes based on what people say.
• Stay up to date with the best ways to include people with disabilities.
• Keep working to get better at understanding disabilities.

You can download a copy of the guide here.

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