LIFE-CHANGING FOR SOME, BENEFITS EVERYONE · disability about what they can do in Parramatta. • make it easier for people with disability to get a job if they want one. We used

Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2017-2021 1

LIFE-CHANGING FOR SOME, BENEFITS EVERYONEDisability Inclusion Action Plan

Easy English

2017-2021

Page 1

Disability Inclusion Action Plan

2017 - 2021

Easy English

About this book

This book is about the City of Parramatta

Disability Inclusion Action Plan.

You can ask someone to help you read this book.

Some words in this book are in blue. You can

find the meaning of these words at the end of the

book. Go to page 25.

Page 2

What is in this book?

What is the Disability Inclusion Action Plan? 3

Why do we need a plan? 5

How did we make the plan? 6

What is in the plan? 7

How we will help others to include people with disability 9

How we will make it easier for people to use places, open spaces and services 11

How we will make it easier for people to get a job 19

How we will make it easier for people to get information and tell us what they think 20

How we will make sure the plan gets done 23

How can I find out more? 24

What do these words mean? 25

Page 3

What is the Disability Inclusion Action

Plan?

The City of Parramatta Council wants everybody

to be included in our community. This means we

want everybody who

• lives

• works

and

• visits

Parramatta to be able to

• take part in activities

and

• use our places and open spaces.

Page 4

Sometimes it can be hard for people with

disability to be included in the community.

This can be because it is

• harder to move around and get in and out of

places. For example if there are no ramps for

wheelchairs.

• harder to communicate

or

• others do not understand their needs.

We have made a plan about how we can make it

easier for people with disability to be included in

Parramatta. This is called our Disability

Inclusion Action Plan.

Page 5

Why do we need a plan?

Everyone has the right to be included in our

community. This is the law.

People with disability should have the same

chance as everyone else to

• take part in activities

• use our places and open spaces

and

• get a job if they want one.

It is part of the Council’s job to make sure people

with disability can do these things if they want to.

Page 6

How did we make the plan?

To make our plan we asked people in the

community to tell us what they think. We asked

them

• what is important

and

• what changes we can make so people with

disability can be more included.

We asked

• people with disability

• their families and carers

• disability service providers

and

• other organisations.

Page 7

What is in the plan?

People in the community told us that we need to

• help others in the community to understand

the needs of people with disability.

• provide more parking for people with disability.

• provide more toilets for people with disability.

• make it easier for people with disability to use

public transport.

• make it easier for people with disability to use

pathways around the city.

• make it easier for people with disability to be

part of sports and special events.

Page 8

People in the community also told us we need to

• provide more information to people with

disability about what they can do in

Parramatta.

• make it easier for people with disability to get a

job if they want one.

We used this information to make our Disability

Inclusion Action Plan.

You can find out how we are going to do these

things in the next part of this book.

Page 9

How we will help others to include

people with disability

We will make sure our staff know how to include

people with disability. Staff are people who work

at Parramatta Council.

For example we will

• give our staff training about

o inclusion

o how to communicate with people with

disability and treat them well

and

o the National Relay Service.

• make sure staff at Parramatta Council know

o about our Disability Inclusion Action

Plan

and

o what it says we will do.

Page 10

• give others in the community information about

o disability

and

o why including people with disability is

important.

Page 11

How we will make it easier for

people to use places, open spaces

and services

We will make sure all our new buildings and open

spaces are

• accessible

and

• follow the laws about accessibility.

We will also do this with buildings and open

spaces that we are making improvements to.

For example we will

• ask experts to check how accessible our

buildings and open spaces are. This is called

an audit.

and

• give training to staff who plan our buildings.

Page 12

We will work to make accessible pathways in

every street in Parramatta.

We will work to make sure new affordable

housing in Parramatta is accessible.

We will make it easier for people with disability to

use open spaces in Parramatta.

For example we will

• make sure pathways in front of buildings are

wide enough for wheelchairs.

• make our playgrounds more accessible. This

includes accessible play equipment and

pathways.

and

• put in more accessible parking and toilets at

our sports grounds.

Page 13

We will make toilets in Parramatta more

accessible.

For example we will

• look at the accessible toilets we already have

• make a plan for where new accessible toilets

should go

and

• look into putting adult change tables in some

toilets.

We will help the people who plan our buildings to

make them more accessible. We will do this by

giving them training and information.

Page 14

We will think about accessibility around big

building works in Parramatta.

For example we will

• make sure people with disability can still use

the area around the building works

and

• send people to check these areas to make

sure they are accessible.

We will make it easier for people with disability to

park their car in Parramatta.

