New Disability Inclusion Guide Helps Councils Embed Better Engagement

The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) has released a new Disability Inclusion Guide for Local Government, providing practical guidance to help councils embed disability inclusion across leadership, engagement, employment, infrastructure and service delivery.

Designed as a digital resource, the guide replaces ALGA’s 2016 disability inclusion planning guide and is intended for council staff across all functions—not just accessibility or inclusion teams. It includes practical tools, case studies and step-by-step guidance for developing or reviewing disability action plans, with content that can be updated as legislation and best practice evolve.

Why It Matters for Engagement Practitioners

While the guide covers a broad range of council responsibilities, its messages are highly relevant for anyone designing or delivering community engagement.

Rather than treating accessibility as a compliance exercise or final checklist, the guide encourages councils to embed inclusion from the very beginning of planning and decision-making. It emphasises that people with disability should be involved in decisions that affect them, recognising lived experience as expertise and encouraging practitioners to design with people, not for them.

This closely aligns with our own Inclusive & Accessible Engagement Policy, which encourages practitioners to remove barriers to participation, provide multiple ways for people to engage, and build accessibility into engagement from the outset rather than treating it as an afterthought.

Six Principles Worth Revisiting

The guide sets out six principles to help councils embed disability inclusion into everyday practice:

• Respect and uphold disability rights.
• Centre people with disability in decision-making.
• Apply an intersectional approach.
• Use trauma-informed practice.
• Use respectful and inclusive language.
• Apply Universal Design so services, places and communications are usable by as many people as possible from the start.

These principles extend well beyond local government. They offer a practical checklist for anyone planning engagement with communities.

Inclusion Benefits Everyone

The guide reminds councils that disability inclusion benefits entire communities—not only people with disability.

Accessible services and places can reduce isolation, improve health outcomes, support participation in work and community life, and strengthen local economies. It also notes that around 5.5 million Australians (21.4% of the population) live with disability, while almost 90% of disabilities are invisible.

These statistics reinforce an important point from our Inclusive & Accessible Engagement Policy: accessible engagement is not about designing for a small minority. It is about recognising the diversity of our communities and creating engagement that more people can access, contribute to and benefit from.

Explore the Guide

Whether you’re reviewing a Disability Action Plan, planning community engagement or looking for practical ways to embed accessibility into everyday practice, the Disability Inclusion Guide for Local Government is a valuable new resource.

Read it here

If you’re looking to strengthen your engagement practice more broadly, our Inclusive & Accessible Engagement Policy also provides practical guidance on designing engagement that removes barriers, supports participation and creates better outcomes for everyone. Engagement Institute members can also access our Inclusive & Accessible Engagement Toolkit, which provides practical templates, checklists and resources to help put these principles into practice.

For those who want even more, visit our Inclusive & Accessible Engagement Hub.