Access and Inclusion Index. Benchmark report 2016. Australian Network on Disability

ACCESS AND
INCLUSION INDEX
BENCHMARK REPORT
2016MAY 2017

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The development and implementation of the
Access and Inclusion Index was made possible
by the funding and in-kind support of the NSW
Department of Family and Community Services
(NSW FACS), the National Disability Insurance
Agency (NDIA), Department of Defence, IBM
and Westpac Group. We sincerely thank the
Development Partner Working Group for their
time and valuable feedback in contributing to
the design and implementation of the 2016
inaugural Access and Inclusion Index.
Cover image - Stepping Into intern Georga, 24
(centre) meets with her work colleagues.
Inside cover - Job, 31, wanted to gain
experience in a large organisation during his
Stepping Into internship.
The Australian Network on Disability’s Stepping
Into program is a six week paid internship for
student’s with disability.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 2
MESSAGE FROM CEO 4
INTRODUCTION 5
About the Access and
Inclusion Index 5
Scoring methodology 6
Innovation leads
to accessible food 7
KEY FINDINGS 8
Leading organisations 8
Key areas and goals 10
Maturity levels 11
Fit for all communications 13
Cross section of results 14
Framework, Implementation,
Review and Outcomes,
Innovation 16
Making adjustments work 19
WHAT’S NEXT? 22
TABLE OF
FIGURES
FIGURE 1 9
Distribution of Access and
Inclusion Index scores
FIGURE 2 11
Index average maturity level
by key area
FIGURE 3 14
Number of organisations in
each maturity level (by key area)
FIGURE 4 16
Average maturity level by
key area and Framework,
Implementation, and Review
and Outcomes
TABLE OF
TABLES
TABLE 1 9
Distribution of Access and
Inclusion Index scores (data)
TABLE 2 12
Index average maturity level
by key area (data)
TABLE 3 15
Number of organisations by
maturity band and key area (data)
TABLE 4 17
Average maturity level by
key area and Framework, Implementation,
and Review and Outcomes
TABLE 5 20
Innovation for employees - number of
responses for each maturity level
TABLE 6 21
Innovation for customers, clients or
service users - number of responses
for each maturity level
2 3

MESSAGE
FROM CEO
Thank you to our 22 member organisations
for participating in the inaugural Access and
Inclusion Index for Australia.
Your contribution to setting a national
benchmark for access and inclusion
demonstrates a strong commitment to
achieving disability confidence for both your
employees and customers. It also signals the
powerful message that welcoming people
with disability in all areas of business is the
responsibility of us all.
One of the aims of the Australian Network
on Disability’s Access and Inclusion Index is
to foster conversations within organisations
about disability confidence.
We know from participating members’
feedback that many discussions were
held with key people from across their
organisation to complete the Index
submission. In the process of doing so, many
of the Index participants started to explore
what more can be done to improve their
access and inclusion practice.
This whole-of-organisation approach to the
Access and Inclusion Index is vital if we are to
make progress.
My appreciation for the Index participants
and members of the Australian Network
on Disability is immense. Your support and
collaboration in establishing a ground-
breaking national benchmark for access and
inclusion in business is a big step towards
the equitable participation of people with
disability in society.
Regards
Suzanne Colbert AM
CEO Australian Network on Disability
INTRODUCTION
The 2016 inaugural Access and Inclusion
Index benchmark report assists organisations
in understanding the current level of
maturity for access and inclusion practices
across businesses in Australia. As such, the
Australian Network on Disability (AND) has
established a national benchmark for access
and inclusion in business.
This year’s Index had 22 AND members
submit their assessment for evaluation and
benchmarking.
Participating organisations operate within
the public, private and not-for-profit sectors
and come from wide ranging industry
backgrounds - such as finance, technology,
healthcare, education and provision of
government services.
It is to the credit of both our Index
Development Partners and participating
AND members that the Access and Inclusion
Index has come to fruition: a bold step
towards a systematic way to measure and
monitor the access and inclusion of people
with disability in business. It is anticipated
and hoped that annual publication of
Index results will influence tangible change
to progress the equitable participation
of people with disability in all aspects of
business.
ABOUT THE
ACCESS INCLUSION INDEX
The Access and Inclusion Index is a suite of
tools for Australian organisations to use to
understand, assess, benchmark and improve
their disability confidence to meet the needs
of their customers and employees with
disability.
These tools will help organisations review
their policies, procedures and practices to
establish their progress in being accessible
and inclusive for people with disability. It
will increase understanding of access and
inclusion, and provide opportunities to
receive guidance on how to be welcoming to
people with disability across their business.
The ten key areas determined to drive the
greatest benefits for access and inclusion of
people with disability within an organisation
have been determined as follows:
1. Commitment
2. Premises
3. Workplace Adjustments
4. Communication and Marketing
5. Products and Services
6. Information and Communication
Technology (ICT)
7. Recruitment and Selection
8. Career Development
9. Suppliers and Partners
10. Innovation
4 5

