Developing an effective Action Plan

A resource for businesses, government departments and agencies, service providers, consultants and people with disabilities interested in participating in the preparation of an Action Plan under the Disability Discrimination Act.

Copyright © Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission September 1998
Reproduction in any form is permitted on condition the source is acknowledged.

Introduction
Organisational size and deciding to develop an Action Plan
This resource and the Action Plan Guides
What about other planning processes?
What is an effective Action Plan?
Organisational environment
A favourable climate
Effective consultation
Effective monitoring, evaluation and review
Writing your plan
Registering an action plan with the Commission
Appendix one - Commission Action Plan Guides
Appendix two - Resources
Appendix three - Action Plans and Complaint Handling

Introduction

This material provides suggestions for developing an Action Plan under the federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and contains information which reflects the Disability Discrimination Commissioner's view of what constitutes an effective Action Plan.

It has been produced to assist businesses, Government Departments and other service providers to develop their own Action Plans; for consultants working with organisations in developing Action Plans; and for people providing information or training on the DDA and Action Plans.

It is designed to be used in conjunction with one of the sector specific guides to developing DDA Action Plans (see Appendix One) and assumes that the reader is familiar with the DDA and the provision for Action Plans.

This material is not definitive or prescriptive. It draws on the experience of the Commission over the past few years in its compliance promotion work as more and more organisations submit Action Plans. It outlines general principles, methods and mechanisms which need to be adapted to the unique circumstances and preferred planning styles of your organisation.

Comments on its content are welcome at any time:

by e-mail to disabdis@humanrights.gov.au or
by mail to Disability Rights Unit, Australian Human Rights Commission, GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 1042.

Organisational size and deciding to develop an Action Plan

Although this material has been developed principally for medium size to large organisations, smaller organisations committed to developing an Action Plan will be able to use it to develop a process which suits their needs.

Clearly the complexity of issues facing large organisations are different from those facing small businesses. Small businesses and service providers may simply decide to go ahead and fix a problem rather than develop an Action Plan. Physical barriers such as a small step into a shop may well be dealt with without the need for an Action Plan. However there may be other physical, information, communication and attitudinal barriers that need to be identified and addressed depending on the nature of the business.

The advice of the Commission would be to fix the things that can be fixed, but do not assume they are the only possible issues that may give rise to a complaint.

Developing an Action Plan for a small business need not be an onerous or time consuming activity. While a large organisation with branches in several states may have an Action Plan of 20 or 30 pages a small business may well be able to address all access issues in 2 pages.

This resource and the Action Plan Guides

The information here complements the information in the sector specific guides to developing DDA Action Plans (see Appendix One).

Part 1 of each of the sector specific guides outlines relevant sections of the DDA and explains the purpose and benefits of developing an Action Plan. Part 2 of each guide provides a description of the activities that are the essential components of an Action Plan as prescribed in DDA section 61

review current practices
develop policies and programs
devise evaluation strategies
allocate responsibility, and
develop communication strategies.

The aim of this resource is to provide you with further information to assist in undertaking these activities: it identifies the process for developing an effective Action Plan and suggests methods and mechanisms to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved for your organisation.

Appendix Two contains information on resources produced by other organisations that may assist you in developing an Action Plan.

What about other planning processes?

Some organisations may be required to develop other kinds of disability access and equity plans under state or federal legislation or as a result of other state or local government strategies. For example, some state government departments and local authorities are required to develop Disability Service Plans and Commonwealth government departments and authorities are required to develop Action Plans incorporating specific factors relating to the Commonwealth Disability Strategy.

Other private or public sector organisations may decide to develop disability access and equity plans as part of their business strategies or customer service charters within existing corporate planning processes.

In these situations, organisations may decide that it is more cost and time effective to develop a single plan which meets all responsibilities of current legislation. If this is the decision of your organisation, then it is critical that DDA requirements are not neglected in favour of your other requirements or only partially addressed because your other responsibilities are given precedence.

There is a significant difference between anti-discrimination law which requires non-discriminatory service provision and laws, regulations or policies which simply call for improvements in access.

A DDA Action Plan, or a single 'Plan' developed to address responsibilities under different legislation and requirements, will only be effective in relation to the DDA if it

incorporates the rights-based focus of the DDA
eliminates discrimination in mainstream services rather than establishing separate or parallel 'special' services
ensures equal access for people with disabilities rather than simply improving or enhancing access
addresses all barriers, including physical, information, communication and attitudinal barriers, and
addresses the rights of all people with disabilities, with reference to the broad definition of 'disability' in the DDA.

What is an effective DDA Action Plan?

For an organisation to benefit from the work involved in developing an Action Plan, the plan must do more than merely meet the requirements of section 61. It must be effective in meeting the objects of the DDA and the expectations of your organisation.

An Action Plan should

eliminate discrimination in an active way
improve services to existing consumers or customers
enhance organisational image
reduce the likelihood of complaints being made
increase the likelihood of being able to successfully defend complaints
increase the likelihood of avoiding costly legal action
allow for a planned and managed change in business or services
open up new markets and attract new consumers.

An Action Plan will be effective in ensuring compliance with the DDA if it convinces complainants and ultimately a Hearing Commissioner or the Federal Court that it

demonstrates commitment to eliminating discrimination
shows clear evidence of effective consultation with stakeholders
has priorities which are appropriate and relevant
provides continuing consultation, evaluation and review
has clear timelines and implementation strategies and
is in fact being implemented.

