How can I work with the local Access Officer?

MetroAccess, RuralAccess and deafaccess Officers are well-connected in their local communities, and are always seeking ways of building more connections for the benefit of people with a disability. This checklist provides some suggestions for ways that you might work with them to build more inclusive communities.

Introduce yourself and your work  Get in touch with your local RuralAccess, MetroAccess and/or deafaccess Officers and have a chat about how you could start working together.

 Invite them to speak at a team meeting.

 Get onto each others’ mailing lists and keep each other in the loop about opportunities, activities and services in the local community.

 Join a local network facilitated by an Access Officer. Being a member of a network is helpful to find out what is happening in a community.

 Ask for a copy of the local community directory - many councils publish one - and any other relevant publications.  Browse the website of the local council(s) that the Access Officer works with and read reports and other publications relevant to people with a disability. Plan Because the scope of the Community Building Program is so large (all of community life!) and the resources of the program are limited, Access Officers plan their work carefully. Each year they listen to their community and work with the Department of Human Services to develop a short list of priorities identified through that process.

 Discuss what your priorities are with Access Officers, and ask what their priorities are. Look for opportunities to collaborate or add value to each other’s work.

 Use the Access Officer as a sounding board for new ideas or for problem solving. They may not have the capacity to get involved in your issue or project at that time, but they may have some good ideas for working on it.

 Discuss potential project ideas or grant applications you may have in development, and see whether there is an opportunity to work together.

Participate  Participate – and support people with a disability to participate - in community consultations run by council or by Access Officers. These are opportunities to influence the work of the Access Officer, and they are often also an opportunity to influence local government more broadly.

 Support people with a disability to participate in social or educational activities developed by the Access Officer. If it’s a community event, remember that there may be opportunities not only to turn up on the day, but also for people with a disability to work or volunteer at the event, or to help organise the event. Discuss these possibilities with the Access Officer. Share your expertise As a disability support provider you have valuable expertise on how best to facilitate inclusion for particular people.

 Help the Access Officer to understand people’s preferred communication styles or other factors which will enhance their participation.

 Share your expertise about the aspirations and needs of people you work with. If you have evidence of a particular need, offer it to the Access Officers. For example, if you know that there are ten older people with a disability in your local area looking for activities in their retirement, and another fifteen approaching retirement age, this is an opportunity to connect with Access Officers. It is possible that you could plan together for how older people with a disability can be included in the local community.

Explore  Explore ways to find out about what’s on in your community. The Access Officer won’t always be able to match up the needs of an individual person with a particular group that they’re looking for, but they will certainly give you some good ideas about where to look and who to ask.

 Explore ways to share themes from self-directed planning. For privacy and confidentiality reasons Access Officers will not see the plans of individuals, however they will be interested to hear about themes emerging from the plans of your service users. Consider ways that you could share this information.

 Read Tip Sheet 4 in this series for ideas on how other people have shared information from people’s individual plans.

Find out more This is one of a series of four tip sheets exploring the link between self-directed planning for people with a disability and community building. Find out more on the DHS website: http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/for-individuals/disability/self-directed-support