SCORING METHODOLOGY
Questions within each of the key areas of the
Index are grouped into three sections:
• Framework: relates to organisational
commitment, policies, procedures and
guidelines.
• Implementation: relates to actions,
programs and initiatives that the
organisation has taken to deliver on
commitments.
• Review and Outcomes: relates to
monitoring and reviewing progress and
using data to improve processes and
outcomes for people with disability.
Responses to all questions are provided at
four levels of capability or maturity to allow
for reflection of an organisation’s journey
towards inclusive practice of employing and
welcoming people with disability within their
organisation.
• Level 1: Not participating - this is the
base level where an organisation may
not have yet considered its position and
is still planning their path.
• Level 2: Basic - the organisation is
operating in a way which reflects a
compliance focus or is reactive to issues.
• Level 3: Programmatic - the
organisation has developed tactics,
programs, policies or procedures to
address some issues, or focuses only on
some parts of its business or operations.
• Level 4: Strategic - business process
and practices are designed to deliver
a consistently accessible and inclusive
experience for employees, customers
and stakeholders. Access and inclusion
activities are aligned to the business
across the organisation and are
sustainable.
The Access and Inclusion Index weights both
the key areas and the questions to produce
a total index score out of 100. The questions
and sections have been weighted and scored
based on the relative importance and impact
of progressing access and inclusion for
people with disability.
This scoring methodology is applied
consistently across all organisations that have
submitted for evaluation. The assessment,
maturity model, scoring and weighting have
been validated by the Centre for Workplace
Leadership at the University of Melbourne.
GOOD PRACTICE
EXAMPLE
6 7
INNOVATION LEADS TO
ACCESSIBLE FOOD
Whether trying to eat a snack or prepare
a meal for one, many people have trouble
opening food packaging. For people with a
mobility disability, such as arthritis or MS, it
can be even more frustrating.
HealthShare New South Wales’ (NSW) Food
Packing Project aims to make the single
serve food portions given to patients as
easy as possible for everyone to open. In
2014, HealthShare NSW’s Food Packing
Project received the Peak Award Innovation
at the NSW Health Awards and a high
commendation in the 2016 Save Food
Packaging Awards.
Bronwyn Scott, Disability Employment
Leader, and Zdenka Fuller, Business Support
Manager, shared information about the
project as part of their submission to the
Australian Network on Disability’s 2016
Access and Inclusion Index.
“NSW Health uses pre-packaged foods, for
patient’s meals. If people can’t open the
food, they may not eat, because a relative
might not be with them or staff may be
unavailable,” said Zdenka.
“We want to make it as easy and dignified
as possible for people, and worked with
Arthritis Australia, Nestle and The Georgia
Tech Research Institute (GTRI) to develop
an accessibility rating. It works on a scale
of +8 to -8, and estimates the percentage
of consumers who can safely open the
packaging,” Zdenka added.
To ensure the initiative is as far reaching as
possible, the rating is included in supplier
contracts. It is leading towards creating a
national standard for accessible packaging
and is mandatory in over half of public
hospitals in Australia.
“When a manufacturer wants to supply to
us they must meet our accessibility rating
and to do that, they may need to update
their packaging,” said Bronwyn. “It has been
a positive experience for manufacturers
with many reporting increased customer
satisfaction with their products. In addition,
industries - such as airlines and hotels - are
now also benefiting from the initiative.”
After completing the Access and Inclusion
Index, the findings showed that HealthShare
scored well in the Innovation key area, and
HealthShare intends to use the Index as a
tool to set a benchmark for improvement in
the future.
“We want to know where we stand in terms
of access and inclusion. The Index is a useful
way of identifying where the gaps are, so we
can improve our performance in the future.
It really guides your focus and gives you
leverage to drive change,” said Bronwyn.
The organisation also found the Index useful
to document achievements and highlight
areas that had been considered but not yet
actioned.
“The Index gave me a framework in which to
document achievements and highlight things
that we said we’d do but hadn’t managed
to action. For example, we committed to
including information about adjustments
to the recruitment process in all our job
advertisements. Since actioning this, we have
had an increase in calls from people with
disability interested to apply,” said Bronwyn.
When asked if they would participate in the
Index again, Bronwyn said, “Completing
the Index was hard work, but I thought it
was well worth it. You can’t tell if you are
successful if you don’t measure it.”
HealthShare NSW is a statewide organisation
established to provide high-quality shared
services to support the delivery of patient
care within the NSW Health system.

