GOTAFE marks International Day of People with Disability by launching Accessibility Action Plan
The Accessibility Action Plan was launched on Friday, 3 December coinciding with International Day of People with Disability.
GOTAFE has outlined their ongoing commitment to equity, fairness and respect with the launch of their Accessibility Action Plan, which focuses on the over 12 per cent of their students who identify as living with disability.
The Accessibility Action Plan was launched on Friday, 3 December coinciding with International Day of People with Disability.
The plan outlines the many actions GOTAFE will take to ensure the needs of students identifying with disability are met and will equip students with support necessary to exceed in education and employment settings.
“This plan will ensure all students and staff with disability are provided equal opportunities and will remind us to celebrate the diversity within our staff and student body,” GOTAFE Chief Executive Officer, Travis Heeney said.
“GOTAFE is accountable for bringing this action plan to life, including all 20 actions we have committed to. We have seen much positive progress in accessibility and inclusion and look forward to further improvements over the next four years.”
In line with this year’s theme of International Day of People with Disability, the Accessibility Action Plan will guide leadership and participation of persons living with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post-COVID-19 world.
Additionally, lived experience from a diverse range of people, including GOTAFE staff, has helped to inform the Accessibility Action Plan.
John Leckie, Equitable Learning Advisor at GOTAFE was one of many who helped inform the Accessibility Action Plan.
In his role, John supports GOTAFE students living with disability, making reasonable adjustments and providing support to help with their studies.
“International Day of People with Disability is a really good day to have a good look at how we support people with disability,” he said.
“It is really important we do some careful and individual planning and look at people’s long-term needs.
“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.”
The Accessibility Action Plan is focused on delivering initiatives and actions that will improve the experience of both staff and students with disability.
The launch highlighted initiatives and partnerships GOTAFE has with National Disability Coordination Officer Program, The Sarina Russo Group, the Australian Network on Disability and Bayley House.
Initiatives profiled on the day were the:
- TAFE Specialist Employment Partnership
- GOTAFE School Based Traineeship Program,
- Positive Action towards Career Engagement Mentoring Program
- Hidden Disability Sunflower Program.
GOTAFE alumnus Athena Papadatos spoke about her lived experience at the launch event and explained GOTAFE have come a long way.
“GOTAFE’s student support services have grown a lot since my time,” Athena 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.”
Athena’s number one tip for supporting people with disability is to “ask the person what they want.”