If your Action Plan cannot do that there is little point in investing resources in developing one. A poorly developed Action Plan will not result in the elimination of discrimination and will be of no use as part of a defence in the event of a complaint. (For further discussion on the role of Action Plans in the complaint handling process see Appendix Three.)

Developing an effective Action Plan

The Commission has now registered more than 150 Action Plans and is able to reflect on some of the problems encountered by businesses and service providers and draw on some examples of good practice.

The process of developing an effective DDA Action Plan can be divided into five elements:

understanding your organisational environment
creating a favourable climate for implementation
undertaking effective consultation
developing an effective evaluation, monitoring and review strategy and
structuring and writing your plan clearly and accessibly.

This resource will look at each of these five elements in turn.

Organisational environment

Most planning processes begin with identification and analysis of the factors that affect or could affect the internal and external environment of an organisation. Developing of an Action Plan is no different.

Piccadilly Credit Union is a fictional organisation that has decided to develop an Action Plan.

Piccadilly Credit Union

With offices located throughout Australia, Piccadilly Credit Union provides a full range of competitive financial services to the public. It has a good reputation for customer focus and flexible service provision and these factors are fundamental to its market position. Last year, a DDA complaint concerning lack of access to some of its services was made against the Credit Union. The complaint went to hearing and the Credit Union was ordered by the Australian Human Rights Commission to make these specific services accessible. Following the order and adverse publicity, management of the Credit Union decided to develop a DDA Action Plan as a way of addressing other disability discrimination issues. However, management is also concerned that a public document may enable potential competitors to 'steal' innovative ideas.

What factors are affecting or could affect the internal and external environment of Piccadilly Credit Union? How will these factors influence the Action Plan development process?

Piccadilly Credit Union has offices located throughout Australia:

will each office be responsible for developing an individual Action Plan or will central office develop a Plan with general principles and strategies which can be adapted by each office?
who will be responsible for co-ordinating either of these approaches?

Piccadilly Credit Union has a good customer service reputation:

can the Action Plan be based on established principles and policies of customer service and flexibility?
how can the existing customer focus environment assist staff and managers to understand the importance of developing and implementing strategies which eliminate barriers for customers with disabilities?
in what ways can the Action Plan be part of other marketing and promotional activities which contribute to the credit union's market position?

Piccadilly Credit Union has had adverse publicity as the result of a complaint:

how can the development of the Action Plan be promoted to counteract adverse publicity?
which groups or individuals would be important to include in the consultation processes involved in developing the Plan so that adverse publicity can be counteracted?
would it be strategically important to include the complainant(s) in the consultation processes?
how can the Australian community be informed of the development of the Action Plan so that negative perceptions of Piccadilly are corrected?

Piccadilly Credit Union management are committed to the development of the Action Plan:

what is the basis for the commitment - the fact that the Commission has ordered them to address inaccessible services; the desire to cover the credit union against future complaints; a recognition that an Action Plan will contribute to the credit union's customer service reputation and market position; or all of the above?
will the motive affect planning decisions, such as the allocation of sufficient time and resources for the Plan's development?
will management commitment be given to gaining internal acceptance of the development and implementation of the Plan? Will internal promotional strategies be used to make staff aware of and committed to the plan?

Piccadilly Credit Union management are concerned about the commercial confidentiality of the Plan:

will the Plan need to be developed so that general goals and strategies are made public and the specific procedures remain confidential?
can the Plan be marketed as an industry standard, thus overriding concerns about commercial confidentiality?

It is likely that there are other factors that Piccadilly Credit Union will need to consider, such as the impact of current business plans or legislation governing financial institutions.

The main point is that Piccadilly Credit Union understands the specific environment in which it operates. This understanding is the basis for making decisions about the way an Action Plan should be developed so that it fits with the needs, purpose and direction of Piccadilly Credit Union, contributes to its overall success and meets the objectives of an effective Action Plan.

To determine your Action Plan development process you will need to identify and analyse the specific factors affecting the internal and external environment of your organisation. Your own planning experience and the Piccadilly Credit Union example will guide you but the following questions may also assist.

Why is this plan being developed? What is the motive?
Is there senior management commitment? If so, how can you use this commitment to gain internal acceptance for the Plan? If not, how will this hinder the development, implementation and overall effectiveness of the Plan?
Have sufficient time and resources been allocated to the Plan's development and implementation? If not, what will you need to do to get more resources; or how can you develop a Plan within these restrictions?
What commercial considerations are relevant?
Who do you need to include in the consultation processes?
What is the current perception of your organisation within the disability community? How do your current consumers with disabilities perceive you?
Are there other legislative requirements that the Plan needs to address? Is there other legislation that will affect the development of the Action Plan?

The rest of this material outlines the general principles, models and methods involved in the four remaining elements leading to the development of effective Action Plans. If you have a good understanding of your organisational environment you will be able to adapt these principles, methods and mechanisms to your organisation.

A favourable climate

While it may seem premature to be looking at implementation before the Action Plan is even developed, implementation is more likely to be successful and achieve the desired outcomes if your organisation is prepared. Preparing your organisation means creating a favourable organisational climate during the Action Plan development process.

Strategies to create a favourable climate will need to suit your organisational environment but they could include:

Obtaining senior management commitment: If you don't have senior management commitment, then you may need to look at strategies for convincing management of the benefits of developing and implementing an Action Plan. You may wish to: refer to the benefits listed in the section, 'What is an effective Action Plan?' and described in Part One of the Guides; gather statistics from the Commission's annual reports on the numbers of DDA complaints; gather statistics from State agencies' Annual Reports on disability complaints made under State legislation; and compile information on the cost effectiveness of developing and implementing an Action Plan compared to the cost and resources involved in being ordered to make changes as the result of a complaint.