KEY
FINDINGS
LEADING ORGANISATIONS
Australian Network on Disability is pleased to
announce that the 2016 Access and Inclusion
Index identified IBM Australia, the Federal
Department of Human Services and Westpac
Group as the most mature on their journey
towards access and inclusion.
Access and Inclusion Index 2016 -
overall Index
1. IBM
2. Federal Department of Human Services
3. Westpac Group
A wide range of organisations have
performed very well across key areas
of the Access and Inclusion Index. This
demonstrates that the Index translates across
different types of organisations and can serve
as a roadmap for progress in Australia:
• 11 organisations were in the top
three places in different key areas
of the Access and Inclusion Index
and represented the technology,
government, banking, education,
insurance and recruiting sectors.
• 16 different organisations were
represented in the top six places across
key areas.
• No organisation was consistently in the
bottom three places across all key areas.
• The scale of these organisations ranges
from multinational to smaller Australian
enterprises.
The average Access and Inclusion
Index score across the 22 participating
organisations was 47/100 with 11
organisations scoring between 31 and
50. Five organisations achieved an Index
score more than 61. Australian Network
on Disability considers this to be a solid
outcome for the first year of the Access and
Inclusion Index with respect to its purpose to
contribute to future improvements in access
and inclusion practice in Australia. The
distribution of the varying levels of maturity
recognises not only the organisations
that are performing well, but provides
encouragement for others that there is a
clear path to follow.
Australian Network on Disability assessed
all information provided by organisations in
support of their self-assessment. Figure 1
and table 1 show the distribution of Access
and Inclusion Index scores.
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
41-50
31-40
21-30
11-20
10 2 3 4 5 6 7
0-10
DISTRIBUTION OF INDEX SCORES
NUMBER OF ORGANISATIONS
0
2
2
4
3
2
2
1
6
0
Figure 1 Distribution of Access and Inclusion Index scores
ACCESS AND INCLUSION
SCORE RANGE
NUMBER OF
ORGANISATIONS
0-10 0
11-20 2
21-30 2
31-40 4
41-50 6
51-60 3
61-70 2
71-80 2
81-90 1
91-100 0
TOTAL 22
Table 1
Distribution
of Access and
Inclusion Index
scores (data)
8 9

KEY AREAS
There are ten key areas in the Access and
Inclusion Index representing the ‘whole-of-
organisation’ approach required to ensure
access and inclusion for all stakeholders
with disability. Some of these areas - such
as Commitment, Workplace Adjustments,
Recruitment and Selection, and Premises -
have been the focus of organisations
for many years as primary enablers of
access and inclusion. Other areas - such
as Career Development, Marketing and
Communications and ICT - have had
more recent focus as organisations have
developed a better understanding of
the needs of people with disability as
employees, customers and stakeholders. In
addition, the role of Suppliers and Partners,
and Products and Services, are now receiving
increased attention as leading organisations
seek to ensure accessibility and inclusion in a
more systematic and universal way.
KEY AREAS AND GOALS
The ten key areas and goals are listed below.
1. Commitment: We commit to best
practice on access and inclusion for
people with disability as employees,
customers and stakeholders.
2. Premises: Our premises are accessible
to people with disabilities and whenever
necessary we make adjustments for
individuals.
3. Workplace Adjustments: We anticipate
the needs of people with disability and
have a robust process for making any
adjustments which might be needed by
individuals.
4. Communication and Marketing: Our
communication and marketing channels
are accessible to people with disability
and whenever necessary we make
reasonable adjustments for individuals.
5. Products and Services: We value
people with disability as customers,
clients and service users and address
their needs when developing and
delivering our products and services.
6. ICT: Our ICT is accessible and usable by
people with disability, and we also make
reasonable adjustments for individuals.
7. Recruitment and Selection: We attract
and recruit people with disability, which
gives us access to the widest talent pool
at every level.
8. Career Development: We value all
our employees, including those who
experience disability and are committed
to their retention and development.
9. Suppliers and Partners: We expect
our suppliers and corporate partners
to reflect and enable us to meet our
commitment to best practice.
10. Innovation: We pride ourselves on our
innovative practices and continually
strive to do better.
MATURITY LEVELS
Figure 2 and table 2 show the average
maturity level across all Index participants for
each key area. The maturity levels are:
• Level 1 - Not participating
• Level 2 - Basic
• Level 3 - Programmatic, and
• Level 4 - Strategic.
that follow.
The increasing level of maturity is
represented by the segments in the figures
Commitment
ICT
Premises
Products and Services
Recruitment
and Selection
Career
Development
Suppliers
and Partners
Innovation
Workplace
Adjustment
Communication
and Marketing
MATURITY LEVEL FOR EACH KEY AREA
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
AVERAGE MATURITY LEVEL
Figure 2 Index average maturity level by key area
10 11

