Why accessibility matters
RMIT values the richness of diversity among our students and staff and recognises the contribution being made already by those living with disability. An inclusive and accessible working and learning environment:
- widens participation from under-represented groups of students and staff, and taps into a wider talent pool
- encourages greater retention and supports success
- upholds the rights of people with disability
- demonstrates fairness and equal opportunity
RMIT has a long and proud history of action to ensure people with disability can participate in study and work and is recognised as a leading organisation for accessibility in the Australian Network on Disability Access and Inclusion Index. Our current Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Framework builds on these achievements and sets out our aspiration to achieve an RMIT that is “Inclusive by design: Everyone, everywhere, all the time.”
RMIT acknowledges that people with disability are as diverse as people without disability and that ‘disability’ encapsulates a wide range of experiences, with many disabilities being non-visible. Disability arises from the interaction between people and their environment and so RMIT aims to remove barriers, including attitudinal and cultural, which prevent inclusion, full participation and advancement.
Every day we strive to meet the needs of our diverse community. This involves continued learning and innovation to create an environment that is truly accessible to all and where everyone can achieve.
Chaminda Ranasinghe, Chief Experience Officer and RMIT Accessibility Champion
Reflection from a leader: Accessibility at RMIT
Hear more from Chaminda Ranasinghe by watching the video.
Initiatives and Services
Equitable Learning Services
Equitable Learning Services provides support and equal opportunities for students with a disability, long-term illness or mental health condition, and primary carers of individuals with a disability, ELS provides individualised learning plans, adjustments to facilitate full participation, and services such as Auslan interpreters. Students can also access personalised career development advice and services.
Through our partnership with Australian Network on Disability, RMIT can provide opportunities to students with disability and improve the RMIT talent pool. Find out how to host an intern or become a mentor to a student.
Disability transition support officer
For students with disability transitioning from secondary school to vocational education (TAFE), RMIT has a dedicated staff member to support this move into adult learning.
This staff member can assist with:
- Advice on enrolment processes and troubleshooting any difficulties
- Support to connect with other wellbeing and disability supports at RMIT, including the Equitable Learning Services
- Support to connect with other student services including the careers team and work integrated learning advisors
- Advice around what to expect in an adult learning environment
- A friendly contact point for up to your first 90 days at RMIT
Mental wellbeing
At RMIT, we take action to promote student and staff mental wellbeing (staff login) and provide a range of support services, events, and professional development opportunities. Free professional mental health counselling is available for students and staff.
Services for staff with disability
The Accessibility at Work team coordinates workplace adjustments for staff which may include physical changes to the working environment, technological adjustments or flexible work. We provide training and development and evaluation of our services as a key opportunity to create disability confidence for our staff and student community. Find out more about accessibility at work (staff login).
Promoting neurodiversity awareness in learning and workplace environments
RMIT has a range of initiatives to be affirming of neurodivergence in both students and staff (staff login), including:
- Dedicated study sessions through the Library that adjust the environment as well as providing additional study support tailored to the needs of those who are neurodivergent.
- An in-depth professional development workshop that gives RMIT staff an opportunity to broaden their understanding and knowledge when it comes to neurodiversity.
Accessibility on campus
Property Services works with stakeholders from across RMIT to improve the accessibility of our campus facilities.
Find out more about RMIT’s annual improvements, changing places and accessibility campus maps and navigation.
RMIT Libraries
RMIT Libraries have staff, services and facilities to help students and staff with disability use the Library and find information. Dedicated Librarians can provide tours, advice about accessing library resources, or help with computer and room bookings. The Library also converts resources into accessible formats.
Digital accessibility
We aim to meet the diverse needs of our community through setting consistent standards for our online information and the online services we use.
Our Digital Accessibility Framework seeks to ensure that students, staff, and visitors can access and use our digital information and services.
RMIT’s home page became the first of any Victorian university with zero automatically detected accessibility errors, assessed by the accessibility tool WAVE.
Professional development and resources
To support our students and staff, RMIT offers a variety of online modules and hybrid workshops touching on accessibility, disability and neurodivergence. These programs include:
- Neurodiversity 101: an affirmative approach
- Accessibility and Inclusion at RMIT
- Introduction to Accessibility at RMIT (Online Module)
- How to: Digital Accessibility
Inclusive teaching for students with disability
- How to support students registered with Equitable Learning and Accessibility
- Equitable Learning Service (Online Module)
- Alternative Assessment Arrangements (Online Module)
- Inherent Requirements (Online Module)
- Supporting students with accessibility (staff login required)
- Equitable Learning Service: Disability Support at RMIT (staff login required)
- Inclusive teaching web page (staff login required)
- Inclusive teaching: Supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing students (staff login required)
- Universal Design for Learning in Tertiary Education | Learning (myworkday.com)
Events and communications
RMIT holds regular events and shares communications to celebrate our disability community and promote equity and inclusion, so stay tuned to RMIT channels to find out more.
