Accessibility Action Plan 2019–2021

A Welcome from our Executive Sponsor

The Reserve Bank aims to be an inclusive organisation that values fairness, equity, diversity and inclusion. This Accessibility Action Plan sets out how we will work together to build, develop and make the RBA an employer of choice for people with disability.

Disability awareness, infrastructure and confidence needs to improve if we are to ensure that we are an attractive workplace for people with disability and that bias against people with disability, conscious or not, is addressed at all levels.

The Accessibility ERG (Employee Resource Group) is a voluntary, employee-led group that provides input to the Bank’s Diversity and Inclusion program. It seeks to identify and address impediments to participation in the Reserve Bank by people with a disability. The actions set out in this plan are a first step to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for people with a disability.

Michele Bullock
Executive Sponsor, Accessibility ERG

Our Vision for Accessibility

Our objective is simple. We aim to enable talent and focus on ability.

Disability can affect anyone at any time. Everybody benefits from inclusive workplace design. So why not make it the baseline?

Our Action Plan

The Reserve Bank of Australia is committed to making its workplace accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities. As a first step towards this objective, it has developed this Accessibility Action Plan (AAP).

The Australian Network on Disability (AND) sets out ten key areas in which actions can be taken to improve access and inclusion for people with disabilities. These are:

  1. Commitment
  2. Premises
  3. Workplace adjustments
  4. Communication and marketing
  5. Products and services
  6. Information and communication technology (ICT )
  7. Recruitment and selection
  8. Career development
  9. Suppliers and partners
  10. Innovation

The Reserve Bank aims to improve in each of these areas with a program of work that will evolve over time. This two-year plan sets out the actions the Bank will take over the next two years to improve access and inclusion for people with disabilities. It provides some actions that can be implemented over the next few months and some actions that will need more lead time. Each action is associated with a particular key area.

This is an ongoing process. While completion of these actions will improve the Bank’s perfor- mance in this area, the aim over the longer term is to imbed considerations of access and inclusion in the Bank’s overall strategy.

Short-term actions – 3 to 6 months

Key area Commitment Deliverables
Commitment Develop an Accessibility Action Plan (AAP)
  • Accessibility ERG to hold workshop to ascertain themes and focus points for improvement
  • Socialise AAP with AND
  • Publish AAP on Bank’s internet site
  • Launch and promote AAP at International Day for People with Disability event in December 2019
Commitment Include Email signatures for Champions Design, deploy and promote electronic email signatures that identify Accessibility Champions across the Bank
Premises Develop an event/venue checklist Help organisers of internal or external events to ensure that all aspects of accessibility have been considered in organising the event
Communication and marketing Advertise the workplace adjustment policy Improve the uptake of workplace adjustments
Communications and marketing

ICT 		Identify senior leader Champions
  • Appoint executive manager in relevant business areas to actively champion accessibility and disability
  • Agree responsibilities of Champions
  • Empower leadership to provide high level endorsement and support to the Bank’s disability and carers employee network, including support for practical solutions identified
Products and services

Suppliers and partners 		Ensure accessibility is included in the Bank’s Procurement Policy and the Guidelines
  • Review existing guidelines (including technology selection criteria)
  • Ensure people are aware and are using latest templates
Recruitment and selection Review website messaging
  • Review online recruitment application processes
  • Ensure that the recruitment messaging and language is inclusive and does not unconsciously discourage applicants with disabilities
  • Provide leadership to drive disability-related employment initiatives and organisational change to create workplaces that value and support people with disability

Medium-term Actions – 1 to 2 years

Key area Commitment Deliverables
Commitment Implement disability confidence training Develop a disability confidence training course (an initial pilot program of some managers but ultimately rolled out to all staff)
Workplace adjustments Promote continuously Develop and implement a training module for workplace adjustments
Products and services

Suppliers and partners 		Embed accessibility considerations into business cases Work with the EPMO to develop some templates for considering accessibility in business cases
ICT Products and services Strengthen accessibility controls Review and enhance accessibility for the Bank’s technology products and services
Innovation Partner with Innovation Lab to include accessibility considerations Include accessibility, universal design in Lab experiments
Various Develop a list of accessibility stakeholders Assist in organising formal feedback/consultation processes in areas such as premises, workplace adjustments, design of products and services, ICT, career development, and services offered by suppliers and partners
Various Develop better data and metrics Monitor how workplace adjustments are working, and track representation/inclusion of people with a disability in all areas from recruitment to starting a new position to promotion

Current Accessibility Employee Resource Group

Jeanne Atkinson, Aaron Bovis, Martin Bowerman, Jacqui Dwyer, Benjamin Griffiths, Venn Hardy, Herin Hentry, Bonney Joseph, Rajkumar Kannori, Tarnia Major, Thi Hong Nguyen

Chair: Katie Sherman

Executive Sponsor: Michele Bullock