Using senior management commitment: If you have commitment from senior management for the development of the Plan, then you are more likely to ensure that sufficient timeframes and financial and human resources are allocated for implementation of the Plan.

Senior managers can provide executive endorsement for the development and implementation of the Plan by officially announcing the Plan's development, delegating responsibility for its development and implementation and providing formal directives to middle management and staff about the organisation's commitment to Action Plan development and the part staff will play in implementation.

Senior managers can also ensure Action Plan development is given a high profile. Senior managers can be involved in activities associated with the Plan's development, such as officially opening staff training programs on the DDA, welcoming internal and external stakeholders involved in the consultation process and providing official updates on the progress of developing the Plan.

Developing a formal Disability Policy: Aformal Disability Policy will provide a public statement of the organisation's commitment to implementation of the Action Plan. It should affirm respect for the rights of people with disabilities. It should be endorsed by senior management and publicised internally and externally.

Promoting the development and implementation of the Action Plan: The consultation process (see the section 'Effective Consultation') can be used to promote a sense of ownership among staff and managers and consequently a commitment to effectively implement the Plan. Regular information about the development and implementation of the Plan can be provided at staff and management meetings and updates on the DDA and Action Plan development can be published in internal newsletters.

Information on the organisation's commitment to development and implementation of an Action Plan can also be published in community newsletters and media which target disability specific groups.

Conducting staff training: Training will prepare staff involved in Action Plan development and implementation. Staff can be surveyed about their level of awareness and understanding of the DDA, Action Plans and disability issues to establish what is needed. Training, information, resources and tools can be developed based on the results of surveys and provided to assist staff.

A follow-up staff survey will enable a comparison of results to highlight further training needs. Information from the surveys will also be useful for the Plan's evaluation strategies (see the section 'Effective Evaluation').

Writing Action Plan implementation into job descriptions: Responsibility for implementation should be delegated to a position of some authority, such as a section manager or supervisor, to ensure that it is viewed as a high level activity. To formalise this responsibility, it should be written into the job description of the delegated position.

Including reporting tasks as strategies in the Action Plan: This will ensure that those responsible for implementation are accountable through formal reporting procedures.

Effective consultation

Consultation is crucial to the process of developing an effective Action Plan. It is the most productive method of reviewing the policies and practices of your organisation to identify discriminatory practices (see the Guides for a description of activities relating to DDA section 61c); for looking at potential solutions; for setting priorities for action; and for devising evaluation and continuing consultation strategies.

Checklists and audit tools can identify service barriers, but they are not sufficient on their own. They need to be used in conjunction with consultation with internal and external stakeholders.

Effective consultation provides added assurance that key issues are not going to be missed, that internal and external stakeholders have a sense of ownership of the Action Plan and that a productive relationship has been established with your actual or potential customers and clients with disabilities.

In the event of a complaint, evidence of effective consultation assists to legitimise the strategies, priorities and outcomes that have been established for your Action Plan. An Action Plan developed internally with no reference to the people who experience discrimination or those who will be affected by its implementation is not likely to be successful in contributing towards a defence.

This section looks at best practice principles involved in consultation and describes some consultation mechanisms. It mainly focuses on consultation with people with disabilities.

Consultation with other external stakeholders - such as unions, affiliated organisations, funding bodies and interested members of the public, and consultation with internal stakeholders - such as staff, section managers and especially employees with disabilities - are also important and necessary. However organisations should have structures or preferred methods for consultation with these groups such as regular team and management meetings, communication and feedback mechanisms, regional forums, training days, planning and working groups and established consultative committees.

The mechanisms described in this section can be adapted to include internal and other relevant external stakeholders or be used as a model to create other consultation mechanisms which can run in parallel with consultation with people with disabilities.

What is consultation?

Consultation is not easy to define. It involves a series of different strategies and processes which are dynamic, continuing, constantly changing to reflect and suit specific circumstances, and built into an organisations regular procedures and activities.

Consultation could involve a range of activities including

information provision, where interested parties receive information about what is happening in preparation for future consultation
inviting comment on draft proposals from selected interested parties
establishing formal structures that encourage active participation in the identification of problems and development of solutions.

Consultation involves internal and external stakeholders.

Besides identifying service barriers, consultation with internal stakeholders can also impart a sense of ownership of the Plan which will assist with implementation. It can form part of a staff training strategy on the DDA and disability issues (see the section 'A Favourable Climate').
Consultation with external stakeholders can also create a cooperative working relationship with your consumer base.

Consultation strategies may vary according to

the size and nature of the organisation
the resources available and
the size and diversity of the customer or client base.

Consultation processes that are closer to 'active participation' than 'information provision' are more conducive to the development of an effective Action Plan.

Developing consultation strategies will be no different than developing commercial or service strategies: be clear about what your objective is, do your research, seek expert advice if necessary, consider and analyse your alternatives and develop strategies accordingly. The creative aspect of planning consultation is to develop a process which will achieve your objective within the resources and timeframes available.

Why consult with people with disabilities?

An Action Plan which is responsive to your customers and clients, as well as your organisation, must be developed in consultation with people with disabilities. Life experience provides people with disabilities with the skills and understanding to quickly identify the policies and practices which affect or prevent them from accessing your services and facilities.

Consulting with people with disabilities will

assist with the identification of physical, informational, attitudinal and communication barriers. Audit tools and checklists are valuable for identifying service barriers. However, the information obtained from audit tools and checklists cannot be used on its own. People with disabilities who are consumers or potential consumers of your services have the expertise to identify the barriers in accessing your services and to devise possible solutions to address those barriers. Effective consultation with people with disabilities allows your organisation to access a wealth of expertise on disability issues.
demonstrate commitment to eliminating discrimination. The successful elimination of disability discrimination from your organisation relies, among other things, on expert advice and assistance from people with disabilities. Consulting with people with disabilities demonstrates that your organisation is genuinely committed to creating a barrier free service which is accessible to all your actual or potential customers and clients.
give credibility to the Plan's strategies and outcomes. Like any business or service plan, your Action Plan strategies and outcomes will only be credible if they are based on solid information. Consulting with people with disabilities is a key means of obtaining information. It enables your organisation to demonstrate to others, such as the disability community or any tribunal or court, the credibility of your Action Plan.
show priorities are relevant and appropriate. The priorities you set should be based on the information obtained from consultation. Priorities that are relevant and appropriate to your actual or potential consumers endorse your organisation's choice of action.

Consulting with people with disabilities enables your organisation to achieve its objective - the development of an Action Plan which addresses disability discrimination in an effective and manageable way and which assists your organisation to defend any discrimination complaint made against it.

Who should you consult with?

To make decisions about who to consult with, you need to consider the following:

Identify your stakeholders:

Do you have current or potential customers or clients with disabilities that should be included in consultation?
Do you need to include people or organisations that have complained about the lack of access to your services?
Are there disability advocacy organisations or individuals in your local area that have an interest or potential interest in your services?
Are there Indigenous organisations or organisations representing people in different ethnic communities that could provide valuable information on disability issues relevant to their respective communities?
Do you need advice from national peak disability organisations?
Who do you need to consult with internally - section managers, supervisors, those most likely to be responsible for implementation, all staff to ensure all issues are covered and the organisation accepts ownership of the Plan?
Are there regional or State offices or other branches offshore that need to be involved?
Are there government departments, funding bodies, union delegates, or associated organisations that should be included?

Target your resources effectively:

How does the allocated financial and human resources limit consultation strategies and who you can consult with?
How can you conduct the most effective consultation within the specified timeframe and with the allocated resources?
Can further consultation strategies be built into the Action Plan if they cannot be completed with the resources and in the timeframe available for the first plan?

Target people with expertise:

Have you included people with disabilities or representatives from disability organisations who have expertise in a range of disability issues and who are able to represent the access needs of the broader disability community?
Are there ways to obtain information about issues affecting people with specific disabilities, such as by obtaining information from a disability organisation?
Are there staff within your organisation or external people or groups who have relevant technical skills and/or knowledge in accessible service provision issues?
Are there specific individuals with disabilities or disability organisations with which you need to establish a continuing working relationship?

Take into account your organisational environment:

Is your organisation committed to the consultation process?
Have senior managers formally endorsed the consultation process?
Have sufficient resources and timeframes been allocated for consultation?
How can consultation assist with enhancing the organisation's image?

What consultative structures could I use?

The following examples of consultation structures are not definitive. You may be able to develop others that are based on the same principles as those outlined above and that are more suitable to your organisational environment.

Disability Advisory/Consultative Committee

Some organisations will have existing disability advisory committees which have been established to advise on disability issues. If these committees include people with a range of disabilities with expertise in disability issues, then organisations can use the committees to form the basis for consulting with people with disabilities during the Action Plan development process.

The role of the committee could include

identifying the physical, attitudinal and communication barriers to accessing services
providing comment on Action Plan drafts
facilitating comment from peak disability organisations and other relevant disability groups on Action Plan drafts (this provides further input from the disability community) and
being involved in the evaluation and review of the Action Plan.

The following excerpt from an Action Plan registered with the Commission describes part of a consultation process using an existing disability advisory committee.

In early 1996, Group Corporate Relations established a Disability Advisory Committee to assist in the development and implementation of (Company A's) disability strategy and policies. The Committee currently comprises 4 members who are recognised nationally as advocates for people with disabilities. The role of the Committee is to identify the problems faced by people with disabilities when using (Company A's) products and services or working at (Company A), and to advise on practical and common sense solutions to these problems. The objectives of (Company A's) Disability Advisory Committee are to:

brief (Company A) on banking and financial industry issues of interest and concern to people with a disability;
recommend possible solutions to current barriers with either the industry in general or (Company A) in particular;
identify specific projects that (Company A) could sponsor or undertake to assist people with a disability; and
recommend appropriate measures (Company A) could undertake to improve awareness of its employees about the attitudes and concerns of people with a disability, and their ability to meet the specific needs of people with a disability.

The Disability Advisory Committee has met quarterly and provided ongoing support to assist with the development of (Company A's) Disability Employment Program and Disability Action Plan. The Committee will play an ongoing role in the evaluation and strategic direction of the Plan.

Action Plan Reference Group

Some organisations may prefer to establish a 'one off' reference group to assist with the development of the Action Plan. It should consist of customers or clients with a range of disabilities with expertise in disability access issues.

The role of the Reference Group could include

identifying specific barriers to accessing services
providing comment on Action Plan drafts
being involved in the evaluation and review of the Action Plan.

If additional contribution from the disability community is required, then the organisation could facilitate this rather than the Reference Group.

A Reference Group may suit an organisation with many regional offices. It can establish a central group for the whole organisation or may prefer to establish regional Reference Groups to ensure 'on the ground' issues are addressed.

The following excerpt from an Action Plan registered with the Commission describes a consultation process using a Reference Group.

