Mandurah was yesterday recognised as a leader at WA’s Most Accessible Community Awards for the efforts and leadership from the City of Mandurah and the wider community in creating an inclusive and welcoming city for everyone.
The City of Mandurah was named winner of all four award categories at the 2022/23 Most Accessible Community in WA (MACWA) Awards, including accessible buildings, facilities and services; public open space; communication and employment, highlighting the city’s commitment to accessibility across a huge range of projects, partnerships, services, places and life in Mandurah.
Mayor Rhys Williams said Council was committed to learning from the community and the disability sector to continue to improve the overall accessibility of the community.
“We work with the community to ensure everyone feels welcome, included, and has opportunities to participate and contribute. We actively seek feedback from people who have lived-experience knowledge to guide us as we strive to create accessible spaces, and together, we take positive steps each day towards building a more inclusive community for everyone,” he said.
“There is still much work to be done, and we appreciate the commitment from both our teams and our community to pursue excellence in this area.
"We are so honoured to receive these awards, and we accept these hand in hand with our local community and disability sector who are leading an incredible charge to create a more inclusive, connected place for everyone.
“A huge thanks to all the City staff, Council, organisations, disability service providers, our Access and Inclusion Advisory Group and other external groups that we work closely with to make sure everyone feels welcome, included and has opportunities to participate and contribute.
“A more inclusive and accessible community benefits everyone, and we are grateful for the collective dedication towards this goal.”
The accolades reflect the City’s commitment to delivering on actions from the City’s Access and Inclusion Plan (AIP), which aims to make sure people with disability have the same opportunities as others in the areas of services and events, buildings and facilities, information, quality of service, feedback and complaints, public consultation and employment.
Some of the accessible services, projects and facilities that have been worked on in the past 18 months include accessible paddle launches, new ablution designs with Changing Places facilities, enhanced access and inclusion and ‘sensory breaks’ at local events, City Centre Parking Plan, staff training and increased opportunities in sport and recreation for people with disability. The City also continues to enhance accessibility and diversity across communications mediums and equipment.
Mandurah first won WA’s Most Accessible Community award in 2021, taking out first and second placings in two of the three award categories, and being named overall winner among all local government entries.
