Disability Access and Inclusion

We recognise that people living with disabilities are likely to face barriers in accessing services and employment. cohealth takes active steps to provide services and workplaces that are inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities. We believe in the social model of disability and use it to inform our work.

Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

cohealth has a Diversity & Inclusion Strategy for 2020 – 2023. This strategy articulates cohealth’s commitment to provide culturally safe and inclusive services and work environments as a matter of core business. It sets out our diversity and inclusion vision, strategic goals and the steps we will take to impact change.

Disability Inclusion Plan

cohealth’s Disability Inclusion Plan 2017-2020 shines a light on some of the barriers to participation and inclusion some people with disability still face. It offers a blueprint for cohealth to address these barriers and achieve best practice as a health provider and employer.

Key focus areas include:

• reducing barriers to people with disabilities accessing good, services and facilities;
• reducing barriers to people with disabilities obtaining and maintaining employment;
• promoting inclusion and participation in the community of people with disabilities; and
• achieving tangible changes in attitudes and practices which discriminate against people with disabilities.

Our Disability inclusion plan is currently in development.

Accessible and inclusive environments

We want to ensure that community members, clients, staff and partner agencies have the opportunity to access and participate fully in cohealth.

Accessible locations

We are proud to partner with Architecture and Access, an access consultancy firm that have completed full audits of cohealth sites for accessibility. We aspire for our sites to be fully accessible, and are seeking to improve sites so that the following are accessible:

• Parking
• External paths of travel from car parking
• Entrances
• Reception areas/rooms
• Doors and door controls
• Internal paths of travel within the building
• Sanitary facilities
• Signage

We are currently working on a comprehensive list of accessibility features at each of our locations. In the meantime, if you are planning to visit to a cohealth site and have a question about access, we invite you to call that location and our friendly reception staff can assist you.

Inclusion in the workplace

We want our workforce to reflect the communities we serve, and encourage people with disabilities to apply for positions within cohealth. Our inclusive workplace culture enables staff to bring their whole selves to work, where uniqueness is valued, and people experience a feeling of belonging. Our approach to workplace inclusion is underpinned by our Human Rights Framework.

cohealth seeks to support, promote and enable staff’s full participation in the workplace. We value workplace flexibility and have reasonable adjustments guidelines to ensure everyone has access to the necessary accommodations to thrive in their roles.

Learn more about our workplace culture on the dedicated cohealth careers website

Community consultation

At cohealth we are interested in listening to the needs and feedback of the community we work with. Feedback from people with disabilities is crucial to the continuous improvement of our services and workplace. Your experiences help us build a service the makes people feel safe and included.

If you would like to work together to support better outcomes for the community, join our community participation register.

Policy submissions

cohealth proactively and responsively develops policy submissions to represent and promote our position on key areas of policy and social debate.

NDIS annual price review – consultation May 2019 (download PDF – 62 KB).