A Reference Group of people with a disability and advocates was established. This group assisted in preparing this inaugural plan. The members of the Reference Group have all had experience of the (Organisation B) as a service provider. The Reference Group will also have a continuing role in reviewing the progress of the Plan.

The Reference Group identified a range of priority issues that (Organisation B) needs to address. It was recognised that (Organisation B) already has put in place some policies and procedures to ensure access for people with a disability. The Reference Group identified barriers to access and the priority areas where further work needs to be done to ensure that all of (Organisation B's) services are accessible to people with a disability........

A draft Action Plan was developed following the workshops with staff and the meeting of the Reference Group. As this is (Organisation B's) inaugural Action Plan, the emphasis has been on identifying areas of (Organisation B's) services that need to be reviewed to promote access and equity. Wherever feasible, (Organisation B) will use the resources and expertise of people with a disability or their representatives in conducting the reviews or developing the checklists, policies or procedures outlined within this Plan.

Working Party

Other organisations may find it more convenient to establish a Working Party made up of internal and external stakeholders, including people with disabilities, who have relevant technical skills, understanding or expertise in disability issues and planning mechanisms.

The role of the Working Party could include

providing advice and direction on the process of Action Plan development
assisting to identify barriers to accessing services
developing the initial Action Plan draft
organising internal and external consultation, such as providing draft to peak disability groups so they can consult with their members and develop and provide submissions to the working party
collating information from the consultative process and developing second draft
being involved in evaluation and review of the Action Plan.

The following excerpt from a registered Action Plan uses variations on the Working Party approach.

A Disability Action Plan (DAP) Working Party was established by the Chair of the EEO Committee to develop the Plan under her direction. The DAP Working Party was comprised of the University's Disability Adviser, the Disability Information Technology Officer and a Project Officer from the University's Planning Services Office with a background in equity and diversity planning. The development of the Plan was conducted in four stages, which are outlined below.

A review of existing University policies, plans, publications and practices. This included a request to Schools, Faculties, Centres and Administrative Divisions for relevant information. It also included a Focus Group with people with disabilities to identify future directions.
Consultations with heads of areas identified in the first stage as key areas in the context of developing the Plan. This stage completed the review process and began the process of developing agreed actions and specific timeframes for their implementation.
Submission of a draft Plan to the Disability Advisory Group and Senior Officers of the University for comment and advice.
Submission of the Plan to Council by the Chair of the EEO Committee.

Organisations which have a diverse consumer base and a wide range of services may decide that wider consultation is required to ensure all issues are addressed and that everyone has an opportunity to participate. Any of the above consultation mechanisms can be combined with other consultation strategies, for example

inviting submissions on a draft from the general community
conducting public forums
sending surveys to customers
conducting a `phone in' or random telephone survey

The following excerpt from an Action Plan registered with the Commission illustrates an approach based on a working party or taskforce in conjunction with wider consultation strategies.

Access Taskforce

This Plan was developed by Council's Access Taskforce. The Taskforce consisted of one Councillor, seven senior staff representing the five Departments of Council and one representative of Council's Access Committee, who attended meetings as required. The role of the Taskforce was to consult with the community and prepare this Plan in consultation with each of the Departments.

Taskforce members were also responsible for ensuring that members of their Departments were aware of the Community Inclusion Project and organising appropriate training for Council.

Community Consultation

This Plan was developed in partnership with the local community. Council undertook an extensive community consultation process which spanned from January to April 1996. This process provided people with disabilities, people who care for people with disabilities and organisations which provide services to both, with an opportunity to raise issues which create barriers and prevent community inclusion.

In January 1996 Council wrote to approximately 149 local service providers and peak groups which provide services to people with disabilities, carers and / or people from non-English speaking backgrounds, informing them of the Community Inclusion Project and requesting assistance in accessing their clients. ... Of those, 24 assisted Council in informing their clients / members of the public forums. ... these organisations, on Council's behalf, distributed approximately 2,300 invitations to the forums to their clients. It is assumed that many of these invitations were actually sent to the same people by different service providers. This duplication could not have been avoided without services breaking client confidentiality. Media Statements were also sent to all mainstream and local media, Ethno-specific media and the Radio for the Print Handicapped.

During the consultation period community members were given the opportunity to attend the public forums, ring Council and discuss barriers with Council's Community Worker - Aged Services or write to Council to raise issues.

Two public forums were held. The first, on Thursday 22 February 1996, was attended by approximately 40 service providers. ... the second was held on Sunday 25 February and was attended by approximately 110 people. They were people with disabilities and carers. In order to ensure that people who wanted to participate were able to, Council provided attendant care, child care, an interpreter, a hearing loop (which was not effective), refreshments and transport for those who required it.

Some of the participants of the second forum chose to describe their disability experiences. Others indicated they were caring for a person with a disability (some were from a non-English speaking background). A large number of participants chose not to indicate their background or experiences.......

Twelve focus groups were held during the forums. Focus group participants were asked firstly to identify what Council services they utilised. Secondly they were asked to imagine the ideal situation and describe what an ideal accessible environment would be like. Thirdly, participants addressed local issues and barriers which were specific to the City.

Council felt that people with psychiatric disabilities and people from non-English speaking backgrounds were under-represented at the community forums. In response, Council took steps to ensure that people from those groups were given further opportunities to address barriers they may experience.

Feedback to the Community

All people who raised issues with Council during the forums, in writing or over the phone, received a plain English summary of the public forum proceedings and issued raised by the community.

