Preparing for your consultation

Plan your engagement and consultation to be inclusive from the start. Be clear about the purpose, target group (if applicable) and type of engagement group and chosen methodology.

• Advertise your consultation well in advance and give enough notice of any public sessions to give people opportunity to plan their attendance.
• Produce invitations and advertisements in Plain English with readable standard print. If requested, provide in accessible formats as described in the Online Accessibility Toolkit.
• Time and location are important. People who have support workers, translators or require accessible taxis may find it difficult to attend events at certain times of the day (for example, 10.00 am to 4.00 pm may be a good time).
• When organising catering and venue size, note that some people may have support workers, interpreters or guide dogs that must be included.
• Ensure the facilitator and other staff are aware of any access and communication needs of people with disability.
• Allow the person to include a contact person if they have any particular access requirements, such as attendant carers or Auslan interpreters required to enable their contribution to the consultation.
• Consider whether childcare should be provided.
• Consider providing catering during your engagement, even for shorter engagements, to support participants with longer commute times.
• It is important to provide opportunity for participants to disclose disability, however some people may decline to disclose their disability, and that is their right.