Executive summary

This section outlines the background information, purpose, audience, and process of the Good Practice Guidelines for Engaging with People with Disability.

Context

Why are these guidelines important?

Many people in Australia identify as people with disability. However, people with disability are often excluded from or have poor experiences when taking part in developing processes, products, services, and policies. Their participation would benefit everyone.

Improving the ways in which these activities are designed, planned and delivered, allows more people with disability to have their say on topics that impact them. This improvement will result in people with disability having better, more accessible, and more inclusive experiences.

These guidelines are part of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031. They are informed by the:

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth)

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Who should use these guidelines?

The guidelines are designed to help people working in the government, private and not-for-profit sectors. They provide practical guidance for people who run activities to design, plan, and deliver processes, products, services, and policies. These activities include:

  • research
  • testing
  • development
  • decision making.

How were these guidelines made?

These guidelines are driven by the insight and expertise of people with disability.

They were made by speaking to people with disability, to disability peak and representative bodies, and to disability service providers across the country.

Research and testing were carried out with people who will use the guidelines from the government, business and not-for-profit sectors.

As well as this extensive engagement with people with disability, these guidelines were written by a team that included people with disability.

Address access barriers

These guidelines are designed based on the social model of disability. They address attitudinal, physical, communication and social barriers that people with disability may experience during an inaccessible engagement.

The guidelines will help users to make sure their activities work for people who may experience challenges with:

  • hearing
  • immunity
  • interacting socially
  • moving (upper body and/or lower body)
  • regulating emotions
  • remembering and/or concentrating
  • seeing
  • sensing
  • speaking
  • understanding information.

Follow good practice engagement principles

These guidelines are based on five key principles that were developed in consultation with people with disability and disability representative organisations.

  • Build mutual respect. Every person with disability is unique. Their experience of disability is one part of their interesting and complex life. Engage people with disability early, intentionally, respectfully, and continuously, and use their contributions effectively.
  • Take responsibility. Create and maintain experiences, activities, spaces, and processes that are inclusive of people with disability. We all have different privilege(s), advantages, biases and challenges. Make changes as needed. If you get things wrong, show how you will do better in the future. Keep learning so that people with disability are safe, respected, and valued, and their needs are met.
  • Meet people where they are at. Be flexible, be prepared, and be willing to adapt your activities to meet the accessibility needs of the people with disability you are engaging.
  • Prioritise safety and trust. Ask and act in consideration of people’s best interests. Be transparent, take concerns seriously, and be an ally.
  • Close the loop. Tell people with disability the outcome or impact that their contributions made and what happens next. If none of their input will be implemented, explain why.

Design

This section helps you outline all the design decisions you need to make to run your engagement activity. Think about what kind of activity will suit what you hope to achieve, how you will make it accessible, and how you will find participants, promote your work, pay people with disability, and more.

Start by thinking about accessible design

Think about the different elements that help make your activity accessible. Consider where and when the activity or activities happen, the costs to people with disability to participate, how many people participate, and the format in which the activity is delivered.

Identify the characteristics of your activity

How you design your activity changes the role and experience of people with disability. Identify the following features:

  • your overarching goal
  • if people with disability are to contribute independently, in a group, or are informed only
  • how much the contribution of people with disability impacts the outcome of your activity
  • if you know the people participating
  • how rigid or loose the agenda will be.

Make participant experiences positive

Make your activity unique and consider how similar or different your activity is to other activities that have been delivered in the past. You should:

  • Include this research in how you run your activity.
  • Prioritise inclusivity.
  • Provide people with disability benefits for participating in the activity.
  • Identify and reduce potential harms of your activity to make sure people with disability have positive experiences.

Follow ethical standards

Ethics involves working out what the right thing to do could be. You must follow strong ethical standards.

  • Consider both the intended and unintended impact on people with disability.
  • Make sure people remain safe – physically, mentally, culturally, and psychologically.
  • Collect, use, and keep information or data correctly.

Partner with disability specialists

Disability specialists and disability organisations can help in many ways. They are important if you are completing a consultation with or about people with disability. Consider what services you need, find the right person or group to partner with, and be prepared to work together.

Consider time and costs

Think about, plan, and budget for the time, money, and other resources your activity will need to be fully accessible to people with disability. This will be unique each time you plan and run an activity.

Pay participants

Pay people with disability for their participation in your activity. You need to decide what people with disability are paid for, who else is paid, and how they will be paid.

Plan

This section outlines all the steps and considerations you should make to plan and prepare for your activity. Think about how you will invite participants to join you, when the activity will happen, how you will make the activity accessible to people with disability, what you will tell participants, and how you will make sure everything you use will be accessible.

Identify and attract participants

Provide people with clear information about who you would like to participate in your activity and what they can expect from their involvement. Promote your activity through broad or targeted channels to reach more and diverse people with disability.

