Coinciding with International Day of People with Disability, GOTAFE on Friday revealed its new Accessibility Action Plan, outlining the steps it will take to guarantee the needs of students and staff living with disability are met.
The plan is designed to equip people living with disability in the GOTAFE community with support to succeed in education and work.
Alumnus Athena Papadatos, who had lived experience of navigating GOTAFE as a person with disability, said there were no similar measures in place when she was a student in 2000 and the institution had come a long way.
“GOTAFE’s student support services have grown a lot since my time,” she said.
“The new initiatives will help students a lot, especially the mentoring program, which will teach other people skills they didn’t have and build confidence.”
Ms Papadatos’ number one tip for supporting people with disability is to “ask the person what they want”.
GOTAFE chief executive Travis Heeney said the plan was a reminder to celebrate the diversity among staff and students.
“GOTAFE is accountable for bringing this action plan to life, including all 20 actions we have committed to,” he said.
“We have seen much positive progress in accessibility and inclusion and look forward to further improvements over the next four years.”
The plan focuses on inclusivity, accessibility, and sustainability in a post-COVID-19 world.
Lived experience from a diverse range of people helped to inform the new plan, including input from staff such as GOTAFE equitable learning advisor John Leckie.
Mr Leckie supports GOTAFE students living with disability by arranging reasonable adjustments to their coursework and support to help with their studies.
He said GOTAFE was seeing increasing numbers of students identify as living with disability.
“If we didn’t have inclusion (plans) we’d be pushing out the great majority of our community and that’s not acceptable in any way,” he said.
International Day of People with Disability was a good opportunity to examine how students and staff with disability were supported, Mr Leckie said.
“It is really important we do some careful and individual planning and look at people’s long-term needs,” he said.
“If you make reasonable adjustment without it being in context for that person, it can lead to doing more harm than good.
“It is so important organisations take a lead role in supporting all people with their needs.”
Under the action plan, GOTAFE intends to provide more employment opportunities for people living with disability and ensure 50 per cent of staff have mental health first aid training.
Campuses are set to see improved accessibility features, including accessible wayfinding, mobility charging stations and provision of quiet spaces.
