Thank You Day 2025

Today our team at Advocacy WA spent the day with our Youth Consultants visiting local businesses across the Shire of Dardanup, simply to say thank you.

Before we begin our upcoming complimentary accessibility assessments in the coming weeks, we wanted to take the time to recognise and celebrate the great work many businesses are already doing to make their spaces more welcoming, inclusive, and accessible for everyone.

Your openness, effort, and positive attitudes show that accessibility isn’t just a box to tick — it’s a shared community value. By continuing to lead the way, you are creating a region where people of all abilities can work, shop, connect, and participate with dignity and independence.

Why your leadership matters

By allowing our young people with lived experience of disability to walk through your premises, ask questions, identify barriers and suggest improvements, you are actively helping foster a more inclusive, welcoming local economy. You are enabling people of all abilities — patrons, employees, and community members — to access goods, services, and opportunities on fair and equal terms.

The business benefits of accessibility

Making your premises, practices, and communications accessible is not just the right thing to do – it is smart business. Some key facts:

• Research from the Australian Human Rights Commission shows that disability-inclusive businesses grow profits more than four times faster than their peers.
• Making your space easier to use attracts additional customers: one study found universally accessible retail environments benefitted from a 20–25% increase in turnover compared with non-accessible environments.
• Improving access leads to reduced risks: accessible layouts and clear signage also contribute to safer workplaces and improved customer satisfaction.
• Accessibility opens up a broader market: people with disability, their families and friends, and older Australians all seek businesses they can access comfortably.

In short: when a business makes the effort to be accessible, everybody benefits — the business, the staff, and the community.

What’s on the horizon: new building code updates

Accessibility is increasingly front of mind in building design and upgrades. The National Construction Code (NCC) — Australia’s primary set of technical design and construction provisions — now places stronger emphasis on accessibility and inclusive design.

Some of the key recent changes and implications include:

• From 29 July 2025, the NCC 2022 Amendment 2 aligns the code with updated Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards 2010, referencing the 2021 edition of AS 1428.1 Design for Access and Mobility.
• New standards specify clearer requirements for accessible parking, tactile signage, circulation space, and step-free entryways.
• The introduction of Livable Housing Design provisions (e.g., step-free entrances, accessible bathrooms) means future homes and small buildings will better meet community needs from the start.
• These changes mark a national move towards embedding accessibility as a standard expectation — not a special feature.

For local businesses, this means that being proactive about accessibility now not only benefits your customers but also helps future-proof your space against upcoming regulations.

Our commitment

At Advocacy WA, we’re proud to walk alongside local businesses like yours — offering lived experience-led assessments, sharing practical, easy-read guidance, and celebrating accessibility wins in our community. Our peer consultants bring genuine lived experience, thoughtful recommendations, and a friendly, collaborative approach.

Looking ahead

We encourage all businesses to continue this journey by:

• Embracing the complimentary accessibility assessments our youth consultants offer.
• Promoting your accessibility credentials visibly (entrance access, signage, staff training) so people know you welcome them.
• Keeping an eye on future industry regulations and building code updates, so refurbishments or expansions consider accessibility from the start.
• Celebrating improvements publicly — letting your community know your business is inclusive.

Once again, thank you to the businesses in the Shire of Dardanup, you set a powerful example of how businesses and community organisations can work together to build more inclusive places where everyone belongs.

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