DISABILITY, ACCESS AND INCLUSION POLICY

 

SHAUN PARKER & COMPANY

DISABILITY, ACCESS AND INCLUSION POLICY

Effective: 2025–2028 Strategic Cycle
Review Cycle: Biennial (or as required by legislation or strategic updates)

1. PURPOSE

“Dance belongs to all bodies!”

Shaun Parker

Shaun Parker & Company Limited (SP&Co) is committed to advancing an equitable, accessible and inclusive dance sector in New South Wales and beyond.

As articulated in our 2025–2028 Strategic Plan, SP&Co envisions “a vibrant and equitable future for the dance sector… where opportunities abound, barriers are dismantled, artists thrive, and audiences are thrilled to engage with the transformative power of dance”

This Disability, Access and Inclusion Policy establishes SP&Co’s framework to:

• Remove systemic and physical barriers to participation
• Champion artists living with disability
• Ensure equitable access to our programs, employment and leadership pathways
• Embed inclusive practice across governance, operations, programming and community engagement
• Uphold best practice under Australian legislation and arts sector standards

2. SCOPE

This policy applies to:

• Board Directors
• Executive and administrative staff
• Dancers and artistic contractors
• Production and technical teams
• Interns and volunteers
• Independent artists accessing SP&Co programs
• Audiences and workshop participants

3. VALUES & STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

This policy directly supports SP&Co’s Strategic Plan 2025–2028 priorities, including:

• Providing sustainable employment and wellbeing support to dancers
• Championing inclusion for First Nations, LGBTQIA+, CaLD artists and artists living with disability
• Ensuring accessibility and equity through digital education resources and regional touring
• Maintaining a Disability Inclusion Action Plan as part of modern workplace protections

SP&Co recognises disability inclusion not as compliance, but as artistic, cultural and structural leadership.

4. DEFINITIONS

Disability refers to physical, sensory, neurological, intellectual, psychosocial or chronic health conditions that may be visible or invisible, temporary or permanent.

Access refers to removing physical, digital, systemic, economic and attitudinal barriers.

Inclusion refers to actively creating environments where people living with disability have agency, leadership, dignity and equal opportunity.

5. LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

SP&Co complies with:

• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
• Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW)
• Fair Work Act 2009
• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW)
• Australian Human Rights Commission guidelines
• Live Performance Award 2010
• Relevant touring and venue compliance standards

As outlined in our Modern Workplace Conditions framework , SP&Co aligns operations with state and federal equality and workplace legislation.

6. POLICY COMMITMENTS

6.1 Inclusive Artistic Programming

SP&Co commits to:

• Commissioning and developing work led by artists living with disability.
• Providing choreographic and leadership pathways for disabled artists.
• Ensuring disability representation across programming where appropriate.
• Embedding inclusive dramaturgy and consultation in new work development.

Strategic Example:

The development of NO LONGER HANGING AROUND, led by Joel Fenton, a dancer living with Cleidocranial Dysplasia, positions disability not as limitation but as artistic leadership.

6.2 Employment & Career Pathways

SP&Co will:

• Provide equitable employment pathways for dancers/creatives living with disability.
• Offer progressive leadership development opportunities (e.g., Joel Fenton’s trajectory from dancer to Associate Artistic Director, and Felicity Nicol’s trajectory as mentee to Dramaturge).
• Ensure flexible rehearsal and touring arrangements.
• Provide reasonable workplace adjustments without prejudice.

This aligns with SP&Co’s commitment to sustainable long-term dancer employment and wellbeing.

6.3 Physical Accessibility

SP&Co will:

• Select rehearsal and performance venues that meet accessibility standards wherever possible.
• Advocate for accessible infrastructure in touring negotiations.
• Ensure dressing rooms, rehearsal floors and performance spaces are safely accessible.
• Conduct risk assessments inclusive of mobility, sensory and neurological considerations.

6.4 Digital Accessibility

Aligned with the Strategic Plan’s digital advancement priorities

SP&Co will:

• Upgrade digital platforms to enhance accessibility.
• Ensure website content meets WCAG accessibility standards where feasible.
• Provide captioning and transcripts for digital video materials where possible.
• Develop accessible digital education resource packs for regional and remote NSW schools

6.5 Inclusive Education & Community Engagement

SP&Co will:

• Deliver inclusive workshops designed to be adaptable for varying physical and cognitive needs.
• Provide clear access information for schools and community partners.
• Offer digital alternatives where travel or physical attendance presents barriers.
• Work with First Nations tertiary institutions and community partners to ensure intersectional inclusion.

6.6 Workplace Culture & Psychological Safety

SP&Co maintains:

• A Disability Inclusion Action Policy
• Bullying and Harassment Policy
• Wellbeing Policy
• Code of Conduct
• Cultural Safety Policy

The Board’s People, Culture & Technology Subcommittee oversees inclusion, staff development and burnout mitigation.

SP&Co recognises that invisible disabilities, mental health conditions and chronic illnesses require compassionate, confidential and flexible responses.

 

 

6.7 Touring & Regional Equity

Given SP&Co’s extensive regional touring footprint the company will:

• Work with presenters to communicate access information clearly.
• Advocate for accessible seating, Auslan interpretation and relaxed performance options where feasible.
• Ensure regional schools and communities have equitable digital access.
• Provide free and low-cost workshops to reduce economic barriers.

6.8 Intersectionality

SP&Co recognises that disability intersects with:

• First Nations identity
• LGBTQIA+ identity
• CaLD communities
• Socio-economic disadvantage
• Regional and remote access barriers

Inclusion strategies are therefore intersectional, not siloed.

7. GOVERNANCE RESPONSIBILITY

The Company’s Executive & Management team, Board of Directors, including the First Nations Cultural Advisor and relevant subcommittees, will:

• Oversee implementation of this policy.
• Monitor compliance with legal obligations.
• Review accessibility KPIs annually.
• Ensure disability representation is considered in Board recruitment, and/or Board Observership Program.

8. REPORTING & REVIEW

• This policy will be reviewed every two years.
• Staff and artists may raise access concerns confidentially.
• Accessibility feedback mechanisms will be embedded into workshop and touring evaluations.
• Annual reporting will be aligned with Create NSW and Creative Australia accountability frameworks.

9. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

SP&Co recognises that accessibility is an evolving practice. We commit to:

• Consulting with artists living with disability.
• Undertaking professional development in inclusive choreography and production.
• Engaging disability advocacy organisations where appropriate.

10. PUBLIC STATEMENT

Shaun Parker & Company believes that disability is not a deficit of capacity but a dimension of human diversity that enriches artistic expression.

We affirm that:

• Dance belongs to all bodies.
• Access is a creative responsibility.
• Inclusion strengthens artistic excellence.
• Equity requires structural action, not symbolic gestures.

Through our 2025–2028 Strategic Plan , SP&Co is committed to dismantling barriers and building a sustainable, inclusive and visionary dance ecology for New South Wales and beyond.