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Making workplaces accessible
MAC objective 5: Accessible premises, workplaces and supportive work environments for people with disability
APS agencies should ensure that their premises can be readily accessed by people with disability and that people with disability working in agencies have access to the tools and information they need to do their jobs effectively.
What can we do?
1. Talk to the experts about access requirements
The Building Code of Australia77 administered by the Australian Building Codes Board78 contains technical provisions for the design and construction of buildings and other structures, covering a range of matters including access and egress.
Complying with the Building Code of Australia, or other local planning regulations, however, does not necessarily mean premises will comply with the requirements of the DDA. Section 23 of the DDA makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of disability in providing access to or use of premises that the public can enter or use.
In order to provide consistency between the building law and the requirements of the DDA, a draft Access to Premises Standard is being developed. HREOC is a member of the committee which has been established to develop the draft Standard.79 HREOC is able to provide more information about the ongoing process of development.
In the meantime, agencies have to make their own decisions about what, in their particular circumstances, amounts to access at a level sufficient to meet their responsibilities under the DDA.
HREOC has compiled Advisory Notes on Access to Premises80 setting out its views about the meaning and application of Section 23 of the DDA, to which agencies may refer for more information.
Additionally, the Department of Human Services, in conjunction with a range of disability bodies and HREOC, has developed an Access to Premises Checklist81 for providers of Job Capacity Assessments. The information in the checklist may also assist APS agencies to ensure that their premises provide appropriate access for people with disability.
Agencies may also have regard to Australian Standard 1428.1-200182 Design for access and mobility—General requirements for access—New building work, which specifies the design requirements applicable to new building work, excluding work to private residences, to provide access for people with disability.
This is a complex area, and agencies may wish to consider retaining access consultants to advise them on building access standards. Agencies wishing to do so may find it useful to contact ACA Australia,83 a membership-based professional association which is the peak national body for access consultancy.
2. Talk to people with disability about access requirements
As HREOC emphasises in its Advisory Notes on Access to Premises, consultation with people with a range of disabilities and access experts is an essential part of achieving the objects of the DDA.
Whether agencies are designing new premises or reviewing their existing premises deciding whether modifications are necessary to ensure an accessible work environment, a better outcome will be achieved if people with disability are consulted throughout the process.
During the design and construction of its new office accommodation, Centrelink consulted extensively, including with people with disability. As a result, many issues were identified for consideration beyond obvious things such as ramps and car parking spaces. These issues included access to taps, bench heights, carpeting and floor coverings, toilet facilities, signage, and movement between various segments of the building. The agency considers this process of consultation to have been crucial to the success of the construction.
3. Talk to new employees about reasonable adjustment
Agencies should make it their practice for managers to discuss the requirements of new employees with disability at the earliest opportunity, preferably before the employee commences work in the agency so that any necessary modifications or equipment are in place before the employee arrives.
Centrelink’s offer of engagement letter sets out the agency’s commitment to ensuring its workforce represents the community at large and that its employees are supported to achieve their maximum potential. It encourages prospective employees from diverse backgrounds, with dependent care responsibilities, and/or with disability, to record this information on the agency’s HRM system when they commence work, explaining why the information is requested. The letter asks people who identify as having a disability and require any adjustments to be made or specific equipment to be provided, to advise Centrelink so that a workplace assessment can be arranged prior to commencement to ensure all reasonable and necessary adjustments can be made.
4. Seek expert advice if required
A person with disability is often best placed to advise what modifications and/or equipment they require, but it may also be appropriate for managers to seek the assistance of specialist staff within the agency, such as a disability coordinator or HR representative, or external expertise, such as a specialist placement agency or an occupational therapist.
In the Department of the Treasury, reasonable adjustment is applied in consultation with the employee, their manager and an occupational therapist.
The Workplace Adjustment Tool84 available on the JobAccess website can also assist agencies to ensure that the reasonable adjustment needs of staff with disability are met. The Workplace Adjustment Tool allows users to search for ideas on how to make a workplace more accessible for people with disability, based on the type of job being undertaken, a particular disability, a type of product or a particular supplier.
In some cases, agencies may also wish to consider using the Workplace Modifications Scheme.85 This scheme covers the costs involved in modifying the workplace or purchasing special or adaptive equipment for eligible employees with disability. It is also available to existing employees if they have had a change in duties, career progression, change in disability and/or a new modification becomes available that would increase their productivity.
Agencies may find it useful to create a central fund to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace and provide other support for employees with disability attending learning and development activities.
5. Monitor the needs of existing staff
Agencies should also be mindful to ensure that existing employees with disability have the access they require to premises and equipment.
In addition to individual managers monitoring the needs of their staff, agencies could consider undertaking more systematic reviews, in consultation with employees with disability and with the assistance of organisations such as the Disability Employment Network and/or the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator, of the reasonable adjustment needs of existing employees with disability.
