Marrickville Access Committee
The Marrickville Access Committee is a committee of Council to assist Council to identify and remove barriers preventing the participation of people with disability.
The role of the Committee is to:
- Advise and make recommendations to Council on matters relating to access for people with disabilities to Council facilities and services and within the community generally; and
- Provide a forum for issues relating to people with disabilities to be considered and discussed;
- Provide a consultative forum to advise on policy, strategies and programs of Council as they relate to access and other issues of concern to people living with a disability, and
- Advise on the implementation of Council’s DDA Policy and Access Action Plan (39308.04) under the Belonging in Marrickville Social Plan.
The aim of the Access Policy is to:
"Provide all members of the community with equal opportunity to participate in all aspects of life in the local area."
An understanding and use of the social model of disability will underpin the work and advice of the Marrickville Access Committee. It is therefore explicit that:
- Access is best achieved by focussing on the functional mobility, sensory and intellectual needs of the community rather than on types of impairment and disability experienced by individuals within it. Access should therefore be considered in terms of the relationship between the environment and the user, and not the restrictions of the user.
- The participation needs of the community are best met through providing an inclusive community. In this respect the relationship between the environment and the whole community is important rather than a focus on the limitations of some of its members.
- Language used should be complementary to this approach. Ideally terminology should indicate the intention of a facility or program, ie to be accessible. Similarly if it is necessary to refer to a person’s disability then ensure the person takes precedence over the disability descriptor, i.e. person with a disability. (draft TOR 75089.06)
The Committee comprises Council officers, residents and support and service organisations. The Committee is chaired by a representative of the Councillors and is determined each year.
The Committee ordinarily meets on the second Thursday of each second month of the year at 6.00pm in the Function Room, Marrickville Council, 2-14 Fisher Street, Petersham 2049.
Download Agenda and Minutes
Enquiries regarding the Committee should be directed to Council's Community Worker, Disability Services on 9335 2074 or by email at dwoff@marrickville.nsw.gov.au.
The current Terms of Reference are under review.
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