An Inclusive Play Space offers a robust recreational and social opportunities for the whole community. Inclusive play spaces provide recreational opportunity for all people regardless of differences in abilities, age, gender or culture. An inclusive play space accommodates everyone allowing them to be included in the play experience, play socially, choose from a range of activities and challenge themselves at their own development level. An inclusive play space can’t provide every experience for everyone but should provide something that everyone can access and enjoy.

Adjustments made to buildings, equipment and public spaces to ensure that people with a disability can access and use buildings and public spaces, as required by the Disability Discrimination Act and Australian Standards.

A person with a disability is someone who is permanently physically, intellectually or neurologically injured or incapacitated and requires assistance of appropriate aids or services to move, communicate, or take care of themselves. Disabilities are often divided into ‘disability groups’ such as physical and mobility, learning and cognition, and vision or hearing.

An individual with special needs is someone with a physical, intellectual or neurological impairment (as distinct from an incapacity) who may need help with movement, communication, self-care or decision making. For example, an elderly person may have impaired movement, vision or hearing that requires additional support to navigate a play space but would not be considered disabled. Or children with ADHD, mild to moderate autism, behavioural difficulties would not be considered disabled, and yet still have special needs to support their functionality in life, school and playgrounds.

People with disability living in and visiting our community have a range of different needs and abilities.

It is widely recognised that the way people experience disability depends on the complex interactions between impairment and the environment in which they are undertaking activities.

No two people experience disability in the same way. The kinds of barriers that people with disability may face that can prevent them from participating fully in community life include:

The implication for our community is that the physical, attitudinal, communication and social environment should change to enable people living with impairments to participate in society on an equal basis with others, and that this participation is a fundamental right of people with disability.