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Introduction

This Disability Access and Inclusion Plan 2020-2024 (DAIP) details the Department for Infrastructure and Transport’s (the Department) commitment to promoting, protecting and enhancing the rights of people living with disability in South Australia. The Plan includes clear and measurable actions and targets designed through community and Departmental consultation to give effect to the priority areas of the State Disability Inclusion Plan 2019-2023 (the State Plan), as they relate to the purpose and activities of the Department.

The State Plan has set the benchmark for all State authorities to give effect to the Disability Inclusion Act 2018 (the Act), as well as to contribute to the whole of government and community effort to support and further the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

In accordance with the principles and intent of the Act, the State Plan is appropriately expansive and holistic in its approach to collaboration between State Government agencies and local councils to reduce the barriers faced by people living with disability.

Increasingly, accessibility is being justly recognised as encompassing principles and practices that are in the broad public interest, and not just of benefit to people living with disability. Changing demographics and increasingly diverse needs mean that greater segments of the community benefit from inclusive and accessible design as a social good, not a compromise.

Accessible spaces are intergenerational and benefit the whole community, including children, parents with prams and strollers, and older people, as well as people with disability. At the same time, improved understanding of the diversity of visible and invisible disabilities in the community, and the diverse needs of people living with disability are informing our planning and responses to these design and service delivery requirements.

This first Department DAIP builds upon the ongoing work of the Department in relation to disability access and inclusion outcomes and sets the Department’s priority agenda and action plan for a period of four years, 2020-2024.

There will be opportunities for evolution of the Department’s strategic priorities in relation to access and inclusion with consideration of new information and learnings. This includes the implementation of the Public Sector Disability Employment Strategy, a renewed State Disability Inclusion Plan, a new National Disability Strategy, the modernisation of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport, and a review of the Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards 2010.

Community consultation on the State Plan and the Department’s draft DAIP highlighted areas of improvement for the Department to address, particular community needs. The consultation ensured the Department remained on the right track, responsive to community needs and priorities, and investing in areas that will provide the greatest benefit for people living with disability.

The objectives of the Department’s first DAIP are as follows:

  • To ensure accessibility is prioritised through our business processes and systems.
  • To be in touch with our communities through greater community engagement, communications, and responsiveness to complaints and feedback.
  • To provide integrated and accessible end-to-end public transport journeys.
  • To improve the accessibility of our roads and pathways for pedestrians with disability.
  • To create accessible and inclusive workplaces for all people including people living with disability.

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