BEYOND THE RAMP

STRATEGIC INCLUSION PLANNING FRAMEWORK

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

SALISBURY, THE LIVING CITY

In the development of this action plan, ‘Beyond the Ramp’, the City of Salisbury has made a commitment to residents and visitors living with a disability.

It is Council’s intention to ensure that Salisbury becomes more accessible and inclusive of people living with a disability. Through consultation with our local community, Council will be encouraging and maintaining social inclusion without reducing efforts to create a fully accessible city.

From the mid 1990’s, the City of Salisbury has been striving to remove barriers to inclusion, especially within a physical sense. We place high importance on responding to residents’ requests for better footpath access, installation of kerb ramps and improved access to Council buildings.

We are continuing to improve access to libraries, recreation centres, Positive Ageing and community centres as well as funding accessibility for over 25 per cent of our bus stops.

‘Beyond the Ramp’ links into the State and Federal Government’s initiatives to achieve full human rights for citizens with disabilities and with mental illness. The action plan links the local aspirations of these citizens with the Council of Australian Government’s ‘National Disability Strategy 2010-2020’ and the SA Government’s response to the report ‘Strong Voices, a Blueprint to Enhance Life and Claim the Rights of People with Disability in South Australia (2012-2020).

The implementation of ‘Beyond the Ramp’ will make social inclusion and access part of everything Council does. This action plan prepares the City of Salisbury to welcome participation in community life by an increasing number of citizens living with disability or with mental illness, their families and carers.

Gillian Aldridge

Mayor of Salisbury

BEYOND THE RAMP

People with disabilities want to bring about a transformation of their lives.

They want their human rights recognised and realised.

They want the things that everyone else in the community takes for granted.

They want somewhere to live, a job, better health care, a good education, a chance to enjoy the company of friends and family, to go to the footy and to go to the movies.

They want the chance to participate meaningfully in the life of the community.

And they are hopeful.

They desire change and they want others in the community to share their vision.

They recognise that governments cannot work in isolation and they want others to see the benefits of building more inclusive communities.1

1National People With Disabilities and Carers Council 2009, Shut out: The experiences of people with disabilities and their families in Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, p9.

WHAT IS THIS DOCUMENT?

The City of Salisbury affirms that people living with disability have the same rights as other citizens to be part of the social, cultural, economic and political life of the City.

The Strategic Inclusion Planning Framework is Council’s response to the aspirations and expressed needs of people living with disability living and working in the Salisbury area. This framework builds upon the City of Salisbury’s Disability Discrimination Action Plan “Access Salisbury Action Plan 1999-2003”. This document now extends beyond a focus on access to buildings to a broader agenda of access and inclusion.

The framework links to the Salisbury City Plan Sustainable Futures and sets out the goals and priority actions which will enable the City to respond in a manner consistent with the City’s core value of access and equity as part of a broader commitment to a diverse community.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

The City of Salisbury understands that people living with disability are citizens first and foremost. They want to contribute to the City and feel welcome, they want to get out and about, visit shops and services, and participate in everyday activities.

An accessible and inclusive community is where people living with disability:

  • Have a valued sense of themselves and their potential, have and exercise control over the decisions they make in their lives. (Personhood)
  • Are included as active citizens in the life of the wider community, based on their inherent value and their responsibility as contributing citizens. (Citizenhood)
  • Are growing their capacity to move into lives characterised by personhood and citizenhood. This also includes the wider community growing its capacity to be inclusive and supportive of people living with disability. (Capacity Building)

Through the Strategic Inclusion Planning Framework the City of Salisbury aims to set out its obligations under the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act, the National Disability Strategy, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

It is estimated that in excess of 25,000 citizens living in the Salisbury area have specific access and inclusion needs.

This includes 20% of the population with all levels of disability. Added to this are the families of 7,938 children aged 0 to 4 years who will use pushers.

According to the 2006 Census, the number of people within the City of Salisbury area who identified as living with severe or profound disability was 5,733 of whom 45.2% were seniors aged over 65.

WHAT PEOPLE TOLD US

The City of Salisbury has a long history of improving infrastructure to assist people living with disability.

During the development of this new framework, community participants reported that the Council had made substantial improvements in access within the City. However, they also acknowledged that more needed to be done and identified that it was still not easy for them to move about the community (e.g. footpath access barriers).

Participants also wanted a focus on social inclusion recommending that Council:

  • Approach the concept of access in the broader context of social inclusion rather than the narrower context of code compliance.
  • Address social inclusion in particular as an upfront consideration in all planning work.

Subsequently the Council has responded to this input and the framework not only incorporates these issues but extends to address a range of broader access and inclusion needs.

