Ararat Rural City Council is committed to fostering a more inclusive, welcoming, tolerant and diverse community, and to equal employment opportunities for all employees and potential employees. Council also incorporates universal accessibility into its capital works and services where possible.
The Disability Act 2006 requires public authorities such as local governments to prepare a Disability Action Plan. The Plan will describe how Council will address access and inclusion barriers for people with disability, as both service users and employees.
Disability Action Plan Working Group
Council is seeking representatives from community and organisations with expertise in inclusive practices for people with disability to establish a Disability Action Plan (DAP) Working Group to ensure that the lived experience of people with disability will guide the development of the DAP.
The DAP Working Group will not be an established Committee of Council, and as such will not provide advice directly to Council. Rather, it will work in an advisory capacity to the CEO on the development of the Council’s new Disability Action Plan.
The composition of the DAP Working Group will be as follows:
- Chief Executive Officer, or Nominee
- Up to two community representatives selected through this Expression of Interest (EOI) process
- Skills-based representatives from organisations with expertise in inclusive practices for people with disability, to be nominated by their organisation.
Monthly DAP Working Group meetings are anticipated to be held in January, February, March and April 2026, with the goal to complete the Disability Action Plan by April 2026.
Reference Groups
To provide a range of options to participate in the Disability Action Plan development process, there will also be opportunities for people to register for informal community or stakeholder Reference Group meetings that may be themed around specific topics.
Expressions of Interest (EOI) Process
EOIs for the DAP Working Group are open until 5pm on Friday 19 December 2025.
EOIs for the Reference Groups will remain open until the end of the Reference Group meetings, which are estimated to occur in January and February 2026.
EOIs can be submitted through a Council-approved online form below, or via the word form in the Document Library section of this webpage, or in a hardcopy form to the Ararat Rural City Council Office, 59 Vincent Street, Ararat. If any assistance is required to submit an EOI, please contact the Council Office in person or via phone on (03) 5355 0200.
Expressions of Interest for community representatives should outline the following:
- Interest in supporting the development of a Disability Action Plan
- Lived experience as a person with disability or supporting a person with disability.
DAP Working Group Selection Process
Community representatives will be selected following the EOI process by the Chief Executive Officer or Nominee and the skills-based Working Group members.
Terms of Reference
A draft Terms of Reference for the DAP Working Group and Reference Groups will be developed by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer. The final Terms of Reference will be endorsed by the DAP Working Group and provided to Council for information.
The terms of reference will outline the scope and role of the DAP Working Group and Reference Groups, along with meeting arrangements and schedules.
