Theme One: Inclusive communities for all

• Priority 1: Involvement in the community
• Priority 2: Improving community understanding and awareness
• Priority 3: Promoting the rights of people living with disability

Priority 1: Involvement in the community

Action 1

Develop an event toolkit to promote accessible and inclusive practices for State authorities in community events.

Completed in Inclusive SA 2020–2021 Annual Report

Action 2

Explore the redesign or creation of an app (or other medium) that displays existing and future services and facilities (such as toilets, eateries, sports and recreation facilities, parks and trails, arts organisations and cultural institutions, transport services, beaches that are wheelchair and disability-access friendly).

The Pavely smartphone app was released in both Apple and Android stores on 1 April 2022, and it was officially launched by the Minister for Human Services on 24 May 2022. Negotiations are now underway to scope the funding and service arrangements for the next two years with the supplier.

Action 3

Develop and promote Inclusive Play guidelines to guide local councils and other community groups in the development of accessible and inclusive playgrounds and play spaces.

Completed in Inclusive SA 2019–2020 Annual Report

Action 4

Collaborate with relevant organisations to run disability access and inclusion awareness training for arts organisations, cultural institutions, sporting organisations and clubs.

Arts South Australia (Arts SA) continues to support the Arts Organisations Program that funds a diverse portfolio of small-to-medium organisations that contribute to a sustainable and thriving arts and cultural sector in South Australia.

Office of Recreation Sport and Racing (ORSR) held a Club Development Conference for the sport, recreation, and racing sectors to educate delegates on how their clubs and associations can become more inclusive.

From 2022–23, the State Government has committed $200,000 per annum for the next three years to Active Inclusion to deliver inclusion training to the sport and recreation sector.

Action 5

Explore opportunities to increase the involvement of children with disability in sports and cultural activities, for example:

• expanding the Sports Voucher program for children living with disability
• providing extra support for children living with disability to participate in VACSWIM
• promoting the availability of arts programs for children living with disability.

The South Australian Museum has delivered several accessible community education programs, including:

• an audio-described tour of the Wonders exhibition
• Auslan-interpreted video tours featuring the Museum Director Brian Oldman
• a guided tour program of the Biodiversity Gallery for Years 7–12 students from Guide Dogs SA
• autism and sensory friendly events held across the entire Museum.

The Museum partnered with Studio Go Go to present Volo: Dreams of Flight, a virtual reality swing experience that included a wheelchair-accessible swing.

Arts SA funded the Restless Dance Theatre and Tutti Arts and other arts-based organisations to provide arts and performance programs for children living with disability.

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Confidence through Arts

The Department of the Premier and Cabinet has provided funding for Restless Dance Theatre and Tutti Arts.

Restless Dance Theatre is made up of a touring dance company and runs an emerging artists program, an annual program of in-house classes, an intensive company training program, speciality workshops, a residency program, an education outreach program, and a variety of classes for all neuro-divergent, learning and physical differences.

Tutti Arts runs a range of out of school hours arts programs where young people with disability can develop their creativity through the arts.

City of Playford worked in partnership with No Strings Attached, a world-class theatre company that proudly works exclusively with performers living with disability. They produce award-winning productions with local, national and international tours that deeply move audiences to the point where disability disappears.

Tutti Arts and No Strings Attached performed at the Australian of the Year Luncheon held on 19 October 2022.

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Priority 2: Improving community understanding and awareness

Action 6

Work with relevant State authorities to improve community understanding and awareness that complements and leverages the national effort under the National Disability Strategy 2010–2020 and the emerging National Disability Strategy for beyond 2020.

DHS will continue to promote Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031 (ADS) which was launched on 3 December 2021, through:

• the International Day of People with Disability
• internal Community of Practice events
• the Disability Engagement Group

and share updates and learnings with relevant groups and committees.

Action 7

Work with the Commonwealth Government to develop data indicators that measure changes in community attitudes about the rights and needs of people living with disability.

Data indicators were released as part of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031 Outcomes Framework and DHS will support the collection of relevant data. DHS will continue to participate in any Commonwealth-led activity to promote Australia’s Disability Strategy.

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Priority 3: Promoting the rights of people living with disability

Action 8

Review disability awareness training packages within State Government agencies, including public health settings, to establish best practice and implement for new and existing employees.

Department for Health and Wellbeing (DHW) has a dedicated Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator who is reviewing the Disability Awareness and Inclusion training module, in conjunction with those living with disability.

Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment (OCPSE) developed a report identifying contemporary best practice principles and recommendations on sector implementation to improve disability inclusion. Awareness training is being developed.

Action 9

Ensure induction of new State authority employees includes information about working with people living with disability.

90% (4% increase from 2020–21) of State authorities are in the process of ensuring that induction of new employees is inclusive of information about working with people with disability.

Further information can be found in State authorities’ DAIPs. All DAIPs can be accessed on the Inclusive SA website.

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Zoos SA – Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park

During 2022, the Adelaide Zoo hosted meetings of the DHS Disability Engagement Group (DEG). The group heard about the Zoo’s Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion Charter which focuses on how the Zoo ‘can do better’ in the disability access and inclusion space and is also developing an Action Plan.

Zoos SA kiosk, cafes and ticket office counters are all wheelchair accessible and many visitor areas at both Adelaide and Monarto have better pathways, gender neutral toilets and Auslan compliant event signage. An exciting initiative is the climbing platform in the nature playground precinct which has disability accessible platforms to allow children with different abilities to explore and enjoy.

Relaxed Zoo Mornings on Saturday mornings offer a sensory/autism friendly experience for people by reducing unnecessary noise from maintenance crews and eliminate radio chatter.

Australian zoos are one of a few venues that are exempt from the Disability Discrimination Act because of biosecurity risks associated with assistance animals visiting zoos. Zoos SA is working with the Royal Society for the Blind to host assistance dogs to assess interactions with animals, such as the big cats and primates. The goal is to allow assistance animals to accompany people with disability to visit the zoo.

A member of the DEG who has an assistance dog, has not been able to visit the Adelaide Zoo in 20 years, commended the trials to enable assistance dogs to visit the Adelaide Zoo.

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