KEY AREA
AVERAGE MATURITY
LEVEL (/4)
Commitment 3.0
Premises 2.5
Workplace Adjustments 3.0
Communication and Marketing 2.5
Products and Services 2.5
ICT 2.5
Recruitment and Selection 2.5
Career Development 2.5
Suppliers and Partners 2.0
Innovation 2.5
Table 2 Index average maturity level by key area (data)
STRATEGIC
There was no key area in which the
average maturity level of all participating
organisations was at the Strategic level.
PROGRAMMATIC TO STRATEGIC
The areas of Commitment and Workplace
Adjustments demonstrated the highest level
of maturity overall amongst the participating
organisations. The average across
organisations was at the Programmatic level,
meaning that there were tactics, programs,
policies or procedures in place to address
some issues or a focus on some parts of
their business or operations. The Access
and Inclusion Index provides clear guidance
on how to make these practices systematic
and truly embed them in organisations to
progress to the strategic level.
BASIC TO PROGRAMMATIC
The areas of Premises, Communication
and Marketing, Products and Services, and
Career Development averaged between
Basic and Programmatic, reflecting a more
reactive approach with some programs and/
or policies in place. We encourage members
to take a strategic approach, ensuring
practices extend across the organisation, are
measured and sustainable.
NOT PARTICIPATING TO BASIC
ICT and Suppliers and Partners were key
areas where on average only a basic, reactive
level of maturity was present. For the Index
findings for ICT to score at a basic level
on average is an unexpected result, given
the availability of external standards and
guidance (WCAG 2.0) and the perceived
trend of an increased emphasis on ICT.
Organisations were committed to external
standards and guidance, but scored lower for
the sections relating to implementation and
monitoring.
GOOD PRACTICE
EXAMPLE
12 13
FIT FOR ALL
COMMUNICATIONS
Communication plays a fundamental role in
all aspects of business and has a powerful
role to play in influencing public perception.
It positions brands, helps with managing
relationships, supports effective team
building, enables innovation and contributes
to organisational growth. Ensuring
communications and marketing activity is
accessible to as many people as possible is
essential in creating an inclusive workplace.
Life Without Barriers is a leading social
purpose organisation that supports children,
young people and families, people with
disability, older people and people with
mental illness, to live their best life and
participate fully in the community. Inclusive
communications and marketing messages
are part of their core business practice.
Fiona Davies, National Manager Diversity
and Inclusion, Margaret McKeown, National
Manager External Relations and Damien
Long, National Manager Marketing and
Communications, share some of their
initiatives and discuss their experience
of participating in the 2016 Access and
Inclusion Index.
“We have an AIEP — or Accessibility,
Inclusion and Employment Plan. It was
developed with advice and guidance from
the Australian Network on Disability (AND)
as well as consultation with our Disability
Services Advisory Council and broad
collaboration with our staff, board members,
customers and engagement with other
stakeholders outside the organisation. Our
AIEP is led by our Chief Executive Officer.
The plan informs our activity across the
business,” said Fiona. “Having buy in from
our staff and senior leadership is something
that’s really important,” she added.
“The AIEP was one of the first documents
I read when I started working here,” said
Margaret. “It helped set the tone for what I
thought about disability and what it actually
meant. It made me think about wording and
how we communicate our messages. It’s
about gaining community acceptance by
sharing and telling the stories of people with
disability.”
For good practice in the area of
communications and marketing, it is also
vital to develop accessible digital materials
that can be read by people using screen
reading and magnification software. This
includes ensuring adherence to Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
AA standard, and reviewing electronic
documents for best practice accessibility and
easy English.
“It’s a constant challenge to ensure that all
our communications and marketing materials
are accessible and inclusive. My team is
experienced in this and we’re starting to
train others to do the same,” said Damien.
“The checklists that we have as actions
within the AIEP help to ensure we use the
right fonts, language and add the correct
structure to the material.”
Taking part in the Access and Inclusion Index
has helped Life without Barriers to take stock
of their progress in creating an inclusive
organisation. “We see it as a guide to how
we’re performing. It shows where we’re at
and identifies gaps. In some areas we have
performed well, but there’s plenty of room
for improvement,” said Fiona.
“It’s measurable. There are real figures and
real data to work from. I think it will be a
powerful tool to help us move forward. We
don’t see diversity and inclusion as a one-off
event. It’s part of our business; it’s what we
do and we’re including it across all of our
areas,” she added.

