The Victorian Public Sector Commission (VPSC) has added five new tools and activities to its Wellbeing toolkit to help ensure accessibility and inclusivity in public sector workplaces.
The Commission said its Wellbeing toolkit was for all public sector people managers and provided practical information to help them proactively support their teams’ wellbeing.
The new tools and activities are: Why inclusive language matters as a manager; Quick and easy ways to make work more accessible for your team; Accessibility scavenger hunt; Audio description empathy exercise; and Privilege payday.
“Learn about the importance of inclusive language and how to use it with your team,” the VPSC said.
“[The Why inclusive language matters as a manager] tool will show you the steps you can take to ensure that every member of your team feels comfortable and safe,” it said.
“Making some simple adjustments to the way you work can make a big difference to your team.”
The VPSC said accessibility wasn’t always about physical aids, sometimes it was as simple as changing the way a meeting was run or turning video on when chatting online.
It said the Accessibility scavenger hunt activity would help teams recognise the importance of accessibility measures and encourage discussion of adjustments that could improve the workplace for people with disability.
“[In the] Audio description empathy exercise your team will learn about audio descriptions and what’s involved in writing them,” it said.
“Through writing their own they will better understand the important role audio description plays in the lives of people with visual impairment.”
The VPSC said the Privilege payday activity was for large teams and encouraged discussion around privilege and ableism.
The Commission’s Wellbeing toolkit, including its new tools and activities, can be accessed at this PS News link.