OVERALL OUTCOMES

As a result of Council working with the community it is intended that people living with disability will increasingly be able to:

  • Participate fully and effectively in the community and feel included and valued by the community.
  • Travel in the community for work and recreation with safety and dignity.
  • Move in and through buildings and communicate with fellow citizens.
  • Participate within services and programs.
  • Be able to access parking spaces and public transport.

HOW WILL IT WORK?

The Strategic Inclusion Planning Framework sets out the goals, priority actions, and anticipated outcomes for Council. The framework sets out this material as four (4) key functional roles for Council.

These being:

A. Infrastructure.

B. Regulation.

C. Programs and Services.

D. Governance and Corporate Operations

Many of the priority actions listed are within the control of Council. However, some of them rely on Council’s ability to lobby and influence other tiers of government. Following is an overview of the material in each of these roles.

KEY FUNCTIONAL ROLE A:

INFRASTRUCTURE

The section on Council infrastructure encompasses its own public buildings, footpaths and public spaces.

GOALS

That Council:

  • Has in place an infrastructure access strategy which goes beyond minimum access standards, where appropriate, and details targeted and general upgrades across short, medium and long term timeframes.

PRIORITY ACTIONS

In relation to development and implementation of Council’s infrastructure access program:

In the next two years Council will:

  • Develop a policy which outlines standards for access in the building renewal program.
  • Develop procedures which allow for monitoring and signalling of access upgrades.
  • Develop processes which facilitate access tasks through the project contract management system.
  • In the next five years Council will consider:
  • Improvements to footpath connectivity through the City by providing kerb ramps, widening footpaths in high use areas, and replacing street trees which cause hazards for pedestrians with mobility impairments.
  • Upgrades to access in high use Council buildings.
  • In the next ten years Council will consider:
  • Planning for asset management (not yet addressed) in the context of continuous accessible pathways of travel and community identified priorities.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES

The benefits that community members can anticipate include:

  • Citizens will have continuous accessible pathways of travel through the community.
  • Requests for access improvements will decrease.
  • Citizens living with disability will have quality access into and through previously inaccessible buildings.
  • Council being responsive to citizens, visitors and Council employees on requests to address access concerns.
  • Community views about reported access issues such as disability parking areas and street trees will be collected via community forums.

KEY FUNCTIONAL ROLE B:

REGULATION

The section on regulation of private sector and use of Council infrastructure encompasses Council’s development approvals and advice services and its compliance roles.

GOALS

That Council will:

  • Ensure that the development assessment process contributes to creating an accessible City.
  • Work toward accessible car parking being seen as fair and effective by interested citizens.
  • Ensure that footpaths are barrier free.

PRIORITY ACTIONS

In relation to development approvals, engineering and advice roles, Council will be informed consistently by knowledge and application of the:

  • Disability Discrimination Act and its Buildings and Public Transport Standards.
  • Published advice from the Australian Human Rights Commission.
  • Concept of a Continuous Accessible Path of Travel.

In relation to accessible car parking, Council will:

  • Improve enforcement and communication relating to the lawful use of accessible car parking areas.

In relation to footpaths and other elements of the Continuous Accessible Path of Travel, Council will:

  • Monitor the effectiveness of the Footpath Trading Policy including reporting on the number of access complaints.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES

The benefits that community members can anticipate include:

  • An improved level of compliance of development approvals.
  • Council staff and interested citizens will be informed of current and pressing issues relating to accessible car parking.
  • Accessible car parking is provided in reasonable proportion to other car parks and is effectively regulated.
  • Pedestrians of all abilities can use the footpaths with safety and dignity, and the numbers of complaints reduce.

KEY FUNCTIONAL ROLES C:

PROGRAMS & SERVICES

The section on programs and services encompasses Council’s role in delivering programs and services for the wider community including those managed by Council itself (e.g. Salisbury Youth Enterprise Centre, Seniors’ Centres and Library branches) and those managed jointly with Community Centre management committees.

GOALS

That Council will:

  • Seek to influence Commonwealth • and State Government resourcing for community inclusion initiatives which will support.
  • Planning inclusion into the City’s programs and services.
  • Developing a Community and Council diversity, access and inclusion awareness strategy.

PRIORITY ACTIONS

In relation to programs and services, Council will support: (or will negotiate with independent Community Centres to support)

  • early consideration of extending access and inclusion for new programs and services where extra financial and other resources are offered by relevant agencies.
  • Identify which existing programs and services are of the highest priority for seeking external resources to build capacity for inclusion.
  • (where available) collaboration with other levels of government and community organisations to increase capacity of paid and volunteer staff to assist participation of a diversity of citizens in general Council and Community Centre programs and services.