CROSS SECTION OF RESULTS
The maturity level for each organisation in each key area was calculated and the distribution
of results is shown in figure 3 below and table 3 on page 15. This information shows how many
organisations are within each maturity level for each key area and provides clarity on overall
progress with respect to all ten areas of access and inclusion.
Workplace
Adjustments
Communication
and Marketing
Product and Services
Information Communication
Technology (ICT)
Recruitment and
Selection
Career Development
Suppliers and Partners
Innovation
Premises
Commitment
0 5 10 15 20
NUMBER OF ORGANISATIONS IN EACH MATURITY LEVEL
(BY KEY AREA)
Level 1 - Not participating Level 2 - Basic
Level 3 - Programmatic Level 4 - Strategic
1
3
4
5
5
3
5
11
12
7
9 8
6
9
7
6
4666
1678
8
9
10 6 2
4
9
17
10
Figure 3 Number of organisations in each maturity level (by key area)
KEY AREAS
NO. OF
ORGS
AT LEVEL 1
NO. OF
ORGS
AT LEVEL 2
NO. OF
ORGS
AT LEVEL 3
NO. OF
ORGS
AT LEVEL 4
Commitment 1 4 17 0
Premises 3 9 10 0
Workplace Adjustments 4 10 6 2
Communication and Marketing 5 9 8 0
Products and Services 8 7 6 1
ICT 5 11 6 0
Recruitment and Selection 8 5 9 0
Career Development 3 12 7 0
Suppliers and Partners 9 7 6 0
Innovation 6 6 6 4
14 15
Table 3 Number of organisations by maturity band and key area (data)
Figure 3 and table 3 illustrate that most
organisations operate within the mid-level
maturity bands, i.e. Basic to Programmatic.
A key observation is that for the area of
Commitment, 17 of the 22 organisations are
at a Programmatic level. This confirms AND’s
experience with members over the years that
the area of Commitment is consistently
regarded as a foundation piece for any other
access and inclusion initiatives within
organisations.
The findings with respect to the level of
maturity for Recruitment and Selection are
lower than expected and slightly surprising,
given the increased public policy focus in
recent years in advancing the employment
of people with disability.
For the areas of Products and Services,
and Suppliers and Partners, our findings
indicate a relatively less mature approach to
proactively improving access and inclusion in
the organisation.
The key challenge for a number of
organisations performing at Basic level is to
gain momentum and move from ‘reactive’ to
‘proactive’. The Access and Inclusion Index
provides the resources for organisations to
adapt and adopt proven best practice. The
relatively high number of Basic responses
across the board indicates that more
engagement within organisations is required
to progress maturity in regard to access and
inclusion.