Meet people’s accessibility needs

Make sure everyone can participate fully by asking people what they need. Be clear about what they can expect and what you can provide. Provide accessibility support and tell the people with disability you are engaging how they can use it or where to find it.

Schedule activities

Allow enough time to plan, schedule, and arrange your activity. This means that you:

  • Allow time during and after your activity for questions and debriefing.
  • Consider who is present so that people with disability are comfortable and can easily access their accommodations.
  • Offer alternative participation methods.

Give participants clear information in advance

Give clear guidance on how to use and share accessible workshop materials. Make sure participants know what to expect in advance so that they can plan and prepare.

Plan accessible in-person activities

Make sure to choose a venue that provides an accessible whole-of-journey experience for people with disability. This includes considering the location, participants’ transport options, and the venue’s features and facilities. Set up the venue, activity spaces, and technology so that people with disability can move freely, take breaks, contribute fully, concentrate, and access audio, visual, and text-based information. Remember to prioritise physical, mental, emotional, and cultural safety.

Create accessible activity materials

Make sure all materials given, shared, used, and displayed during your activity are accessible to all participants. Plan and check accessibility using relevant platforms, tools, and technology or by consulting experts.

Audio and video

Use audio and video where it supports or is the best way to deliver information. Increase accessibility through clear and easy-to-follow content that has, for example, synchronised captions, transcripts, and signposting.

Forms and surveys

When designing inclusive forms and surveys, incorporate accessibility into both structure and questions and offer multiple ways for people to respond. For example, accept audio, video, drawn, or handwritten responses and provide a phone number so you can type responses on participants’ behalf.

Check your questions are clear, readable, and unbiased. At the end of the activity, tell people how they can stay updated and thank them for completing your form or survey.

Images and diagrams

Using images and diagrams can make content simple, clear, and visually engaging. Make sure images are clear and that they contain descriptions and alternative text to help more people benefit from them.

Presentations

When designing presentations, consider how your presentation will be shown to people with disability. Make information clear, simple, and easy to follow. Give people accessible copies in advance.

Print and digital documents

Make sure all participants can access the documents you provide them. Check the accessibility of every document format you use, as well as the format people with disability will use. This supports more people to better use, navigate, and understand your document.

Deliver

This section helps you to think about what you need to deliver your accessible and inclusive activity as it happens. Arrive early and take the time to check that everything is ready to go.

Check your readiness

Make sure you are well-prepared to deliver a positive and accessible experience for participants. Arrive early and ensure your team and everything you will use is ready.

Check remote tools

Make sure all remote platforms and tools you use in your activity meet participants’ accessibility needs and work with their support tools. Choose accessible platforms and tools that work for what you are trying to do. Plan and test sound, audio, camera, video, presentations, assistive technology integration, and other accessibility features.

Manage changing responsibility between team members

Make sure participants always know who is responsible for the activity or project, and who to contact if needed. Make sure you have all the information you need to deliver a positive and accessible activity for people with disability.

Deliver an inclusive activity

Think about how you are meeting accessibility needs throughout your activity. Begin with clear and inclusive introductions, pay people with disability for their participation, set clear expectations, remind participants what to do during the activity, check-in with people to see if you are meeting their accessibility needs, thank participants, and provide participants with information that closes the loop after the activity is complete.

Follow up

This section tells you what you should do and think about once your activity is complete – what you will do with the information you have collected, how you understand that information, how you reference what people have told you, how to ensure that participants can tell you how they felt the activity went, and how you can use all of this to improve how you do your work in the future.

Analyse and reflect with people with disability

When analysing or reflecting on information you learned during the activity, invite people with disability to enrich your findings. Consider how you included people with disability in the activity and how you might increase participation or inclusion in future activities. This respects the autonomy of participants and may maintain the trust of the people with disability you engaged.

Quote participants accurately

Once you have completed the activity, if they have agreed, you may wish to use the information provided by participants in quotations. Use participants’ exact words and respect how they are identified.

Promote effective follow up

Tell participants what will happen next. Provide an update, and let participants know that their commitment and effort was effective using clear follow-up communication.

Use feedback to evaluate your activity

Take the time to reflect on the activities based on the experiences of both participants and your team members. This will improve both your future activities and your work practice.

Tools

We have created tools to support implementation of the guidelines. The tools include examples and templates that offers practical support for users at different stages in their engagement processes.

Examples

Examples are materials based on real events and advice that people can use to guide the development of materials for their activity. These are longer examples than those included in the guidelines. Examples include a housekeeping discussion guide and a quick guide for facilitating for people with disability.

Templates

Templates are partially completed materials that users can complete with information about their engagement. Templates include an expression of interest form and a consent form.