RMIT celebrates…
- Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), on May 18, aims to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion. HIn 2022, we went 'bold' for GAAD in 2022 and made it a week! RMIT ran both internal student/staff events and external events. To find out more:
- Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2022: Continuing the journey (sharepoint.com) (staff login required)
- Chief Experience Officer and Accessibility Sponsor, Chaminda Ranasinghe, with his reflections on GAAD and RMIT’s progress
- RMIT in conjunction with the Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training proudly presented: What’s next for Digital Accessibility? A cross-institutional discussion on where we've come from, harnessing the COVID disruption and embedding digital equity in what's next. Video - RMIT and ADCET Webinar: What’s next for Digital Accessibility? - ADCET
- Accessibility in action: in 2023, RMIT is running multiple events throughout the year for community engagement to increase the awareness of the experience of students and staff with disability.
- International Day of People with Disability, December 3, is a globally recognised day that aims to share stories and increase visibility for people with disabilities in all aspects of life.
- Student Experience: Connecting with ELS
- Student Experience: Implementing the ELP for assessments
External resources
Networks and partnerships
RMIT Student Union Disabilities and Carers Department advocates for disabled students and carers and to represent them when it counts.
RMIT has a Community of Practice in Digital Accessibility that includes staff from Melbourne and Vietnam from all areas of teaching and professional roles. Community of Practice members meet regularly with the aim at embedding best practice as well as responding to emerging developments internally and externally. RMIT Staff can join by completing this form.
The Neurodiversity Hub
The Neurodiversity Hub aims to support the untapped talent that exists among neurodiverse students by supporting them into employment. Through focused training, resources, and networks, the Hub works with industry and educational institutions to create supportive pathways and build student employability.
By collaborating with the Hub, RMIT joins an established Community of Practice that will provide opportunities to enhance the development and employability of our neurodiverse students.
Australian Network on Disability Index and opportunities for students and staff
RMIT are a Silver member of the Australian Network on Disability (AND), a national organisation that supports its members to create inclusive environments for people with disability. AND provide support, conduct training, share knowledge, best practice and facilitate networking opportunities. AND announced RMIT as one of the top five participating organisations benchmarked for workplace accessibility in 2017.
RMIT Disability and Neurodiversity Staff Network
Support - Celebrate - Explore - Advocate
Womenjika!
We are people who identify as disabled/people with disabilities (or similar) and neurodivergent staff leading a network at RMIT to:
- support each other,
- celebrate our strength, tenacity, courage and humour,
- explore best practise,
- and advocate for dignity and inclusion in the workplace.
The network holds regular meetings to provide mutual peer support by simply communicating and sharing stories with each other.
RMIT Disability & Neurodiversity Staff Network
Hear from RMIT staff introducing the RMIT Disability & Neurodiversity Staff Network, sharing why the network was created, and why it is important.
Join the network
Please fill out this form if you would like to be part of the network.
The meetings will be held in a hybrid mode: you can attend in person at a low sensory meeting space at the RMIT Melbourne campus or connect online via Teams. Please list any accessibility needs in the form. If you choose to not self-disclose at this stage, you can join the Teams meetings via a non-RMIT profile.
The meetings are not recorded and provide a safe and confidential space to listen/read and share amongst peers.
Note: Membership of this group will remain confidential and will not be shared with supervisors, other teams or RMIT service groups.
The aim of the Disability and Neurodiversity Staff Network
Support
- To develop a network of people who face similar challenges and misunderstandings and provide mutual peer support.
Celebrate
Increase staff engagement by:
- Building trust and facilitate a more supportive and empowering workplace culture.
- To reduce the taboo and stigma (often self-imposed) of being disabled, neurodivergent, having mental health or neurological conditions and / or a chronic illness or pain.
Explore
- To design potential workplace solutions to dealing with chronic pain flares & chronic illness flare ups, juggling medications, and / or issues arising from a person’s disability that impact work engagement and decrease feelings of security in employment.
- ‘Lift as you Rise’ is based on the concept that as you as a disabled employee grow and climb the ladder of achievement in your career, you help peers rise in the workplace by providing mentorship or training opportunities.
Advocate
- To create visibility and provide a voice which will contribute to a disability and neurodiversity inclusive workplace.
- To be a representative presence for students with disabilities and who identify as neurodivergent as this will increase their sense of belonging and contribute to more effective pathways and support.
The language of disability
RMIT acknowledges that language concerning identity continues to evolve. In accordance with guidance provided by the Australian Network on Disability, RMIT uses ‘person first’ language to describe people with disability, while acknowledging many people with disability prefer to use identity-first language. Identity-first language puts a person’s disability identity before the person – for example, ‘disabled person’ or ‘Autistic’ - instead of ‘person with autism’; ‘Deaf’ - instead of ‘person who is deaf’. Many prefer to use identity-first language as they regard their disability as a key part of their identity. They use identity-first language to show their connection to the disability community, demonstrate disability pride and emphasise that it is society that is disabling. Of course, when interacting directly with people or describing them, we respect and use their preferred way of describing themselves.
