Access Consulting capability strengthened at Get Skilled Access

Get Skilled Access (GSA) strengthens national access consulting capability to address gap between compliance and lived experience.

Despite growing regulation across Australia’s built environment, people with disability continue to face significant barriers to accessing workplaces, housing, public spaces, and services, often in environments that technically meet minimum compliance standards.

Around 5.5 million Australians (21.4%) live with disability, yet research consistently shows that access barriers remain common, limiting participation, safety, and independence in everyday settings. As access obligations become more complex across infrastructure, housing, events, and public spaces, organisations are increasingly seeking advice that goes beyond compliance checklists and reflects real-world use.

GSA has strengthened its national access consulting capability to address this gap, delivering accredited access consulting services that combine technical expertise with lived experience of disability and inclusive design practice.

The service is led by Tanisha Simunic, an Accredited Access Consultant, and supported by GSA’s broader disability inclusion expertise. It provides organisations with practical, risk-managed access advice across existing and proposed environments, including access audits, design reviews, performance-based design solutions, and specialist assessments.

“Too often, access decisions are made based solely on standards, without understanding how people with disability actually experience spaces in practice,” says Tanisha Simunic, Accredited Access Consultant at Get Skilled Access. “Accredited access consulting, informed by lived experience, allows organisations to identify barriers that aren’t always obvious on drawings or checklists, and to make decisions that genuinely improve usability, and ensure dignity and safety.”

GSA’s access consulting services support organisations across a range of contexts, including public and commercial buildings, housing, events, and complex environments. Specialist expertise includes Universal Design consulting, compliance advice, desktop design reviews, building audits, and performance-based solutions where standard approaches are not achievable.

Zack Alcott, Co-CEO of Get Skilled Access, says the strengthened capability reflects growing recognition that compliance alone is not delivering equitable access outcomes.

“Organisations are under increasing pressure to meet regulatory requirements, but people with disability are still being excluded from spaces that are technically compliant,” he says. “By delivering accredited access consulting grounded in lived experience, we’re helping organisations move beyond minimum requirements and make access decisions that work in real life.”

Recent access consulting work includes projects at Rod Laver Arena, where GSA supported inclusive design solutions within elite recovery facilities for athletes with disability. GSA also continues to work with Melbourne Olympic Parks across accessibility and inclusion initiatives, including input into the Melbourne Olympic Parks redevelopment, further reinforcing the importance of accredited access expertise within large-scale infrastructure projects.

GSA’s access consulting services are delivered nationally and form part of the organisation’s broader commitment to disability inclusion across physical environments, digital platforms, and organisational systems.