FRAMEWORK, IMPLEMENTATION, REVIEW AND OUTCOMES, INNOVATION
Within the Access and Inclusion Index,
questions are grouped into three areas.
These are:
• Framework: relates to organisational
commitment, policies, procedures and
guidelines.
• Implementation: relates to actions,
programs and initiatives that the
organisation has taken to deliver on
commitments.
• Review and Outcomes: relates to
monitoring and reviewing progress and
An additional key area titled Innovation is
included in the Access and Inclusion Index,
but is separate from these three categories.
Figure 4 below and table 4 on page 17 show
the average maturity level for questions
relating to Framework, Implementation, and
Review and Outcome. These results show the
maturity level of organisations from policy
development through to monitoring and
continuous improvement in each key area.
As a high-level generalisation, the trend is for
organisations to be most mature in relation
to Framework, less mature in Implementation
and least mature in Review and Outcomes.
Twelve organisations were more mature
in Framework than Implementation and
19 organisations were more mature in
Implementation than Review and Outcomes.
There is more work to do in adopting a data-
driven approach to inform current practice
and ensure continuous improvement for
access and inclusion.
Commitment
ICT
Premises
Products and Services
Recruitment
and Selection
Career
Development
Suppliers
and Partners
Workplace
Adjustment
Communication
and Marketing
AVERAGE MATURITY LEVEL
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
Framework Implementation Review and Outcomes
Figure 4 Average maturity level by key area and Framework, Implementation,
and Review and Outcomes
KEY AREAS
FRAMEWORK
AVERAGE
MATURITY LEVEL
IMPLEMENTATION
AVERAGE
MATURITY LEVEL
REVIEW AND
OUTCOMES
AVERAGE
MATURITY LEVEL
Commitment 3.5 3.0 3.0
Premises 3.0 2.5 2.5
Workplace Adjustments 3.0 3.0 2.0
Communication and Marketing 2.5 2.5 2.0
Products and Services 2.5 2.5 2.0
ICT 2.5 2.0 2.0
Recruitment and Selection 2.5 2.5 2.0
Career Development 3.0 2.5 2.0
Suppliers and Partners 2.0 2.0 2.0
Table 4 Average maturity level by key area and Framework,
Implementation, and Review and Outcome
FRAMEWORK
Organisational commitment, policies,
procedures and guidelines.
Organisations generally had stronger results
for their Access and Inclusion Frameworks
than for their Review and Outcomes
(monitoring and reviewing progress and
outcomes for people with disability). On
average, the maturity level for Framework
was higher than Review and Outcomes
across all key areas except Suppliers and
Partners, where maturity levels were equal.
Commitment rated the highest of all
key areas, as might be expected from
organisations that have allocated time and
resources to undertake the Access and
Inclusion Index. Commitment considers
stated plans on access and inclusion
for people with disability as employees,
customers and stakeholders and, on average,
rated at a level between Programmatic and
Strategic.
Organisational frameworks for Premises,
Workplace Adjustments and Career
Development also rated strongly, with an
average maturity level of Programmatic. This
means that there are policies and procedures
in place, but they may not span the whole
organisation or may not have covered all
of the areas of best practice. Around half
of organisations did not have documented
requirements to ensure that new property
leases, rentals or purchases are accessible.
On average, Recruitment and Selection was
the one key area where the maturity level for
Implementation was ahead of the maturity
level for Framework. The most significant
gap was in relation to having a current and
up-to-date written policy in place stating a
commitment to accessible Recruitment and
Selection practices.
The area which presented the greatest
challenge was Suppliers and Partners.
Leadership within the procurement function,
development of policies that demonstrate
an organisation’s commitment to access
and inclusion, and ensuring that accessible
products are purchased scored only
Basic levels of maturity on average. Six
organisations had a Strategic approach in
relation to procurement leadership and in
other aspects of the Supplier and Partner
Framework.
16 17