For example we will work to make sure

• all car parks accessible

and

• there are enough accessible pick up and drop

off areas in Parramatta.

Page 15

We will make sure our events are accessible and

include everybody.

For example we will

• ask someone to check our events to make

sure they are accessible.

• make a list of things that can make events

more accessible. We will check the list each

time we have an event.

and

• ask people with disability what they think about

our events and how we can make them more

accessible.

Page 16

We will make it easier for people with disability to

do activities and sports in Parramatta.

For example we will

• provide more information about what activities

are available for people with disability

• make sure any new sports and activity centres

are accessible.

and

• work with organisations that run activities to

help them be more inclusive of people with

disability.

Page 17

We will make events and programs at the

Riverside Theatre more accessible. Riverside

Theatre is a place in Parramatta where people

can see theatre shows.

For example we will

• provide information about the events in

different ways to meet the needs of people

with disability.

• use Auslan and audio description at Riverside

Theatre events. These are for people with a

hearing impairment.

• offer more acting workshops that people with

disability can be part of.

Page 18

We will make it easier for people with disability to

use

• Council libraries

and

• other services and activities.

For example we will keep helping people who are

over 65 years old to do activities

• with others

and

• in the community.

Page 19

How we will make it easier for

people get a job

We will make sure there are more people with

disability working at Parramatta Council.

For example we will

• look at changes we can make to meet the

needs of people with disability. These might

be things like different

o ways for people to apply for jobs

and

o working hours.

• provide more jobs for people who need extra

support to work. This is called supported

employment.

Page 20

How we will make it easier for

people to get information and tell

us what they think

We will include people with disability when we

ask the community what they think.

For example we will ask more people with

disability to

• join the Our City Your Say online panel.

This is a site on the internet where you can

say what you think about things that are

happening in Parramatta.

and

• come to community meetings and workshops.

Page 21

We will make sure that our staff think about

accessibility and inclusion whenever they are

planning or doing work. We will make it part of

the way we do things.

We will help people with disability to become

members of the Council if they want to.

We will make sure people with disability are

included in Council

• meetings

and

• the way we decide things.

For example we will

• put a video of Council meetings on the internet

and

• make sure Council meetings happen in an

accessible place.

Page 22

We will make our information more accessible.

For example we will

• provide information in different ways for people

with different needs

and

• make our website accessible for people with

disability.

We will provide more information about what

services are available to people with disability in

Parramatta.

For example we will

• put our Visitor Access Map on our website.

This is a map that shows some of the things

that are accessible in the centre of

Parramatta.

and

• tell people about changes we have made to

make Parramatta more accessible.

Page 23

How we will make sure the plan

gets done

There will be a special group in the Council who

will look after the Disability Inclusion Action Plan.

They will be called the Internal Advisory Panel.

Their job will be to check on how the plan is

going. There will also be a person whose job is

to make sure each job in the plan gets done.

We will look at the plan each year and ask the

community how it is going. This is called a

review.

We will make a new plan in 2021.

Page 24

How can I find out more?

You can contact us at

Our office City of Parramatta Council

126 Church Street

Parramatta NSW 2150

Phone 9806 5050

If you have a hearing impairment or speech

impairment you can use the National Relay

Service.

Phone 133 677

Page 25

What do these words mean?

communicate To get information

and

tell others what you think.

Disability Service Provider

An organisation that supports people with

disability.

organisation A group of people who work together for a

purpose. For example

• a business

• government department

• company

or

• service.

inclusion When everyone can join in. Nobody is left out.

Page 26

National Relay Service

A service for people who have a

• hearing impairment

or

• speech impairment

to help them talk to others over the telephone

or internet.

accessible accessibility

Easy to get into and out of. Easy to use.

For example

an accessible building is one that is easy for

people with disability to get into. It would

have ramps and lifts for people who use

wheelchairs.

How easy something is to

• get into and out of

or

• use.

improvements

Things you do to make something better.

Page 27

affordable housing Places to live for people who have a lower

income than others in the community. If you

have a lower income it means you get less

money than others in the community.

hearing impairment When a person finds it hard to hear or cannot

hear at all.

speech impairment When a person finds it hard to speak or

cannot speak at all.

Page 28

The Easy English in this book was written by the

City of Parramatta Council and Clear Words

www.clearwords.com.au

Images in this book are from

• Clear Words

• Photosymbols. www.photosymbols.com

• IStock. www.istock.com

• Google free images

• Open Clip Art. www.openclipart.org

You can print this book. If you want to copy or

use images from this book you must ask us first.