In relation to an inclusion awareness strategy, Council will:

  • Assess support by neighbouring Councils and relevant community organisations for seeking Commonwealth and State Government funding to develop and evaluate a pilot regional inclusion awareness strategy.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES

The benefits that community members can anticipate include:

  • Increased opportunities to participate in community life. Council staff and volunteers with a greater range of skills and confidence in providing programs or services which support participation across the diversity of Salisbury’s population.
  • Increased community awareness of the importance of participation by people living with disability or mental illness.
  • A pilot regional awareness strategy including resources which can be used in other communities.

Key Functional Role D:

GOVERNANCE AND CORPORATE OPERATIONS

Governance and Corporate Operations includes Council’s representative function, its decision making processes and how it operates as a corporate entity, e.g. recruitment of staff and volunteers, development of policy, plans and procedures.

GOALS

That Council will:

  • Seek to influence other levels of government to resource capacity building and increased participation by citizens living with disability in decision making including in local government.
  • Seek to influence other levels of government to reduce system constraints (e.g. lack of some access standards, absence of funded social inclusion innovation programs) which limit the capacity of local government to deliver access and inclusion initiatives.
  • Incorporate inclusion and diversity throughout Council’s planning and in its business and resource management (e.g. asset management plans for Council footpaths, buildings, parks).
  • Develop a ‘social inclusion’ or ‘diversity’ strategy to increase community resilience and workforce excellence
  • Provide appropriate training for paid staff and seek funding to extend this to volunteer staff.
  • Align its human resources and organisational development to support the implementation of the Strategic Inclusion Planning Framework.

PRIORITY ACTIONS

In relation to participation in civic decision making, Council will:

  • Lobby SA Government to review the Development Act.
  • Develop the Local Government Access and Inclusion Network within the Local Government Community Managers Network.

In relation to reducing system constraints, Council will consider the most effective means to lobby the Commonwealth Government for:

  • A consolidated funded infrastructure access plan to support the National Disability Strategy, implementation of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport and extension of access research and standards.
  • The creation of a fund for low interest loans to small-medium businesses to enable access upgrades.
  • Funding to support representation of citizens with disabilities in consultative processes at state, regional and rural levels.

In relation to improving access to public transport, Council will:

  • Negotiate with the SA Government for shared funding to make bus stops accessible.

In relation to inclusive planning, Council will:

  • Incorporate access and inclusion elements in all levels of planning from inception to reporting.
  • Monitor and report on the implementation of the Strategic Inclusion Planning Framework through an annual forum.
  • Monitor and assess participation in State and Commonwealth policies, strategies, programs and resources which support the City’s Strategic Inclusion Planning Framework.

In relation to diversity strategy, Council will:

  • Develop ways to support and extend the benefits of diversity within its paid and volunteer workforce.
  • Regularly review the effectiveness of the customer complaint and feedback processes relating to access and inclusion.

In relation to human resources, Council will:

  • Identify training needs and provide training to equip paid (and where external funding can be secured, volunteer staff) with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to perform their roles effectively regarding diversity, access and inclusion.

  • Review staff performance agreements to ensure that;
  1. work roles align with the Strategic Inclusion Planning Framework

b. there are clear statements about expectations regarding values, knowledge, skills and experience related to diversity, access and inclusion.

Anticipated Outcomes

The benefits that community members can anticipate include:

  • Increased participation by people living with disability in decision making
  • Council’s plans and strategies will be more responsive to the requirements of the City’s diversity.
  • Improved access to infrastructure and public transport.
  • A diverse range of Salisbury’s citizens will over time increasingly participate in Council’s community engagement processes concerning planning and strategy development.
  • Council staff will contribute to the advancement of access and inclusion through mechanisms such as the Local Government Community Managers Network and the Local Government Association.
  • Council’s workforce will demonstrate inclusive knowledge, skills and attitudes in interaction with customers.

HOW YOU CAN HELP?

The Strategic Inclusion Planning Framework provides a cohesive way for the City of Salisbury to think through and incorporate citizen’s views on access and inclusion objectives for the community.

The Council emphasises that we all have a responsibility to review our own attitudes toward people living with disability and to be welcoming of our citizens as an integral part of the community.

The Strategic Inclusion Planning Framework Executive Summary can be viewed also online at

Access means...

...being able to use, with equal ease and dignity as everyone else, the same physical environment, transportation, information and communications and other facilities and services open or provided to the public”

Citizens with disability includes...

..people with disability including physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory, neurological, learning and physical disfigurement (Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992).

..people living with mental illness (beyond the DDA’s definition )

..and the families or carers of all these citizens.

Inclusion refers to...

...participation in all aspects of society including but going far beyond access to buildings, footpaths, parks and information. Most people living with a disability experience a lack of inclusion rather than a lack of access. Attitudes and expectations may exclude people with disability just as much as a lack of ramps excludes people using wheelchairs or gophers.

City of Salisbury, 12 James Street Salisbury SA 5108. PO Box 8 Salisbury SA 5108

T 8406 8222 TTY 8406 8596 (for people with a hearing impairment)

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