From improving emergency healthcare experiences to creating inclusive playgrounds, we’re committed to breaking down barriers to ensure our communities are communication accessible.
For the 1.2 million Australians living with communication disability, getting a message across and understanding what other people are communicating can be a challenge in many everyday settings, including when accessing healthcare, workplaces, recreational spaces, and even interacting online.
But no matter the situation, everyone has the right to communicate.
At the AGOSCI 2025 Conference, a biennial forum focused on alternative and augmentative communication (AAC), our communication experts showcased some of the innovative ways we’re working to make communication access a reality across the community.
Katie Lyon, Acting General Manager of our Communication and Inclusion Resource Centre (CIRC), and many of the team presented ten papers to more than 400 delegates.
“It was a privilege to share the breadth of CIRC's work with so many passionate and knowledgeable delegates. We left energised by the interest, feedback, and ideas from our peers who share our commitment to creating inclusive communities for people with communication disabilities,” said Katie.
The projects presented by CIRC at the AGOSCI conference are just some of the ways we’re improving communication access across both Scope’s services and in the community. Explore the presentations below.
Communication Champions
Liz Weston, Co-ordinator of Non-Electronic Aids (NECAS) and Speech Pathologist
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) has the power to give every client the opportunity to communicate and participate. CIRC has trained a community of passionate disability support workers across Scope's day and lifestyle programs and supported them to implement the communication aids best suited to the clients they support.
Building Employer Confidence
Jacob Matthew, Communication Access Assessor
Many employers told us they don’t know how to recruit and retain employees with communication disability and low literacy. The resources being developed as part of this project will provide employers with the knowledge and confidence to support people with communication access requirements across the employment life cycle, while changing perceptions and increasing job opportunities.
Communicate and Connect
Bronwen Jones, Speech Pathologist
During the COVID-19 pandemic, communication resources and training packs were implemented in Scope's Supported Independent Living (SIL) homes to promote meaningful interactions between disability support workers and clients. Communicate and Connect builds on this success and supports employees and clients to create strong visual and sign environments in our SIL homes.
Play and Chat
Sarah Mitchell, Speech Pathologist
People with communication disabilities can face challenges communicating during play that limit their participation. We’ve designed a suite of communication tools for parks and play spaces, such as communication boards, and partnered with local councils, schools, and landscape developers to have them installed in recreational spaces across Australia.
Katie Lyon, Acting General Manager of CIRC
Young people with communication disability and low literacy are at higher risk of experiencing online abuse and scams. These resources, developed with the eSafety Commissioner, are designed to support them to access the internet safely while also empowering parents, guardians, and carers to have meaningful conversations about online safety.
Discovery of Communication Access at Victorian Libraries
Nora Halpin, Speech Pathologist
Communication access is key to ensuring that libraries and the vital services they provide are accessible to everyone in the community. We’ve partnered with State Library Victoria and Public Libraries Victoria to improve communication access, and a discovery phase has been completed to better understand the communication access requirements.
Key Word Sign and Gesture
Leigha Dark, Key Word Sign Australia National Coordinator
Key Word Sign and Gesture are commonly used together as a form of communication. This paper explored how this strategy can promote language and learning through embodied action, and provides practical examples for parents, family members, educators, and allied health professionals.
Best Care for People with Communication Disability
Katie Lyon, Acting General Manager CIRC National Services
Everyone should be able to make their own healthcare decisions and understand the information presented to them in a healthcare setting. This suite of training resources, co-designed by people with disability, enhances communication between health professionals and patients during medical emergencies.
Meredith Allan won a national award for her commitment to low tech and unaided AAC.
In other highlights, Meredith Allan was awarded the AGOSCI/Key Word Sign Australia Karen Bloomberg Award for her outstanding commitment to supporting low tech and unaided AAC in Australia.
Meredith works in CIRC’S communication access team as an assessor and educator for mainstream businesses and services. She is a lifelong advocate with lived experience of communication disability and uses Key Word Sign as a communication strategy in her daily interactions.
“This award is highly emotional for me for two reasons. I have many memories and achievements with Karen and the last time I saw her we relived some of these and laughed,” said Meredith.
“The second reason is because it was given for my commitment to Key Word Sign and advocating for non-electronic communication. If people who use AAC are to fulfil the challenges of having a communication system with them all day every day, Key Word Sign helps meet that need.
Karen Bloomberg was a pioneering speech pathologist and founding member of AGOSCI who was passionate about improving communication access for people with complex communication needs.
Meredith also presented on a panel about the ethics of AAC systems and was part of a presentation about co-designing a Master of Speech Pathology with people with disability.
We were also thrilled to be AGOSCI’s communication access partner, providing tools and resources to ensure the conference was communication accessible and inclusive for every delegate.
This included accessible maps for wayfinding, custom communication boards at points such as registration, café and catering, and accommodation, and introductory communication access training for conference volunteers.
“Scope and AGOSCI have a rich history and long-standing partnership and we were proud to support them to deliver yet another inclusive conference aimed at increasing the communication accessibility for all delegates,” said Katie.
“Our communication tools are co-designed by people with a lived experience, evidence-based, and used widely across mainstream services to support people with communication access requirements to interact effectively.”
The following is a joint statement from Scope, Melba Support Services, Aruma, Life Without Barriers and Possability provided to The Age to inform its article published on 7 September on looming changes to disability housing. The Age did not publish the statement.
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