Deborah’s story
Deborah started her career in the APS in 1971. Since then she has found that her co-workers and team members have been very supportive when she has needed their help to manage the impact that her cerebral palsy has in the workplace.
She started with her current agency in 1991, working in a small regional office, after staying with her first employer for twenty years.
Some of the things that have been done there show the benefit of lateral thinking to help accommodate her disability. For example:
- when her office was refitted she was nominated to go on the refit committee to make sure that the refitted office would be accessible for her as well as the agency’s customers with disability
- her agency supplied a normal wheelchair to get from the basement carpark to the office which saves her from having to lift her chair in and out of the car each day
- her agency also paid towards an electric scooter that she uses at work during the day around the office and to go out in at lunch breaks
- her agency set up her work station with her own printer/copier to save her having to get up and down to the other printers, as well as providing an electric stapler and special chair
- her co workers help her get forms and other documents to hand out when she’s conducting a client interview.
Changing job and moving was a huge step for Deborah to take
… considering I was leaving my comfort zone in Sydney and moving to a country town and a totally new employer, but I was given the same respect and if it were possible more assistance than I had received with my previous employer.
In saying that I think it was because people realised that I didn't take more help than was necessary and gave back where I could.
6. Ensure information communication strategies are inclusive
Agencies should examine their information and communication strategies to ensure that they are inclusive of employees with disability. This includes ensuring that employees with disability are able to participate fully in large meetings, conferences, training courses and other events, for example providing induction loops in major meeting rooms, ensuring that off-site training centres also meet access requirements.
Agencies should also consider the formats in which they make material available to employees in both hard copy and electronic form. Further information on appropriate formats for blind or vision-impaired people is available from Blind Citizens Australia.86
In the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, employees are asked to identify any special needs when they sign up for development opportunities.
7. Make sure the systems work for everyone
Incompatible adaptive technology, and upgrades to information technology platforms which fail to take account of the adaptive technologies that are to run on those platforms, can result in a significant decline in the productivity of employees with disability who rely on those technologies.
Developing a structured approach to the purchase and deployment of information and communications technology support for adaptive technology will reduce the need for agencies to make changes that incur additional expenses for IT solutions later on. In developing such an approach, agencies are encouraged to use the Assistive Technology for Employees of Australian Government87 Better Practice Checklist, produced by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO).
It may also be useful for larger agencies to have an IT person with a dedicated role, or build disability issues into the agenda for IT committees. Where there is a network of employees with disability in the agency, it will be useful to consult with them and with known users of adaptive technology about access issues.
Centrelink has formed an Office of Access Technology to ensure accessibility and compatibility is considered in relation to all software and hardware.
Kate’s story
Kate is an employee of a large Commonwealth department and has a hearing impairment. Most of the time it’s not a problem for her in the workplace, and she and her colleagues work together effectively.
Recently, however, she has had some difficulty dealing with IT staff in her agency about computer problems: when she sent them an email asking for help they would often telephone her to discuss her problems even though she had indicated that she had a hearing impairment and asked for them to respond by email.
Even though she has some hearing, these calls caused problems for Kate because she often would have some trouble working out who she was speaking to and what they were calling about, and couldn’t hear/understand enough to be able to answer questions and follow instructions. As a consequence, the issue was often only partly resolved or not resolved at all.
Sometimes the people calling her were aware that she had a hearing impairment but phoned anyway.
After one particularly complicated and frustrating issue came up, Kate approached her agency management and explained the situation to them. She suggested that:
- a dedicated person within the IT section be appointed to deal with communications with hearing-impaired staff
- this person should have a clear speaking voice so that issues could be handled over the phone where possible
- this person have access to Microsoft Communicator (a software package that allows users to conduct real time conversations via text) so that communication could take place that way where necessary.
This approach was adopted within the agency and Kate reports that it has been very successful for her.
8. Make websites accessible
Many people interested in finding employment in the APS, including people with disability, visit agency websites to get information about available opportunities.
It is important for agencies to ensure that their websites are accessible to people with disability. The Guide to Minimum Website Standards,88 produced by AGIMO, can assist agencies in this regard. This guide brings together information from a variety of sources. The section on accessibility is provided by HREOC.
The HREOC document, World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes,89 referred to in the Guide, is also a useful reference.
The guide recommends that agencies develop appropriate strategies to ensure that their sites are tested for accessibility/usability by users with disability, which may involve working with companies that enlist groups of users as part of the website testing services that they offer. HREOC is able to provide contact details for a number of web accessibility consultants.
The Department of Defence contracted Vision Australia to do a training-needs analysis and develop and deliver training for webmasters in the department to promote the design of websites that are compliant with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) web content accessibility guidelines.90
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