Community Involvement

How the Community Building Program works

The Community Building Program assists the community to include people with a disability and their families and carers by:

helping people and organisations work together more effectively
improving community understanding about the needs and aspirations of people with a disability
developing and implementing responses to community priorities
ensuring that the needs of people with a disability are the focus of community planning
supporting service providers to assist people with a disability to live the sort of life they choose
developing easy ways for people to access the information they need about services, community activities and consultation opportunities

The program brings together the strengths, resources and creativity of individuals, communities and government to work in partnership to build long-term, sustainable change in local communities. The aspirations and opportunities that exist within each local community are the driving force of the programs.

Linking self-directed planning with community building

As disability supports become more flexible and individualised, people are exploring how they can become more active members of their communities. The information that people identify in their self-directed plans can be useful in helping to plan and build more inclusive communities.

The following tip sheets provide some ideas for how disability support professionals, including planners, facilitators, case managers, day service staff and others can work with the Community Building Program to build inclusive communities.