Council
27 February, 2026
Shire reflects on increased inclusion
WORK towards increasing inclusion across the Corangamite Shire has been noted in the evaluation of the Disability Access and Inclusion Plan 2021-2025 at Tuesday’s Ordinary Meeting of Council.
Councillors voted to note the conclusion and the evaluation of the plan at the monthly council meeting, with 33 of the 34 measures completed and one still in progress.
The report brought before council highlighted the successes and barriers of the implementation of the plan, which was all achieved the $20,000 budget for implementation in 2024-2025.
Activities were completed under six priority areas; access to services and programs, access to the built environment, accessible transport, access to leisure and recreation, access to employment and education and access to information and communication.
Under the access to services and programs priority area, council has increased collaboration between rural access officer, navigation support officer and economic support officer to combine business visits with streetscape audits and prepared information for local businesses via Business Corangamite E-news around accessible parking and basic inclusion principles to keep building awareness and knowledge.
Council increased access to the built environment through activities such as reviewing the Lake Bullen-Merri toilet blocks from an accessibility lens and collaborating on Camperdown Community House Access Project.
Accessible Transport improvements included installing five additional accessible carparks in Camperdown, three in Terang and one in Noorat, with three additional parks in Camperdown requested, and the installation of six scooter charger points in Camperdown, Lismore, Skipton, Simpson, Cobden and Terang.
New mixed-use signage was installed at Camperdown and Terang’s Apex Parks and an accessible footpath to Camperdown Pool were completed as part of activities designed to increase access to leisure and recreation.
Activities to increase access to employment and education included monthly intergenerational collaboration between McNicol Early Learning Centre and David Newman Day Centre and two Disability Awareness sessions held in June 2021 to increase confidence and awareness of serving customers with a disability and enhancing the confidence of people leaders to adjust and adapt how they work with people with disabilities.
Councillor Jo Beard moved the motion, saying it was special as it was the first Disability Access and Inclusion Plan council was able to commit to and see through.
“That’s something I think we’ve got cemented in and it’s just become a way of life for Corangamite now, so that’s made me really proud to think that’s where we’ve got to,” she said.
“A highlight for me was being able to share the reference group which was just under a year into this plan being adopted that they were able to initiate the group and having Patrick Caruana here with us, who is our rural access officer.
“Having lived experience people sit around a table and share their thoughts and ideas was really empowering.
“I think the main reason of the plan was to make sure we had equality for our communities and they had the appropriate access to services, facilities and planning communications just like we all expect but it’s also with the dignity that people deserve.
“I feel like, for us, we’re going to be better moving forward and with the momentum we’ve now got, we’re going to see even more incredible projects being ticked off.
Councillor Laurie Hickey seconded the motion, congratulating council staff on the quality of work which had gone towards the actions within the play.
“It’s no doubt the disability access and inclusion plan for 2021-2025 has given me, personally, enormous insight into the workings of this plan,” he said.
“The plan had 34 measures, and when you look at the report 33 of them have been completed and one in progress with a small amount of time still to go.
“I think it’s a great document and look forward to the next 40 years of what we can develop from this too.”
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