An inclusive city for people with disabilities

Twenty per cent of the NSW population live with a disability, making it critical for Sydney to remain user-friendly. City of Sydney Council has rolled out a number of initiatives to achieve an accessible and inclusive city – and now they are proposing the Inclusive (Disability)
Advisory Panel.

Council has said they hope the new panel will “provide strategic, expert and impartial advice to the City on the development, implementation, monitoring and review of the City’s policies, strategies and plans to advance the inclusion of people with a disability.”

Already, there is wealth of information on the City of Sydney website: from public transport options to where to find accessible parking, telephones, toilets and ATMs in the city. The CBD Access Map even highlights steeper gradients in the city’s geography.

Sancha Donald, CEO of Accessible Arts, the peak arts and disability body in NSW said: “The City of Sydney needs to ensure that all cultural events funded by the Council provide … initiatives enabling people with disability to participate in the cultural life of our city like everybody else.”

Council’s commitment for an inclusive city was made evident when they provided an audio description of the 2011 New Year’s Eve fireworks. 300,000 Australians with a visual impairment became a part of the event. International Day of People with Disability was also celebrated this year, providing accessible tours of Sydney Town Hall.

Down syndrome employee, Ian Ho has worked at Ian Thorpe Acquatic Centre (ITAC), owned by Council, since September 2010. The 22-year-old helps with administration and cleaning at the YMCA-managed Centre. He secured the position through Jobsupport, a service that trains people with intellectual disabilities such that they can get jobs in the regular workforce.

Jobsupport Marketing Coordinator, Sam Cheadle said: “We trained Ian before he started his job at YMCA. He was able to get a job that he wasn’t normally able to. Our organisation picks kids like Ian up from school. We do assessments and match their capabilities up with employers. We try to ensure they do repetitive tasks that suit their capabilities. YMCA have been brilliant in accommodating people with a disability.”

ITAC offers cutting edge facilities for people with disabilities, providing water access via hoists, waterproof wheelchairs and ramp
entrances. The Centre also boasts a warm water hydrotherapy pool set at
32 degrees with a specific disability entrance, allowing for warm water classes in the pool.

Mr Ho said he had enjoyed his time spent working at ITAC. “I do some gym routines and [different] jobs,” he said. “I do filing and clean the kitchen and balcony as well.”

Catherine Dickson from Disability Services Australia said: “People with a disability want the same opportunities as everyone else for a
fulfilling and productive life … [The new Panel] would, by definition, imply a broader focus and consideration of the access barriers faced by people with a disability beyond the physical environment.”

Nominated panel members will be recommended to the City by officers, leading to Council selecting the representatives. There will be a maximum of nine members, of which 50 per cent will have some experience of living with a disability. The other half will have expertise in disability policy.

Greens Councillor, Irene Doutney raised concerns over the make-up of the panel. She said: “I think the proportion should be much more heavily weighted towards members who have disabilities and their
carers … bureaucrats or ‘expert professionals’ who, however
knowledgeable, will not represent the grassroots voices of people with disabilities.”

But for Councillor Di Tornai, a 50/50 split exceeds the composition of other, similar panels. “You don’t need to be gay to advocate for the rights of gay people,” she said. “[If all of the panel] had disabilities, it does not necessarily mean they are empowered to have
knowledge of disability policy and procedures.

“To select people just because they have a disability is tokenism.”

Ms Tornai added: “I have been championing this development for some time. The City is good at providing cutting-edge solutions and here
is an example of another. I feel extremely proud.”