Access

Access Awareness Project - You're Welcome

Designing an age-friendly public domain

The Access Awareness Program had three objectives:

• To stage a series of Workshops with local councils, business and community groups, to identify problems associated with the public domain.
• To organise “Walk and Talk” sessions in the form of Access Audits.
• To produce an instructional DVD which will demonstrate best management practices in providing a continuous accessible path of travel through the public domain.

Funding for “You’re Welcome” ceased at the end of August 2009 and, because of its success, ILC NSW is actively seeking further funding to expand the project. As the project was fully funded, Councils and community groups had the services of an Accredited Access Consultant, and the benefits of the project, provided at no cost.

If you have any problems about access in the public domain or entry into premises you could:

• Contact your local Council
• Advise your shopkeeper
• Contact your Access Committee
• Contact our You're Welcome Program Manager

Background to the Project

Building the future

In 2006 the Australian Department of Health and Ageing held a series of workshops around the country, with the goal of raising awareness of the need to plan and build better communities. The program was called the National Speaker Series (NSS). ILC Australia was a significant contributor to the program, which took the theme “A Community for All Ages – Building the Future”.

ILC NSW received funding in 2007 from the Department of Community Services, under the Western Sydney Area Assistance Scheme, to develop an Access Awareness project called “You’re Welcome”, which is based on the recommendations of the NSS. ILC Access Consultant John Evernden, a Civil Engineer with long service in Local Government, was contracted for two years to develop the project up until September 2009.

International Interest

Confronting international challenges for an ageing population

The “You're Welcome” project, and the work of the ILC, attracted a good deal of interest from delegates at the International Federation on Ageing's 9th Global Conference, held in September 2008, in Montreal, Canada. A paper based on the development and outcomes of the project was presented by the Project Manager and ILC Access Consultant, Mr. John Evernden. The Conference, which attracted delegates from all over the world, had as its theme "Ageing and Design", and confronted many of the issues challenging nations as their populations age.

Read John Evernden’s conference paper: The “You're Welcome” Project - Designing an Age-friendly Public Domain

The paper can also be found on the IFA web site. The 10th IFA Global Conference will be held in Melbourne from 3-6 May, 2010.

Further Information

Contact Program Manager John Evernden on: