Communication Disability Access and Inclusion

We ran training workshops for DAIP Officers from Local Councils and State Government departments.  

They learnt about communication rights, communication disability and communication access.

They learnt so much from our presenters with lived experience of communication disability.

The DAIP Officers asked us for more training so we also ran sessions for staff from different State Government agencies including:  

• School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA)  
• Office of the Ombudsman 
• Independent Visitor Service volunteers of the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services (OICS) 
• KindiLink 

We also ran very practical workshops on using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) supports for staff working in Local Government  

• Gyms 
• Leisure centres 
• Swimming pools 
• Libraries 
• Creche’s, childcare and Early Childhood Education settings. 

On this web page, you will find a collection of information and resources that we shared during this project. 

All people – all children and all adults - have the right to: 

• share their own ideas and opinions  
• and access information in a way that they can understand. 

These rights are set out in Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR, 1948):   

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” 

These rights to communication are made even more clear in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1998) and Articles 2 and 21 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD, 2006). Article 2 of the UNCRPD explains that:

"Communication" includes languages, display of text, Braille, tactile communication, large print, accessible multimedia as well as written, audio, plain-language, human-reader and augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including accessible information and communication technology;  

and that

"Language" includes spoken and signed languages and other forms of non-spoken languages.”

Australia is a signatory to all of these international human rights treaties.  

To find out more about communication as a fundamental human right, watch this short video from the excellent Communication Hub (2023). The Communication Hub is a rich source of valuable information created by Speech Pathology Australia in collaboration with AGOSCI Inc.

Building on Article 21 of the UNCRPD, the Universal Declaration of Communication Rights was released in 2014 and has been signed by over 10,000 people (Mulcair, Pietranton, & Williams, 2018): 

“We recognise that the ability to communicate is a basic human right. 

We recognise that everyone has the potential to communicate. 

By putting our names to this declaration, we give our support to the millions of people around the world who have communication disorders that prevent them from experiencing fulfilling lives and participating equally and fully in their communities. 

We believe that people with communication disabilities should have access to the support they need to realise their full potential”

(International Communication Project, 2014) 

You can read more about Communication Rights in this free to access article by Sharynne McLeod (2018) “Communication Rights: Fundamental human rights for all” here.

In 2016, following on from the Universal Declaration of Communication Rights, the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC) produced  the Communication Bill of Rights, stating that: 

“All people with a disability of any extent or severity have a basic right to affect, through communication, the conditions of their existence.  

Beyond this general right, a number of specific communication rights should be ensured in all daily interactions and interventions involving persons who have severe disabilities.  

To participate fully in communication interactions, each person has these fundamental communication rights.”

You can read more about the Communication Bill of Rights in this free article HERE.

The National Joint Committee for the Communication
Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC) Communication Bill of Rights poster ((3rd edition, above) uses academic language. It is very hard for some people with communication disability to read and understand.  

At DDWA, we have created a Communication Bill of Rights poster that uses words that are easier to read and understand (see below and click on the image to download a copy for your own use).

Click on the image of our DDWA easy to read Communication Bill of Rights poster to download and print your own copy here.

You can find out more about communication rights by exploring the wealth of information on the excellent Communication Hub website, created by Speech Pathology Australia in collaboration with AGOSCI Inc.  Click here to learn more.

Communication disability affects a person’s ability to understand or be understood by others.  

Our ability to understand other people is sometimes described as our receptive communication skills. 

Our ability to make ourselves understood by other people is sometimes described as our expressive communication skills.  

A communication disability can affect just our receptive communication skills, just our expressive communication skills, or both. A communication disability affects each person’s life differently.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in 2015: 

• There were about 1.2 million Australians with communication disability.  
• 1 in 7 people with communication disability needed formal assistance.
• But of these people, half did not have that need for assistance met.  
• More than 60% of those who had an unmet need for formal assistance with communication were children.   

Scope Australia estimate that 1 in 7 Australians, or 14% of the Australian population will experience communication difficulties in their lifetime.  

You can learn more about Communication Disability in Australia from this infographic from ABS.

Watch this DDWA video for one answer to the question "What is communication disability?". Click the image below to play.

You can find out more about Communication Disability by exploring the information rich resource on the excellent Communication Hub website, created by Speech Pathology Australia in collaboration with AGOSCI Inc. here.

Communication access happens when all people – all children and all adults – have the supports in place that they need to: 

• understand what is said 
• have their messages understood by others 
• use the methods of communication that they
  • use most easily and
  • choose to use 
• get the time and opportunity to communicate what they want to share 
• get written information in ways they can understand 
• get documents and forms in ways that they can understand, fill in and sign 
• use an organisation's website and social media pages 
• connect with an organisation via telephone or other more accessible ways 

Communication access is everyone’s responsibility.  When we support communication access, everyone gets to share their message and have their message understood.   

We shared these videos to help explain communication access in our Communication Disability, Access and Inclusion workshops.  We are grateful to Two Way Street and Scope Australia for the work they do to increase communication access around Australia.

Watch these videos to learn how different State and Local government agencies across Australia are trying to make communication access better.  

We created a short information sheet on Communication Rights and Communication Access for Local and State Government staff. You can download and print your own copy here. 

Communication access is everyone's responsibility.

In any environment, there are factors that can either block communication access or help improve communication access.   

We asked our workshop attendees to think about the different ways these environmental factors can either be barriers that limit communication access, or factors that make communication access better: 

• Attitudes
• Services
• Systems
• Policies
• Support and relationships
• Products and technology
• The physical environment – both natural and human-made

We asked them to think about how these environmental factors either limit or increase communication access across the different areas of Local and State Government  

• Services 
• Events  
• Buildings and facilities 
• Information 
• Complaints processes 
• Participation in public consultation 
• Employment opportunities and processes 

What barriers do you think your Local Government or State Government agency also need to address?Here are some of the ideas participants discussed with our presenters, including our presenters with lived experience of communication disability, during our DAIP workshops: download here.

Our workshop attendees used this booklet to start reflecting on the barriers that needed to be addressed to make their Local or State Government entity more communication accessible. You can download the same booklet to start your own reflection and planning process here.  

It’s essential that you listen to the views, opinions and perspectives of people who have lived experience of communication disability, particularly when writing and reviewing your DAIP.  Here are some thoughts that some of our presenters with communication disability shared about the barriers to communication they experienced when dealing with Local or State Government departments.

One of our presenters, who has a communication disability and uses AAC, who is also a parent of a DDWA member with developmental disability who is non-speaking shared this:

“The main issue that arises with Communication Disabilities is that you cannot telephone anyone so you are totally reliant on email or text to communicate. This isn’t always easy and is often not responded to.  If you do have someone to speak on your behalf, they are often to allowed to speak on your behalf because of Privacy issues. Some agencies are incredibly restrictive with this. You actually cannot get anywhere with an issue or a complaint. One medical practice that I go to will not let you email or text them which means I have no choice but to physically go in.  It is ok if I am face-to-face with someone as they can read what I write and I can make myself understood.” 

Another presenter with communication disability shared this: 

“I am amazed that in this day and age that people still make assumptions based off visual appearance.  People assume that I am deaf so they speak slowly or yell at me [not that doing this would help a deaf person].  The other really common one is if I write something people take the pen and write back to me.  This doesn’t particularly worry me as there is no malice it’s just a lack of understanding.  Often I get treated like I am stupid. This really annoys me.”