People with accessibility needs can now more easily find practical support and information to help them explore and enjoy the City of Melbourne.
Our new Accessing Melbourne web content brings together key information on accessible amenities and cultural venues, accessible transport and parking, mobility maps with street gradients, and other services.
It also includes information on our carers’ support groups, the NDIS, how to get involved in council activities, checklists to help people make their businesses more accessible, and more.
Colleen Furlanetto is Disability / Accessibility Commissioner for Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria and Victorian Disability Advisory Council Chair. She welcomed our new web content as a valuable resource for residents and visitors.
‘The project shows great leadership and the positive impacts will be welcomed by those of us needing access – indeed access to our human right to inclusion,’ Colleen said.
‘Unless you have experienced barriers yourself, you may not fully appreciate them. No matter how subtle, a barrier is a barrier. We need to have these discussions openly as a community’.
One in five Victorians has a disability, and at least 80 per cent of these disabilities are not visible to the eye, so access and inclusion initiatives involve far more than simply wider doorways and ramps.
As Melbourne grows, we are working hard to design a city that caters to everyone’s accessibility needs, embracing technology and creative thinking to enable more people to participate fully in the life of the city.
‘My disability doesn’t define me, but I acknowledge it’s a part of my life. I have a life to live, as do all of us with disability. And we all have differing needs. There’s not a ‘one size fits all’ approach,’ Colleen said.
‘Planning for now and the future is essential. With the forward thinking at the City of Melbourne, we welcome and look forward to participating in, and building on some of the great work that’s already underway.’
To find out more, visit Accessing Melbourne.
