00:00The beach at Port Campbell is John Wilson's happy place, but for 30 years he couldn't
00:07touch the ocean.
00:08I 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.
00:27The community recognised an opportunity to make a difference.
00:31In the years since, accessible matting, beach wheelchairs and walking frames have been donated
00:35to 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.
00:45When 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
01:00they're doing.
01:01She sought guidance on how to make her accommodation as inclusive as possible, and says more tourism
01:06businesses should give it a go.
01:08If we could do things to make it better here, then why wouldn't we?
01:13There'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.
01:20In towns like Port Campbell, a whole-of-community approach to accessibility is giving holiday
01:25options to the millions of Australians who live with a disability.
01:29To see others similar to myself out there in the sea and on the surfboards, and having
01:40a whale of a time.
01:41Making a beach holiday a reality for those who need it most.
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