Published 06 April 2023, updated 17 April 2023
The journey for Bunbury to become an accessible community where everyone feels welcomed has been given a boost after Council endorsed its Disability, Access and Inclusion Plan (DAIP) 2023-2028.
The DAIP outlines the City’s commitment to ensuring people with disability, their carers and families have equal access to its information, facilities and services and was developed with feedback from the community and relevant stakeholders.
It identifies strategies, improvements and projects which will be undertaken over the next five years to continually improve accessibility and inclusion across Bunbury.
One of the City’s most important planning documents, the DAIP outlines eight key themes in:
- Events and Services
- Buildings and Facilities
- Access to Information
- Quality of Service
- Feedback
- Community Engagement
- Employment
- Organisation Commitment
Under each of the themes are several actions such as considering how to attract and support people with disability as event volunteers, supporting implementation of aided language displays at City playgrounds and expanding relationships with disability employment service providers.
The Council also resolved to consider including $15,000 into the 2023/2024 budget to allow for the review and development of a revised approach to becoming the Most Accessible Regional City in Australia.
Development of the DAIP comes following an extensive and successful external and internal engagement process, which was pivotal in identifying the current barriers to accessibility and inclusion in Bunbury.
The feedback captured directly influenced the development of the actions outlined in the plan.
It was also reviewed by the City’s Disability Access and Inclusion Committee and Co-Design Access Panel.
The DAIP can be viewed below.