Points to remember

There is nothing to gain from consulting widely if the process is not focussed. Over-consulting is a waste of your time and resources if all you are doing is receiving the same information over and over again. For example, developing an external consultation process for a small retail outlet that involves surveying all consumers, conducting a series of public meetings, inviting submissions from peak disability organisations and other community organisations and conducting small focus groups with people with different disabilities is likely to result in duplication of responses and no conclusive information. At best, it will reinforce what one or two more focussed groups could have told you.
The other extreme is to limit consultation to one or two regular consumers with disabilities. Limited consultation does not provide information representative of people with a range of disabilities; it provides information limited to the specific needs of those one or two people - unless these people have a broad understanding of barriers affecting people with a range of disabilities.
Limited consultation places an expectation on people with disabilities that they understand every area of disability and are experts in all disability issues. It is always important to consult with people with a range of disabilities with expertise in disability access issues.
Do not let time restrictions limit your consultation process; it is legitimate to build continuing consultation strategies into your Plan. For example, you may not have been able to form a consultative group of people with disabilities who could provide advice in relation to certain disabilities, and your timeframe for developing the plan prohibits you from obtaining this advice from the relevant disability organisations. You can include strategies in your Action Plan which enables this advice to be obtained, analysed and acted upon and which identifies a mechanism for ensuring that this advice is included in future consultation, evaluation and review activities.
Make sure you recognise the importance of continuing consultation by building it into your Plan's strategies. For example, strategies to consult with people with disabilities when developing or amending policies and practices; and strategies to include people with disabilities in the evaluation and review of your Plan.

Good practice issues

The disability community is one of the most 'consulted' communities in our society because they, and the services they use, are among the most regulated sections of the community. Many kinds of legislation, service standards, guidelines, policies and practices govern parts of the lives of people with disabilities.

This places a large demand on the time and resources available to individuals and organisations and results in considerable frustration if the consultation process is either inaccessible or lacking in credibility.

A good consultation process will include the following:

preparing the ground before asking for contribution: do not expect that people can contribute when it suits you or when your organisation has not had previous contact with individuals or organisations;
developing long term relationships with disability organisations;
providing honest descriptions of the role of those you are consulting with - if you are just seeking comments make that clear; do not imply those you are consulting with have the power to make final decisions if they do not;
providing feedback to those you consult with;
providing information in the formats preferred by participants, such as large print, Braille or audiotape;
ensuring that participants have time to access information: don't provide background information one or two days before a meeting; allow at least a week;
ensuring that the specific needs of group members are met - dietary requirements, sign language interpreters, support workers, audio loop, venue accessibility;
ensuring the group is provided with an experienced facilitator if you are using focus groups;
allowing a reasonable time for peak disability organisations to consult with their members if this is one of your consultation strategies: 3 months is considered reasonable for organisations to canvas their members and develop submissions;
paying a consultant's fee to Consultative/Reference/Working Group members if it is normal practice to pay for expert advice and assistance; and
paying travel and other related expenses to allow for their participation.

Effective monitoring, evaluation and review

This section looks at activities commonly grouped under the heading 'Evaluation'. This includes monitoring, evaluation and review.

For your Action Plan to remain effective, you will need to review and amend it regularly. This requires processes that ensure that the Action Plan remains a dynamic working tool for your organisation. If the object of an Action Plan is to remove barriers and thereby reduce the likelihood of successful complaints the plan must be tested to see if it is achieving what it sets out to achieve.

One of the common problems the Commission has seen in registered Action Plans is the tendency to test whether or not the tasks have been done, rather than test whether or not doing the tasks has eliminated identified barriers. This often leads to focusing too much on measuring activities rather than results.

Monitoring, evaluation and review strategies need to be planned during the Action Plan development process, rather than as an afterthought. The suggestions below represent one way of testing the effectiveness of your Action Plan but it is not the only way.

Because so many terms are used to describe evaluation frameworks in the business, service provider and government areas it is important for this resource to clearly define the terms it uses.

Objective - the outcome you are trying to achieve, your goal or aim.

Strategy - the things you will do to achieve your objective, perhaps broken down further into tasks or activities.

Monitoring - checking that the tasks or strategies you have set yourselves have actually been done. Monitoring is concerned with checking outputs or activities, eg if a pamphlet on access has been produced or if staff training has been completed by a certain date. Someone would normally be identified to be responsible for ensuring the tasks are actually completed.

Evaluation - the process of determining whether your Action Plan is effective, using performance measures to see if you are actually achieving your objectives or aims. Evaluation is concerned with outcomes or results, eg if the production of a pamphlet results in more people with disabilities using the service or if staff training actually improves consumer satisfaction with your services.

Review - the process of looking again at the overall direction and priorities of an Action Plan to check if you have the right objectives or aims and strategies.

Monitoring

Monitoring ensures that the Plan's strategies are being implemented by checking that the individual tasks are completed. Monitoring also allows implementation problems to be identified. Monitoring requires you to

identify the people in your organisation who will be responsible for monitoring
ensure specific timeframes have been allocated for the implementation of strategies
develop formal reporting procedures for the identified person to comply with - reporting procedures can be ascribed to an Action Plan group or person or they can be built into established reporting processes.

These excerpts from registered Action Plans illustrate approaches to monitoring:

Persons responsible for implementation of strategies provide progress reports every six months to the Chair of the Action Plan Implementation Group.

Reporting on the implementation of the Plan will be included in the annual Progress Audits coordinated by the Manager, Corporate Services Section.

