Disability Action Plan

Background

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 states that it is mandatory that the needs and rights of people with disabilities are taken into consideration in all aspects of service planning and delivery. In recognition of this, the City of Ballarat has undertaken a process to facilitate the creation of the Disability Action Plan (DAP), covering the period from 2003 to 2013, providing mechanisms for the City of Ballarat to ensure that the City takes into account the needs of people with disabilities when planning and delivering services.

The City of Ballarat's ten year Disability Action Plan was first drafted in 2003 after a comprehensive consultation process involving disability service providers, people with a disability, and City of Ballarat staff. The Plan addressed barriers that exist for people with a disability, and aimed for the establishment of a culture of accessibility for all, particularly to City of Ballarat services, activities and buildings, and increasingly across the entire community.

The 'Traffic Light Model of Review'

A review of the DAP was undertaken at the end of 2006 using a 'traffic light model of review' which was developed by RuralAccess, Ballarat. The first page is a summary matrix of the entire DAP. The progress of the entire document is contained on that matrix and works like a floor-plan of the overall document. The numbers in the first two columns on the front page refer to the numbers of each strategy in the following pages.

The red, amber and green colour scheme indicates the percentage of compliance that the DAP has achieved in the past three years. The percentage indicated in each square is a form of scoring based on accepting that a strategy has been implemented to a certain degree and then the review team were asked questions like:

• How much has this improved access for people with a disability?
• What changes to people's attitude has this made?
• To what degree is this achieving access and inclusion?

Any strategies that are indicated as 'ongoing' according to the timelines, did not score more than 90%. The items that are displayed in red and have 10-20% score are new strategies that have been included in the 2006 review.

The full progress report is contained in the body of the DAP and can be referred to for more information. Download the Disability Action Plan 2006 - Review (PDF - 142KB).

Contact Details

For further information about the DAP please call the RuralAccess worker on 03 5320 5769 or email debwhitecross@ballarat.vic.gov.au.