REVIEW AND OUTCOMES
Monitoring and reviewing progress and
Tracking and monitoring initiatives and
having formalised mechanisms in place
to seek feedback from stakeholders
with disability was, on average, the least
mature area of access and inclusion for the
organisations participating in the Index.
Monitoring Workplace Adjustment timeliness
and quality, and using this information to
inform policy and practice, is an area of
opportunity for many organisations with
around half of the organisations not yet
doing this.
Premises and Career Development on
average rated between Programmatic and
Strategic in maturity, and all other areas
were at a Basic level. In many areas, having
a proactive process of seeking and using
feedback from people with disability would
provide greater insight to the monitoring
processes of organisations.
In the area of Products and Services,
six organisations were demonstrating a
proactive approach to the review and
monitoring of accessibility and a further
10 were operating at a reactive level to
accessibility and making changes only when
requested. A similar pattern was repeated
in relation to ICT and Communications and
Marketing.
For Recruitment and Selection processes,
an opportunity exists for organisations to be
more systematic in the collection of data for
applicants for the purposes of identifying
the barriers within the recruitment cycle
with respect to the employment of people
with disability. Slightly less than half of
organisations were in some way active with
four organisations operating at a Strategic
level.
IMPLEMENTATION
Actions, programs and initiatives that
the organisation has taken to deliver on
commitments.
Commitment, Workplace Adjustments and
Recruitment and Selection were the areas
of highest performance when it came to
the actions, programs and initiatives to
deliver on the Frameworks developed by
organisations. The average maturity level
across organisations for these key areas is
Programmatic and perhaps reflects the fact
that they are the ones that are closest to the
Diversity and Inclusion functions of many
organisations. Seven organisations had
introduced Workplace Adjustment Passports,
which make it easier for employees to
personalise their work environment.
The average maturity level across
organisations for Premises, Career
Development, Communications and
Marketing, and Products and Services was
between Basic and Programmatic. Some of
the gaps in these areas are the provision of
ongoing training for teams responsible for
Premises and Career Development (including
people leaders), and having systems in
place to ensure that all Communications and
Marketing material are accessible. Only one
organisation achieved a Strategic level of
maturity across any of these key areas and
this was for Products and Services.
Suppliers and Partners and ICT are the
lowest rating key areas when it comes to
taking action on access and inclusion. The
average maturity level of Basic suggests
that an organisation is operating in a way
which might reflect a compliance focus or
is reactive to issues. Organisations were
more likely to be advising their Suppliers
and Partners of their accessibility needs than
formally assessing the supplier or partner
capability to deliver accessible products
when engaging them in the first place. In
ICT, formal accessibility training and progress
on making websites accessible were more
reactive in nature than proactive. Only one
organisation demonstrated a Strategic level
of maturity for Suppliers and Partners.
GOOD PRACTICE
EXAMPLE
18 19
MAKING
ADJUSTMENTS WORK
Having a solid workplace adjustment policy
is a foundation stone in creating a barrier
free workplace. It helps managers to support
staff to perform at their best, by ensuring
they have everything they need to be able to
thrive in their job.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is
making good progress in this area. In the last
twelve months, they have launched several
innovative initiatives that are making a
difference for their staff.
Following completion of the Access and
Inclusion Index, Ed Holicky Assistant Director,
Workplace Diversity and Belinda Gavin,
Senior Project Officer, reflect on some of
their activity.
Launched at the 2016 International Day of
People with Disability celebration the ATO’s
electronic Reasonable Adjustment Passport,
allows employees to describe how their
disability, illness, medical condition or injury
impacts on them in the workplace and detail
any reasonable adjustment they require to
do their job.
“We’re proud of our Reasonable Adjustment
Passport. We believe it’s the first one to be
done electronically,” said Ed. “After talking
to their manager, an employee documents
their adjustments for approval. The
information is then stored on our HR system.
If a staff member changes positions or a new
manager is appointed, the information is
readily available. It saves time and provides a
seamless process for the employee,” he said.
At the ATO, workplace adjustments are
discussed with potential employees from the
outset.
“We ask about reasonable adjustments
from the moment someone applies. We also
advise on what is available if they choose
to share information on their disability.
Reasonable adjustments are funded
centrally. We don’t ask individual sections
to pay. This is in line with best practice as
recommended by the Australian Network on
Disability,” said Ed.
To help raise awareness about disability
and workplace adjustments, the ATO has
produced the ‘Talking Disability’ video
series. It is stored on their staff SharePoint
alongside other resources to support access
and inclusion.
“The video series aims to challenge
perceptions and break down some of the
myths and misconceptions about disability,”
Belinda explains. “The series features
employees with disability, managers and
disability advisers talking about disability and
reasonable adjustments. Overall it helps us
to develop a disability confident culture and
talk openly about disability in the ATO,” she
said.
The ATO undertook the Access and Inclusion
Index to benchmark their performance
across the 10 key areas.
“We wanted to look at our entire service
offer for people with disability and
determine where our gaps are so we could
work on rectifying them. We also want to
acknowledge the areas we are doing well
in and find out how we can further improve
those areas,” said Ed.

