One in five Australians — including around 29,000 Glen Eira residents — live with disability. Improving the accessibility of your business helps more people access your services, creates a better experience for customers and staff, and can help grow your customer base.
Making your business accessible
Like everyone else, people with disability want to shop locally, access services and participate in community life. If your business isn't accessible, you could be missing out on a significant number of customers.
Around 5.5 million Australians (21.4% of the population) live with disability. Making your business more accessible helps remove barriers, creates a more welcoming experience for customers and staff, and ensures more people can access your products and services.
Accessibility is also a legal requirement. People with disability have the right to access public places, including shops, restaurants, sporting venues, cinemas, government offices and banks. Under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, businesses must take reasonable steps to prevent discrimination and improve access.
How accessibility can support your business
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Reach more customers: Accessible businesses make it easier for more people to use your products and services.
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Improve customer experience: Clear, inclusive design helps people feel welcome and confident accessing your business.
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Support your workforce: Accessibility helps create a workplace where a wider range of people can contribute and succeed.
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Meet your legal obligations: Accessible practices can help you comply with relevant legislation and reduce risk.
Improving accessibility
Accessibility is about more than physical access. It also includes the way you communicate, interact with customers and create welcoming experiences for everyone.
Some practical ways to improve accessibility include:
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creating a welcoming and inclusive customer experience
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ensuring entrances are step-free where possible
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providing enough space for people using mobility aids to move around comfortably
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using accessible door handles and fittings
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offering flexible seating arrangements
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allowing extra time for customers who may need it
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communicating clearly and respectfully with people who have different access needs
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avoiding assumptions and supporting customers to make their own choices
For more information, including a self-assessment tool for your business, visit the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission's Come in, we're accessible program.
Next steps
Start improving access today.
Use our handy new checklist and toolkit to review your business
Contact us for advice or assistance at accessandinclusion@gleneira.vic.gov.au
What are we doing?
We've partnered with councils across Victoria to develop YouMeUs — Achieving Inclusion, a program that provides tools and training to help staff and volunteers build more inclusive workplaces and services.
Learn more on our YouMeUs page.
We've also developed a series of videos to help businesses improve accessibility and better support customers with disability. The videos cover four key areas:
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rights
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attitudes
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communication
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access
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Jen's story
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Jeff's story
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Caterin for everyone
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Assistance animals
