Lessons from presenting Australian access practice to the Jakarta government

From 9 to 13 July 2018, Sydney Access Consultants delivered the keynotes at a DKI Jakarta government short course on inclusive access and public services for people with disability. The course was hosted by BPSDM DKI Jakarta, the Jakarta Capital City Government Human Resources Development Board, and the invitation was facilitated through Austrade (NSW Trade and Investment). Gary Finn gave two keynotes, the first to about 200 government officers and the second to senior members of Jakarta government agencies, and we ran walk-and-talk access audits at public sites the hosts arranged. This article is about what that week taught us: how to make access teaching useful in another city, and why the answer is a method rather than a template.

The short course

The programme was the DKI Jakarta Government Short Course on Inclusive Access and Optimal Public Services for Disabled People. In Indonesian it was a diklat (training course) on pelayanan terpadu bagi penyandang disabilitas, integrated services for people with disabilities. Both keynotes were delivered at the Ruang Serba Guna Dinas Teknis, Jl Abdul Muis, Jakarta Pusat.

The course was reported publicly at the time. Berita Jakarta's report of 12 July 2018 records the BPSDM diklat, a cohort of about 200 civil servants, the Abdul Muis venue, and Gary's general lecture for Sydney Access Consultants.

Lesson 1: learn the city's buildings before you speak

A walk-and-talk access audit is an on-site review of a venue with key stakeholders. You talk through the barriers as you walk them, so that later advice and teaching are grounded in that place. It is not a substitute for a measured access report, and it is not a free site visit, but it is the fastest way to understand how a city's buildings are actually used.

During the Jakarta week the hosts arranged walk-and-talk audits at:

• the National Monument (Monas)
• a One Stop Integrated Service Department (PTSP)
• Ragunan Zoo
• Jakarta's Old City (Kota Tua), on a museum tour
• Tarakan Hospital
• the Rawamangun Velodrome, then under construction
• an integrated library and community child-care centre.

Those visits shaped everything that followed. The officers in the room worked at places such as Monas, Ragunan, Kota Tua, hospitals, schools, transport terminals, PTSP offices and public rental housing. Their questions were about their own buildings, and the audits meant we could answer them in a Jakarta context rather than with a lecture imported from Sydney. The same principle applies to the existing building access audits and access reports we prepare in NSW: start with the building as it is used.

Lesson 2: two audiences need two keynotes

The first keynote was for about 200 government officers. Gary worked with an experienced interpreter, and question time was specific to a Jakarta context.

The second keynote was for senior members of Jakarta government agencies. Gary tailored it with images and observations from the week's audits. Question time ran for about 45 minutes and ranged across schools, hospitals, streetscapes, parks and gardens, hotels, commercial buildings and government services. Our New South Wales experience in those settings was offered as information, not as a rulebook.

During the same week Gary met the then Governor of Jakarta. In Gary's paraphrase, the Governor said it may be prudent to carry out small pilot projects to test access concepts. It is advice we would give any client: test an idea on a small scale before rolling it out.

Lesson 3: start from what people share

The presentations opened with the theme "Promoting participation in everyday life for people living with disability" and closed with "Removing the barriers to access / One step at a time."

We presented disability as a broad set of conditions: sensory, mobility and mental; temporary or permanent; visible or invisible. We presented access as a prerequisite for social inclusion. To make the economic case, we drew on the Australian Human Rights Commission's 2017 report Missing out: The business case for customer diversity and on NSW projections of an ageing population. Those were Australian figures, offered as Australian context, not as Jakarta statistics.

Lesson 4: listen to the community you are designing for

One teaching module came from our community-housing access work with two Aboriginal communities in regional New South Wales.

Nanima

Nanima is a NSW Aboriginal community established in 1832. The module showed the Nanima drop-in centre of 1993, a building type for the recovery of women and children who are victims of domestic violence.

Murrin Bridge

Murrin Bridge is a NSW Aboriginal community established in 1955. The housing goals the community set for that work were simple: to feel safe, warm, private, cool, secure, clean, protected, dry, happy and healthy. The 1997 project aimed to replace 1950s "model housing", relieve overcrowding, use appropriate technology, and provide employment and training where possible. The later 2001–2005 programme added a building team, replacement housing and ongoing maintenance, together with universal access, access to employment, appropriate technology, ownership of the programme and community participation.

The lesson for Jakarta was the same as the lesson for any client. Good access design is done with a community, not to it.

Lesson 5: show the Standard being walked, not just cited

Two Sydney examples showed Australian practice in use. The first was a walk-and-talk at the University of Technology Sydney, including the "UTS MAP" app, which showed how a campus and AS 1428.1 can be walked rather than merely cited. The second, at Maroubra Beach, was about getting some exercise at the beach, and illustrated access in the public realm. Neither was offered as a design to copy. Both showed how an access consultant reads a place.

Lesson 6: a three-step access plan anyone can use

The buildings module set out a three-step draft access plan, a way to find and remove the barriers confronting a person living with disability.

1. Identify and remove the barriers to independent access for a carer with three children, such as twin toddlers in a pram.
2. Identify and remove the barriers to independent access for older people.
3. Audit and address the barriers that still prevent independent access for a person living with disability.

Community consultation plays a significant role at every step.

Lesson 7: offer thought-starters, not prescriptions

We closed with ideas for the hosts to consider:

• an urban design competition for local architects, for small (5,000 to 10,000 m²) pedestrian precincts that are local, inclusive and connected to an accessible public transport network, with the Old City as a precedent already enjoyed safely by pedestrians and bicycle riders
• trial projects for hospital wayfinding
• access to One Stop Shops (PTSP)
• an accessible zoo enclosure, including ticketing, wayfinding and exhibit information
• a Changing Places facility at the National Monument.

We also noted that even in Sydney independent access is not available on every street, partly because of topography, and that Jakarta's street life is its own context, not a defect to be erased.

The closing lesson: a uniquely Indonesian response

The aim should be to identify potential barriers early and remove them in a culturally specific manner, so that universal design results in a uniquely Indonesian response. Australian practice was offered as a method and a set of worked examples, not a kit of parts to be copied onto Jakarta. That is the lesson we bring to every project, at home or overseas: the standard sets the minimum, and the place and its people shape the answer.

Frequently asked questions

What was the 2018 Jakarta short course, and what was Sydney Access Consultants' role?

It was a DKI Jakarta government short course on inclusive access and public services for people with disability, held from 9 to 13 July 2018. It was hosted by BPSDM DKI Jakarta and facilitated through Austrade (NSW Trade and Investment). Gary Finn of Sydney Access Consultants gave two keynotes and conducted walk-and-talk access audits. Berita Jakarta reported the course on 12 July 2018.

What is a walk-and-talk access audit?

An on-site review of a venue with key stakeholders, talking through barriers as you walk them, so that later advice and teaching are grounded in that place. It is not a substitute for a measured access report.

Can Sydney Access Consultants run a keynote, workshop or walk-and-talk audit?

Yes. For government, campus and facility clients, a walk-and-talk audit of your own sites can come before, or sit beside, a keynote or workshop, so questions can be answered in context. Call (02) 9586 3111 or use our contact page.

Talk to us

If you are planning access training, a keynote or an audit for a government agency, campus or public venue, call Sydney Access Consultants on (02) 9586 3111. The free initial consultation covers a review of the floor plans only. A site inspection or a walk-and-talk audit is chargeable. Gary Finn is an Accredited Member of the Access Consultants Association (#435).