Under the Disability Inclusion Act 2014 (NSW) all public authorities including Councils are required to have a DIAP. Developing and successfully implementing DIAPs can remove and/or reduce barriers that are preventing people with disabilities from participating in a more accessible and inclusive community. Without including the contributions of people with disabilities to our community, we all miss out on the benefits. A DIAP outlines the commitment of CN towards inclusion and also the actions that CN and partners will engage in over the next 4 years.

In summary, DIAP planning helps us reinforce the rights of people with disabilities and brings attention to our actions, attitudes and behaviours that can ensure disability inclusion is at the front of our thinking instead of being an afterthought.

We significantly progressed or completed 55 actions of the 57 actions within the previous plan.

Via community consultation you told us that we have improved in many of our services, improved access at Civic Theatre, City Hall, and in the programs and events are positive. The delivery of Adult Lift and Change facilities at Nobbys Beach and the Museum are improvements and our Local Centres Upgrades have really made a difference to how people can get around their local community. We have progressed improving accessible play spaces in our parks and playgrounds and will continue this into the new plan.

We offered training to our staff to promote positive attitudes and behaviours related to disability inclusion and will always strive to enhance our customer service, most recently this has included delivering Auslan training for key staff in the lead up to the Deaf Games in 2022.

A significant action from our first plan was to get the voice of people with disabilities more engaged within Council processes, so we established the Access Inclusion Advisory Committee consisting of people with disabilities, carers and significant others of people with disabilities and also people working as advocates/allies and/or working within the disability services sector.

We have been working with Variety the Children's Charity, Sport NSW, Community Disability Alliance Hunter, Newcastle University, business partners and numerous other key stakeholders to build on our efforts to create a more accessible and inclusive Newcastle.

What are the main themes of this DIAP and the tangible actions that will be implemented?

The four themes of the initial DIAP remain in place for the 2021-2025 DIAP as they align well with NSW and Federal directions. These are

• Attitudes and Behaviours,
• Liveable Communities,
• Employment, and
• Systems and Processes.

Our 35 actions include continuing to build our staff's knowledge and understanding of the diversity of disabilities and how these are experienced on a daily basis. We will work with partners to ensure that not only are our staff more informed and better understand how we can be more inclusive but that the broader community is also brought on this journey. We will ensure people with disabilities are better represented in our communications, in our planning considerations and community engagement, events and programs.

CN will continue to upgrade our Local Centres across Newcastle to create more liveable communities and act to enhance supply of affordable and adaptable housing. We will explore and deliver improvements via technology to assist people with orientation and access across our city and within facilities.

We aim to increase the number of accessible Adult Lift and Change facilities across the city building on the installations of these at Nobbys and the Museum, and we will continue to work on improving access to our aquatic facilities.

We want to ensure people with disabilities are included in all aspects of life, so we commit via this plan to work with Business Improvement Associations, Sporting Associations, Tourist and Accommodation Providers, Event Organisers and others to build a more inclusive Newcastle.