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Access Consulting.

Ensuring workplaces, private buildings and community spaces are accessible for people with low vision or blindness.

A Guide Dogs staff member assisting an an older adult with navigating a handrail.
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What is Access Consulting?

Access Consulting involves a range of services to ensure that places in our community—including private property, public environments, workplaces, sporting venues, and a range of other spaces—comply with Australian Disability Access Regulations.

These regulations ensure that our community is safe and accessible for people of all abilities, including people with low vision or blindness.

A person with their white cane walking down the street with a Guide Dogs staff member. Both people are smiling at the camera and the person with the cane is holding the staff member by the elbow.

About our Access Consultants

Access Consultants are highly trained Orientation and Mobility (O&M) specialists or Occupational Therapists (OT). Beyond their O&M or OT experience, Access Consultants have qualifications in assisting people with low vision or blindness to move through environments confidently and safely.

All Guide Dogs Access Consultants are registered Associate Members of the Association of Consultants in Access Australia.

Access Consultants can provide a comprehensive analysis of your space or environment—called an ‘access appraisal’—to determine your best option in meeting regulatory obligations. Access appraisals are valuable and applicable at any stage of building development; whether your environment is in the early design phase, currently in construction, or housed within an existing structure.

Two people looking at each other while they are standing down the street. One has their back to the camera while the other is smiling.

How can Access Consulting help me if I own or manage a building?

Regardless of your environment, an access appraisal can help ensure your space complies with Disability Access Regulations. Access Consulting services can include:

  • Providing full access appraisals on existing buildings, new buildings, commercial and private property, public spaces, community facilities, and more.
  • Providing consultation at the planning and early construction stage.
  • Helping you understand and meet relevant legislation and Australian standards while focusing on the reality of day-to-day functionality and usability.
  • Providing ‘walk-and-talk’ opportunities to establish whether a full access appraisal is needed.
  • Helping other qualified Access Consultants to interpret the functional implications of access requirements and advising on best-practice for considerations of people with low vision or blindness.
  • Considering all access factors, including but not limited to tactile ground surface indicators, pedestrian and wheelchair access, accessible signage, luminance contrast, and more.
  • Providing professional reports and documented recommendations.

Who can benefit from Access Consulting?

Access Consulting ensures that a wide range of spaces are accessible and inclusive for people with all abilities.

More specifically, an access appraisal can assist:

  • Architects
  • Property developers
  • Body corporates
  • Local governments
  • Private business
  • Sporting venues
  • Educational institutions
  • Shops and department stores
  • Libraries
  • Hospitals
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