Cowra Council has unanimously endorsed its Draft Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2025, describing it as an important and practical step toward building a more inclusive community.
The plan, developed after extensive reviews, public exhibition, and community consultation, sets out clear actions for improving accessibility, employment opportunities, and community attitudes toward people with disability.
Councillors praised staff for the thorough and accessible approach taken in shaping the new DIAP, which builds on the successes of the 2017–2025 plan while addressing gaps identified by the community.
The plan outlines four key areas of focus: developing positive community attitudes and behaviours; creating liveable, accessible communities; expanding job opportunities for people with disability; and improving access to services through better systems and processes.
Since 2017, Cowra Council has introduced grants to support accessibility upgrades, improved civic facilities, audited public toilets, expanded group accommodation options, and created staff wellbeing programs.
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These achievements, councillors said, were evidence of steady progress that should now be built upon.
Councillor Nikki Kiss spoke with pride about how far the council has come.
"This is quite an exciting plan, the Disability Inclusion Action Plan of 2025," she said.
“It has been a while coming through a lot of reviewing, reflecting and investigating, but we finally have it here, and I would like to sincerely commend Director Hackett and staff for their dedication.
“Sometimes it’s easy to overlook our progress, but it’s also good to reflect back on what we’ve done and celebrate what we’ve achieved.
“Oftentimes people don’t notice something has been done until they find that something isn’t there, and I think that’s a lot of what accessibility is about too, it makes sense to ensure our environment is inclusive.”
Community attitudes were identified as the single greatest barrier to inclusion.
The DIAP calls for awareness campaigns, greater representation of people with disability in media, and universal design principles in public facilities.
Councillor Tony Horton said the plan also played an important role in education.
“Reading through in the papers, it’s easy to look at something like this and dismiss some of the items as motherhood statements,” he said.
“Developing positive community behaviours, creating local communities, creating job opportunities for people with disability.
“That stuff, of course, is incredibly important.
“For those of us that don’t live with a disability or don’t have a close family member with a disability, this is also an awareness-raising activity.
“I might not understand what the limitations are, so this kind of plan helps me understand that.
“I think that’s a good thing for the whole community.”
The only formal submission received during the exhibition period raised concerns about access standards in new housing.
While the plan supports liveable housing design, Cr Kiss explained that council has limited powers in this area.
“The New South Wales Government does not impose silver-level liveable housing design standards on residential properties,” she said.
“Our Development Control Plan can only recommend that the standard is used, not insist upon compliance.
“We are mandated to enforce national access provisions for commercial and industrial developments, and there is no room for deviation."
The plan not only addresses infrastructure but also the lives of people affected by disability, both visible and hidden.
It recognises conditions such as Crohn’s disease and diabetes, alongside physical and sensory disabilities, and highlights how accessibility benefits older people, parents with prams, and anyone temporarily injured.
Councillor Kiss emphasised that inclusion goes beyond policy.
“I think individuals involved in the public survey overwhelmingly showed that Cowra is a positive, inclusive environment,” she said.
“It also shows that there is room for improvement.
“Our access committee members are champions, not just because their faces are in the plan, but because they genuinely break down barriers to inclusion and help change public perception."
One of the plan’s strongest focuses is employment.
Cowra Council will work to create local job opportunities, join the Australian Network on Disability, and improve pathways for people with disability to enter the workforce.
Councillor Peter Wright said that technology could play a major role in supporting this goal, saying, “it’s a pretty important policy document”.
“It should explain what we’re trying to do, who we’re trying to help, and how the community can benefit," he said.
“Success often leads to problems, I might be drawing a long bow, but I think the federal government’s NDIS scheme has highlighted some issues where people have abused the good nature of the policy.
“That said, the NDIS has worked well in helping children on the autism spectrum.
“It was announced last week that six out of ten children under 12 in the scheme are on the spectrum, and many of them can be supported to live more normal lives.
“Technology, AI in particular, can be useful in helping people with disability get back into the workforce.
“Even if they just feel they’ve done something constructive for the day, their life is better.”
The DIAP 2025–2029 includes specific timeframes for actions, such as accessibility audits within 12 months, annual reviews of council’s website accessibility, and ongoing promotion of incentive grants.
Progress will be reported each year and tabled publicly.
Councillors agreed that while challenges remain, the new plan provides a clear pathway.
As councillor Horton summed up, “this is also about awareness”.
“It’s about making sure all of us understand the barriers and help remove them," he said.
“That’s how the whole community benefits."
The plan was passed unanimously, reflecting council’s commitment to ensuring Cowra continues to evolve into an inclusive and supportive community for all residents.
