creating liveable communities supporting access to meaningful employment improving access to mainstream services through better systems and processes These areas have been mapped against the priorities of the National Disability Strategy to ensure consistency between all levels of government. Developing positive community attitudes and behaviours AIM: To community awareness of the rights and abilities of people with disability, and to support the development of positive attitudes and behaviour towards people with disability. The attitudes and behaviours of the general community towards people with disability have been described as the single greatest barrier to full access and inclusion. Research has found that negative attitudes towards people with disability have significant impacts on people’s major life areas, such as education, employment, health, and community participation. Community attitudes can also be influenced by particular characteristics of the person with disability, such as gender, age, ethnicity, or the type of disability itself. This can lead to greater discrimination and disadvantage for women with disability, or Aboriginal people with disability, for example. Public attitude is determined by the community’s experience and knowledge of disability. Consultation to date has identified that attitudes towards people with disability are determined by ignorance, fear or lack of opportunity to interact. Developing positive community attitudes involves increasing public awareness and creating opportunities for interaction. While it is important to identify specific actions to assist in the development of positive attitudes and behaviours, actions under the other three focus areas will also contribute to developing inclusive attitudes. don’t always mean to discriminate against people with ‘People disabilities but it’s one of those things that does occur. I think the challenge is to make people aware of the types of discrimination and how to overcome that, without being hostile or anything like that. I’m quite happy to point out to people ways of going about it
creating liveable communities supporting access to meaningful employment improving access to mainstream services through better systems and processes These areas have been mapped against the priorities of the National Disability Strategy to ensure consistency between all levels of government. Developing positive community attitudes and behaviours AIM: To community awareness of the rights and abilities of people with disability, and to support the development of positive attitudes and behaviour towards people with disability. The attitudes and behaviours of the general community towards people with disability have been described as the single greatest barrier to full access and inclusion. Research has found that negative attitudes towards people with disability have significant impacts on people’s major life areas, such as education, employment, health, and community participation. Community attitudes can also be influenced by particular characteristics of the person with disability, such as gender, age, ethnicity, or the type of disability itself. This can lead to greater discrimination and disadvantage for women with disability, or Aboriginal people with disability, for example. Public attitude is determined by the community’s experience and knowledge of disability. Consultation to date has identified that attitudes towards people with disability are determined by ignorance, fear or lack of opportunity to interact. Developing positive community attitudes involves increasing public awareness and creating opportunities for interaction. While it is important to identify specific actions to assist in the development of positive attitudes and behaviours, actions under the other three focus areas will also contribute to developing inclusive attitudes. ‘People don’t always mean to discriminate against people with disabilities but it’s one of those things that does occur. I think the challenge is to make people aware of the types of discrimination and how to overcome that, without being hostile or anything like that. I’m quite happy to point out to people ways of going about it
disability_inclusion_plan_word.docx