Communicating with People with Disability: National Guidelines for Emergency Managers
This handbook, part of the Australian Disaster Resilience Handbook Collection published by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, provides practical guidance for emergency managers on communicating effectively with people with disabilities across all phases of disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. Grounded in Australia’s National Disability Strategy and National Strategy for Disaster Resilience, it outlines general communication principles—such as person-first language, multi-format information delivery, and respect for individual dignity and independence—before offering disability-specific tips for people with physical, hearing, vision, cognitive, speech, and psychosocial disabilities.
The handbook also inventories a range of communication tools and technologies relevant to emergency contexts, including TTY devices, Auslan interpreters, hearing loops, Braille, open and closed captioning, Easy English, and audio description. A quick-reference poster summarizing key communication principles and disability-specific guidance for emergency managers is included as an appendix.
While developed within the Australian legislative and policy context, the resource offers broadly applicable guidance for emergency managers and National Society staff seeking to make disaster communication more inclusive and accessible for persons with disabilities.