The City of (X) Access Committee has the responsibility for monitoring and implementation of the Action Plan. It is the responsibility of each business unit to provide the Access Committee with an annual report outlining actions in progress and/or completed, and revised deadlines for ongoing tasks. Progress reports will be proved by the Access Committee to Council's Resources and Development and Council meetings in June.

The Access Committee will also provide a report to the Financial Controller in March each year for consideration during the preparation for the following year's Draft Budget.

In order to facilitate this process, the Action Plan strategies will be incorporated into the business plans of each Business Unit, and progress on the Plan will become a permanent agenda item for all Business Unit team meetings.

Evaluation

The registered Action Plans received by the Commission indicate that some organisations confuse evaluation with monitoring the Plan's implementation.

There is a tendency for Action Plans to evaluate activities - whether strategies or tasks have been completed - rather than results - whether your objectives or aims have been achieved.

This is a typical example of this confusion.

Objective: Staff attitudes to people with disabilities do not create barriers to our services

Strategies:

1. Conduct staff survey to assess attitudes to people with disabilities
- staff development officer
- by Feb 1998
Performance Measure - staff survey conducted

2. Provide DDA and disability awareness training for all staff
- staff development officer
- by July 1998
Performance Measure - staff training provided

In this example, a Performance Measure has been identified for each strategy but not for the aim The Performance Measures will provide information on whether strategies or tasks have been completed but no information on whether the completed strategies have enabled the objective to be achieved.

Evaluation should measure whether your strategies have achieved your aims, not merely whether you have completed the tasks involved in your strategy. Evaluation involves using performance indicators or measurement tools to assess whether the completion of strategies has enabled you to achieve your objective.

In other words, evaluation is the process to determine the success of your Action Plan. It might require you to

develop measurement tools or performance indicators
include consultation with people with disabilities as a measurement tool (see example below) and
measure the Action Plan's success at regular fixed intervals, such as yearly.

The example given above might be rewritten like this.

Objective: Staff attitudes to people with disabilities do not create barriers to our services

Strategies:

1. Conduct staff survey to assess attitudes to people with disabilities
- staff development officer
- by Feb 1998

2. Provide DDA and disability awareness training for all staff
- staff development officer
- by July 1998

3. Conduct post training survey to reassess staff attitudes to people with disabilities
- staff development officer
- by September 1998

4. Staff performance appraisals include service to people with disabilities
- section managers
- included in March appraisal reports

5. Ensure disability awareness and information on the Action Plan are included in staff induction
- staff development officer
- by first 1998 staff induction

6. Collect information on customer complaints about staff attitudes and behaviour
- customer services manager
- immediately with information included in progress reports

7. Include questions on staff attitudes when conducting the customer satisfaction surveys
- customer services manager
- by Jan 1998 with information included in progress reports

Performance Measures:

post training surveys demonstrate that all staff understand their responsibilities under the DDA and feel confident in their ability to serve customers with disabilities
staff performance appraisals demonstrate that all staff competently serve people with disabilities
customer complaints about staff attitudes to people with disabilities decline by 80%
results of the customer satisfaction surveys indicate that staff service to customers with disabilities is in line with our Customer Service Charter
reference group assessment of staff attitudes finds that attitudinal barriers have been eliminated from our service provision.

Some points about measures

To measure whether your strategies have achieved your aims, you need to develop measurement tools which provide you with specific and relevant information. This will allow you to chart your progress more accurately towards Action Plan objectives.

For example, a performance measure such as "an increase in the number of students with disabilities enrolling in the full range of courses" can be improved by including a specific figure: "a 50% increase in the number of students with disabilities enrolling in the full range of courses".

It is also important to ensure that your measurement tools can actually be used. For example, a performance measure such as "customers with a disability feel they belong" is unusable: how can you measure a subjective concept like 'belong'?

This performance measure becomes usable by changing it to: "100% of customers with disabilities indicate on customer feedback forms that they are satisfied with current access arrangements to our services". You can measure satisfaction with access to services by using a tool such as customer feedback forms and by quantifying responses.

Review

A review involves assessment and revision of the overall Action Plan. It uses the information from implementation reports and the results of evaluation to determine the success of the Plan as a whole and to revise, modify and develop the Plan as necessary. In other words, the Action Plan is a living document which is changed according to the needs of your consumer base and your organisational environment.

An effective review will include consultation with people with disabilities. This may involve reconvening your original consultation group to revisit issues and analyse feedback from people with disabilities which your organisation may have received since the Plan's implementation.

Example:

In conjunction with the Disability Reference Group, assess the overall effectiveness of the Action Plan every two years and, if appropriate, recommend changes to objectives, strategies and evaluation.

Summary

Monitor that your strategies and related tasks have actually been done - build in monitoring or reporting requirements
Evaluate whether completing these strategies achieves your aims - develop measures
Review whether aims maintain the Action Plan's effectiveness - assess and revise the Action Plan

Writing your plan

While your Action Plan may be used as a working document by your organisation, there will also be others who will want to access it, such as the people with disabilities and other external stakeholders whom you consulted with, other interested organisations and members of the public. In the event of a DDA complaint, your Action Plan may be useful in the conciliation stage and can form part of your defence at a hearing (see Appendix Three).

For your Action Plan to be understood and accessible to a range of people you need to ensure the following.

1. Develop a clear structure for the Plan's content with an introductory section. An introductory section provides a context for your Action Plan's goals and strategies. It should describe

the role and functions of your organisation
the DDA and your organisation's responsibilities
other relevant legislation or requirements
the services provided by your organisation
the process of developing your Action Plan, such as descriptions and results of the consultation process and other service review activities
the identified barriers for people with disabilities in accessing your services
the monitoring and evaluation process you have developed
when and how the overall Action Plan will be reviewed.

