Disability and Inclusion Committee

We have committees so that we can hear directly from people in our community about what matters to them and find opportunities to work together on these issues.

Members of the Banyule Disability and Inclusion Committee (BDIC) guide us on how we can better support people with disability and make our community inclusive for everyone.

We want to understand:

  • what the community's hopes and goals are
  • how we can harness the knowledge and expertise of people with disability
  • what challenges they are seeing in the community
  • how we can help reduce barriers to participation.

We meet in person once every 2 months at an accessible location. There is an option to join meetings online. Meeting agendas are provided in Easy English.

Read the full committee terms of reference(PDF, 242KB).

About this community

1 in 5 Australians living with disability experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a current or previous intimate partner.

17% of Victorians live with disability. That’s around 22,000 Banyule residents.

6% of local residents live with severe disability. That is, they have a need for assistance with daily living.

15% of our residents living with disability experience discrimination, abuse or social exclusion.

Almost 1 in 3 residents living with disability rate their physical health as fair or poor.

Working aged people living with disability are more likely to be unemployed (10%) than those without a disability (4%).

Almost 3 out of 4 people living with disability do not participate in the recommended level of exercise.

Generally, households that include a person living with disability have lower weekly income.

This data has been sourced from ABS Census 2021, Banyule Household Survey 2022, Women’s Health Atlas, Australian Institute of Health & Wellbeing.

Objectives

The committee meets to:

  • provide feedback and advice on our policies, plans, services and projects that affect people with disability
  • provide advice on government initiatives, programs and reviews that affect people with disability
  • advocate for people with disability
  • help us promote the benefits of diversity and enhance understanding about the barriers to equality facing people with disabilities
  • provide advice in relation to our communication, engagement and consultation with people with disability
  • monitor the implementation of our Inclusive Banyule Plan 2022-2026 (Easy English version is available)

Membership

The committee consists of:

  • up to 12 community members with lived experience, including carers and family members
  • 1 councillor
  • up to 3 representatives from community organisations, agencies and service providers who meet the selection criteria.

Representation on the committee will reflect:

  • the diverse range of interests and experience, providing a balance of perspectives
  • community demographics
  • geographic diversity of Banyule.

Our staff are not considered members of the committee, but a specific officer is assigned to the committee to provide executive support and will be the key contact for all members.

Actions

This committee provides guidance on how to make our community more inclusive. Each year the committee agrees on what actions should be taken. These are the actions achieved in 2023-2024.

  • Reviewed the Inclusive Business Guides to support businesses to uplift inclusive practice for people with disability.
  • Reviewed our website information on volunteering to better support people with disability to connect with local volunteering and job opportunities.
  • Implemented stage 2 of our disability website project.
  • Created access guides for Council’s major civic facilities and community halls for hire.
  • Published Easy English versions of the Community Vision, Council Plan and Inclusive Banyule Plan on our website.
  • Created a social story and sensory map for Malahang Festival and Carols by Candlelight.
  • Added additional accessibility and language features to our website to improve access.
  • Made improvements to our community buildings to improve disability access.
  • Made it easier for community to report access issues in our major activity centres.
  • Progressed activity centre planning, with consideration of disabled parking.
  • Worked with the Office for Disability to prepare for proposed Disability Act amendments.
  • Convened bi-monthly meetings.
  • Elevated visibility and awareness of people with disability through events, advocacy and days of celebration.
  • Supported Banyule Disability Services to meet on a quarterly basis.
  • Delivered a program that supports employers with free tools, resources and access to recruitment services and local talent to build stronger, more inclusive workplaces.
  • Continued to develop an inclusive employment resource for use by the private sector.
  • Delivered the 2023/24 Inclusive Employment Program.
  • Continued to deliver diversity and inclusion training to our staff.
  • Continue to develop our understanding of inclusion of people with disability in the workplace by increasing our understanding of neurodiversity.

Contact

For more information or to register your interest in joining, contact us on 9457 9908 or at sherryn.prinzi@banyule.vic.gov.au

Find out more about the committee’s work from past meetings.

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