00:00The beach at Port Campbell is John Wilson's happy place, but for 30 years he couldn't
00:08touch the ocean.
00:09I guess at the time I didn't worry too much about it because I thought, oh well, that's
00:14what it is.
00:15But that changed when John attended a beach inclusion day at the Surf Lifesaving Club
00:19last summer.
00:20To suddenly find that there's ways of being able to access the beach, yes, very special.
00:28The community recognised an opportunity to make a difference.
00:31In the years since, accessible matting, beach wheelchairs and walking frames have been donated
00:36to the club, and local business owners got on board.
00:39I became more aware of what we now call accessibility, and it just seemed to make sense.
00:46When Georgie Salmon was creating luxury accommodation along the Great Ocean Road, it was pushing
00:51her twins around in a pram that made her stop and think about accessibility.
00:55It really opened my eyes to perhaps what other people might face every day, no matter what
01:01they're doing.
01:02She sought guidance on how to make her accommodation as inclusive as possible, and says more tourism
01:07businesses should give it a go.
01:09If we could do things to make it better here, then why wouldn't we?
01:14There's a lot of operators who just think this is just a little niche area.
01:17They are leaving money on the table.
01:19They're missing out.
01:21In towns like Port Campbell, a whole-of-community approach to accessibility is giving holiday
01:26options to the millions of Australians who live with a disability.
01:30To see others similar to myself out there in the sea and on the surfboards, and having
01:40a whale of a time.
01:42Making a beach holiday a reality for those who need it most.
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