2. Write the Plan in plain English and avoid `inside' jargon and terminology.

3. Ensure that the Plan can be reproduced in other formats, such as in Braille, on audiotape, in large print or on the world wide web (see the Commission's Advisory Notes on World Wide Web Access listed in Appendix Two). Avoid the use of complex charts and tables.

Registering an Action Plan with the Commission

Registering an Action Plan with the Commission means that the Commission places the name of your organisation on its register. No formal assessment of the Action Plan takes place (see Appendix Three). Registering simply requires a cover letter asking the Disability Discrimination Commissioner to register the plan. It would help the Commission if you could provide an electronic version of the Action Plan and, if the organisation has the Action Plan on their Homepage, the address where it can be found. The Commission encourages organisations to make their Action Plan public.

APPENDIX ONE - Commission Action Plan Guides

The Commission has developed a number of sector specific guides for developing Action Plans. These can be viewed and downloaded from the Commission's Homepage at http://www.humanrights.gov.au

The following guides are available:

There is also a guide specifically developed for Local Government:

Disability Discrimination Act Action Plans - A Guide for Local Government
available from the Australian Local Government Association: Tel 02 6281 1211

APPENDIX TWO - Resources

Commission resources available on the Commission's Internet Site include:

Registered Disability Discrimination Act action plans - includes a number of action plans that can be downloaded in wordprocessing formats.

World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Advisory Notes

Advisory Notes on Access to Premises

Draft Accessible Public Transport Standards and the Commission's Advisory Note on Accessible Transport

Frequently Asked Questions - covering issues such as employment, education, access to premises, transport, housing.

A full list of publications available from the Commission is available on our Homepage or from the Publications Officer, Australian Human Rights Commission, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 1042.

Other Resources

There are other resources which you may wish to refer to:

Access Resource Kit

"This Kit has been developed to assist public authorities improve access for people with disabilities to the services and facilities they provide to the public. Included in the Kit is information on: people with disabilities in our community; the barriers they face; and five checklists to assist to identify areas for improvement. The checklists will enable authorities to assess the level of access to their: buildings and facilities, information, staff awareness, consultative and grievance mechanisms, and management related practices."

Available from WA Disability Services Commission. For information about the Kit, contact the Manager, Access Improvement Branch on 08 9426 9299 or fax 08 9426 9302

Right of Access - A Guide to developing Action Plans and improving access for people with disabilities

"Right of Access maps out a process for reviewing the accessibility of the built environment, programs and services, for people with disabilities. The Guide includes: a step by step explanation of the process required to complete a review of accessibility and a Disability Access Plan; an extensive checklist to be used in the auditing of facilities; details in relation to the assessment of both the built environment and programs and services; a computer disk version of the checklist, to enable tailoring to individual organisational needs."

Available from Villamanta Publishing Service. Tel: 03 5229 2029 Fax: 03 5222 5399

Disability Discrimination Act - A Guide to Best Practice in Local Government Making Access Happen: A Guide to Developing Disability Discrimination Act Action Plans for Local Government

Available from the Australian Local Government Association: Tel 02 6281 1211

APPENDIX THREE -Action Plans and Complaint Handling

DDA section 61 provides that service providers may develop and lodge with the Commission an Action Plan for full compliance with the Act. Commonwealth departments and agencies are obliged under the Commonwealth Disability Strategy to develop one. Some States and Territories also require or encourage their departments to develop Disability Service Plans or similar under other state law, which may also meet the criteria for an Action Plan under the DDA. More and more local governments are developing Action Plans as part of their broader social planning activities. Increasingly the Commission is finding complainants are requesting businesses and service providers develop an Action Plan as part of a conciliated agreement.

A service provider may provide a copy of their Action Plan to a complainant at any time during the conciliation process. Presenting an Action Plan and discussing implementation issues may promote conciliation. More formally an Action Plan may be referred to during a hearing as part of a respondents defence under section 11 of the DDA.

In broad terms the DDA requires services providers, whether public services or private businesses, to make their services accessible to people with a disability. The only defence to complaints of direct discrimination is unjustifiable hardship as described in Section 11. Section 11 states that, in addition to factors such as financial circumstances, technical limits and likely benefits or detriments arising from making something accessible, one of the factors that must be considered is

in the case of the provision of services, or the making available of facilities - an action plan given to the Commission under section 64.

In other words the Commission is obliged to consider an Action Plan or any other relevant factors or documents as part of a defence of unjustifiable hardship.

If an Action Plan establishes the respondents commitment to do everything possible to eliminate discrimination within a reasonable period of time and if the respondent is implementing the Action plan, then the Commission may find that it would be unjustifiably hard to require the respondent to do more. However, the mere existence of an Action Plan does not constitute a defence.

Because of this requirement it would not be appropriate for the Commission to determine the acceptability of any Action Plan prior to or in the absence of a complaint. The Commission does not 'approve' an Action Plan when it registers it.

So far there has been no complaint go to a hearing in which an Action Plan has been submitted as part of a defence. However the Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner considers that a Hearing Commissioner would carefully consider the content and implementation of an Action Plan and the process involved in developing a plan as part of a section 11 defence. If an Action Plan was developed without reference to service users or prospective service users, if priorities for change were not relevant to service users and prospective service users, if the Action Plan did not adopt reasonable timelines and if there was no evidence that the plan was actually being implemented, it is unlikely the Action Plan will be effective in contributing to a defence.

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