Access, Assistance And Facilities For Disabled People

Deciding whether to come to conference or not is a decision for every party member - but no one should think they can't come to conference because of a disability.

Federal Conference Committee (FCC) is aware that attending party conference can pose problems for party members with disabilities and not just those disabilities which affect mobility. FCC is strongly committed to solving these problems. Over the last few years FCC has worked hard to identify obstacles faced by conference-goers and to do whatever possible to tackle them. Most of this work has been done through the Conference Access Group (CAG), made up of conference-goers with disabilities, and senior FCC members and staff.

Here are some of the achievements and ongoing areas of work we are carrying out to improve access to conference:

Wheelchair users' accommodation grant
Access to the conference centre, conference hotel and fringe venues
Participation for reps with hearing impairments
Assisting reps with neurological disorders
Helping reps with food allergies and dietary requirements
 
Our aims for further improvement are high and to help us reach them, we welcome and rely on feedback and information from our delegates and members. We want to hear feedback from those who attend conference and from those who feel it is not possible to attend conference. Only by becoming more aware can we address the obstacles and work with the conference and venue organisers to remove them.
 
Please send any comments or feedback on access to conference issues to:
 
Robert Adamson
Convenor, Conference Access Group
Robert@Robertadamson.info
 
Note: the phrase ‘people with disabilities' is used throughout this section of the website as it is now the most widely used terminology in this area and as many believe that it accords with liberal principles to regard each person as an individual and treat all individuals equally. Others prefer to refer to ‘disabled people' and ‘sufferers' from particular difficulties. This site does not aim to resolve this disagreement but broadly to cover those referred to by both sets of terms.