INNOVATION
Two additional questions were asked in the Access and Inclusion Index and these related to
Innovation. One question was in relation to innovation for employees with disability and the
second was about innovation for customers, clients or service users. Information provided was
assessed and there was a fairly even distribution of responses to each question, with a focus on
both innovation and measurement.
Question 10.1: We have implemented an
innovative policy and/or practice to support
employees with disability in any of the
nine key areas covered in the Access and
Inclusion Index.
Innovation for employees
Nearly three quarters of the organisations
in the Index have undertaken innovative
policies or practices in support of employees
with disability. Encouragingly, there appears
to be a strong focus on measurement and
sustainability as half of the organisations
have translated their innovation into standard
practice or have a focus on measurement.
MATURITY LEVEL RESPONSE
NUMBER OF
ORGANISATIONS
Level 4 - Strategic
Yes, and we have measured the success of
this innovation and it is part of, or in the
process of being made part of, our standard
business practices
7
Level 3 - Programmatic
Yes, and the impact has been measured or
is in the process of being measured for the
lessons learnt from this innovation, or the
innovation is currently running successfully
but is too early to be formally measured
4
Level 2 - Basic
Yes, but the impact of the innovation has not
been measured.
5
Level 1 - Not participating No 6
20 21
Table 5 Innovation for employees - number of responses for each maturity level
Innovation for customers, clients or service users
Question 10.1: We have implemented an
innovative policy and/or practice to support
customers, clients or service users with
disability in any of the nine key areas covered
in the Access and Inclusion Index.
Innovation for supporting customers,
clients or service users with disability is also
considerable, although slightly less than for
employees. There is also a strong focus on
embedding practice and measurement.
MATURITY LEVEL RESPONSE
NUMBER OF
ORGANISATIONS
Level 4 - Strategic
Yes, and we have measured the success of
this innovation and it is part of, or in the
process of being made part of, our standard
business practices
5
Level 3 - Programmatic
Yes, and the impact has been measured or
is in the process of being measured for the
lessons learnt from this innovation, or the
innovation is currently running successfully
but is too early to be formally measured
5
Level 2 - Basic
Yes, but the impact of the innovation has not
been measured.
5
Level 1 - Not participating No 7
Table 6 Innovation for customers, clients or service users - number of responses
for each maturity level

WHAT’S
NEXT?
The findings from the 2016 Index provide
valuable insight into the level of disability
confidence for organisations in Australia. The
results confirm that AND members are highly
committed to ensuring policy frameworks
and programs are in place to foster access
and inclusion. There is a trend toward well-
developed policy frameworks being in place
for accessibility of premises, the provision of
workplace adjustments and ensuring equal
opportunity in career development. These
are very encouraging findings and indicate
organisations are becoming more confident
in ensuring people with disability are
routinely included in all aspects of business.
Further investment should be made
particularly around suppliers and partners,
coming in last for the overall Index average.
There is significant opportunity for leverage
and influence with suppliers and partners
that has not yet been harnessed. AND
members can actively contribute to making a
significant impact on inclusion of people with
disability through their supplier and partner
relationships.
While policy frameworks greatly support
organisational practices, this has not
necessarily flowed through to ensuring
robust feedback mechanisms are in place for
review and measurement of these practices
in all areas of the Index. An organisation’s
ability to reflect and use insights gained to
inform its policies and practices is a strategic
approach to ensuring operations are aligned
to overall business strategy.
At AND we continue to support our
members in their ongoing commitment
to ensure accessibility and inclusion for
employees, customers, service users and
other stakeholders. The launch of the
national Access and Inclusion Index as a
benchmark tool is an important step towards
progressing the equitable participation of
people with disability in society.
Stepping Into intern Georga at work.
22 23

DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS
HOW TO CONNECT
WITH US
ANDisability australiannetworkondisabilitysydney
@ANDisability ANDisability
www.and.org.au | info@and.org.au
AUSTRALIAN NETWORK ON DISABILITY
Level 3, 80 Clarence Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
1300 363 645
While every effort has been made to ensure that the report is accurate, the Australian Network on Disability makes no warranty about its
accuracy or completeness. To the extent permitted by law, the Australian Network on Disability, its directors, officers, employees and agents
exclude all liability (whether in negligence or otherwise) for: Any error or inaccuracy in, or omission from, the report; and Any loss or damage
suffered by any person, directly or indirectly, through use of the report, including reliance upon the information contained in the report, and any
donation decisions made on the basis of its content.
Copyright Australian Network on Disability 2017.
ACN 605 683 645 | ABN 924 564 573 35

Access and Inclusion Index. Benchmark report 2016. Australian Network on Disability

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