Sydney Access Consultants are pleased to announce the opening of a new branch on the Mid North Coast. Sandy Gray, an architect and qualified access consultant, is partnering with this Hurstville based firm to bring access consultancy services to regional areas of NSW.

Gray has been actively advocating since the 1980s, for the rights of people with a disability to have equitable and dignified access to the built environment. In her roles as a senior architect with the ACT government, chair of the access committee with ACROD (peak body for disability sector) and later as an educator at TAFE NSW and the University of Newcastle, Gray's achievements in the access world are numerous. They include introducing Access checklists for the design and documentation of new public works, the publication of the first ACT Access Guide to Public Facilities, contributing to the drafting of the Adaptable Housing Standard (AS4299), initiation and management of ACT Architectural Access Awards, and planning access awareness training, education projects and events.

Improved access provides opportunities for people with a disability to access employment, education, services and social connection. Sydney Access Consultants, a registered NDIS provider, is an access compliance based firm with a difference. We are architects who can offer creative, practical and cost effective performance solutions to resolve most disability access requirements. Mid North Coast Branch offers the following services:  

•    Disability Action Plans to address current access issues and limit liability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA);

•    Access Audits for proposed developments to advise on compliance with access provisions of the BCA, Australian Standards and Access to Premises Standards;

•    Access Audits for existing buildings and facilities;

•    Home Modification advice to assist people with frailty or disability to remain living at home;

•    Performance solutions for existing access issues.

Gray's philosophy has always been that good design for inclusivity makes for common sense. It pays immediate social and economic dividends to include everyone and we are all the healthier, wiser and wealthier for it.