If we know our access,
we can grow
our reach.
AccessA measures how accessible and inclusive a tourism business really is, across the whole visitor journey. Businesses get a clear maturity level, verified evidence and plain-language next steps. Destinations get a live view, from a single council area up to the whole state.
A massive opportunity,
held back by uncertainty
People with disability, along with their carers and families, are one of the largest and most loyal visitor groups in the world. With major events on the horizon and accessibility and inclusion strategies in place across the country, Australia has every reason to become one of the most accessible and inclusive destinations on the planet.
"It's about progress, not perfection. We need to enable progression."
Many businesses want to do better. They're not sure where to start, worry about getting it wrong, or don't have the words to describe what they already offer. Destinations face the same gap at scale: they can't fund what they can't see. The challenge isn't a lack of goodwill. It's a lack of trusted data.
Live accessibility intelligence,
for clarity, confidence and action
AccessA removes the fear of judgement and replaces it with clarity, wherever you are in your journey.
For Businesses
Complete your assessment on your phone, on site, with support from the AccessA team when you need it. You only answer what applies to your type of business, add photos as evidence, and get a verified result. Understand what you're doing well, where your gaps are, and what to tackle next. Not a compliance checklist, and your data is hosted in Australia.
For Destinations
A live, place-wide view of access and inclusion maturity. State, regional and council teams each see their own patch, can drill down from state to region to council area, and compare themselves with their peers. Find the gaps, celebrate progress, and act where it counts.
For Funders & Policy Leads
Verified, aggregated data showing where the gaps are, by domain, business type and location. Prioritise investment, measure progress against your Accessibility & Inclusion Strategy or Action Plan, and see change as businesses reassess each year. Fund programs with confidence they solve the right problems, knowing every record is hosted in Australia.
Access consultant or auditor? See how AccessA prepares your clients.
How AccessA works
From business profile to verified result and next steps, then up to the destination view. The full journey in 30 seconds.
A rigorous framework.
A supported journey.
Structured enough to generate data funders can act on. Human enough that businesses want to engage with it.
5 journey stages, 12 domains, 73 criteria
The AccessA Standard follows the visitor from the moment they start dreaming about a trip, through booking, the lead-up, the visit itself and the follow-up afterwards. Criteria are filtered to your business type, so a café is never assessed on hotel rooms.
A fair maturity rating, not a checklist
Every criterion is rated on five maturity levels, from Emerging to Leading, with a clear description of what each level looks like. Established means you meet the relevant Australian standard. You are only assessed on what applies to you, so a walking tour isn't penalised for having no car park.
Verified results, practical next steps
Photo evidence and auditor review turn a self-assessment into a result people can trust. Every business then gets a domain-by-domain breakdown and plain-language guidance on what to do next, prioritised by where the gaps really are.
Across the full visitor journey
From the first spark of an idea to the follow-up after the visit, AccessA assesses maturity at every stage of the journey, across 12 domains of the accessibility and inclusion spectrum.
- 1Dreaming & Considering
- 2Intending & Booking
- 3Anticipation
- 4Experience
- 5Post-Experience
Digital Accessibility
Website, booking system, social media and live chat that everyone can use.
Destination Presence
ATDW listing, accessibility classification and inclusive imagery where visitors search.
Pre-visit Communications
Asking about access needs, pre-arrival information, route maps and social stories.
Arrival & Parking
Accessible parking, a clear path to the entrance and a safe drop-off zone.
Entrances & Pathways
Step-free entry, circulation space, lifts, counters, seating, rooms and shared facilities.
Bathrooms & Changing
Accessible bathrooms, roll-in showers, Changing Places and companion facilities.
Vision Support
Lighting and contrast, Braille and tactile signage, large print and audio description.
Hearing Support
Hearing loops, visual and audible alarms, captioning and communication aids.
Cognitive Support
Easy Read information, the Sunflower program, low-stimulation entry and quiet spaces.
Service & Staff
Welcome, training, an access champion, accessible menus and feedback afterwards.
Animal Access & Policies
Assistance animal policy, relief areas and companion animal provisions.
Experience Operations
How tours and activities adapt for mobility, sensory, neurological and intellectual needs.
Disability is not a single profile. Physical and mobility, vision, hearing, neurological and cognitive, intellectual: visible and hidden. Every criterion is tagged to the access needs it serves, so the results reflect the real breadth of human experience.
A real-time picture of
your region's access maturity
AccessA rolls verified business assessments up into a live destination portal. State tourism organisations, regional tourism organisations and councils each see their own area, with drill-down from state to region to council, so programs and budgets go where the gaps really are.
State, region and council views
See the whole state, drill into a region, then down to a single council area. Maturity updates as businesses complete or renew their assessments, so the picture is always current, never a static snapshot.
Investment targeting
See which domains, business types and places are falling behind, who your top performers are, and how you compare with neighbouring regions. Design funding programs that solve the right problems in the right places.
Strategy & plan tracking
Turn the targets in your Accessibility & Inclusion Strategy or Action Plan into objectives, and track progress as businesses reassess each year. Show funders measurable, verified improvement.
Five levels. Fair, comparable and meaningful
Every criterion is rated on five maturity levels, each described in plain language so operators and auditors read it the same way. Established means you meet the relevant Australian standard. Criteria that don't apply to your business are left out entirely, so your result is fair and comparable whatever kind of business you run.
Your overall result places you on the same five-step ladder, from Emerging to Leading. For destinations and funders, the same scale rolls up into a Regional Accessibility Index out of 5, with every domain shown at its maturity level, revealing where the gaps are and where investment will have the greatest impact.
Built by people who've
lived it, supported and scaled it
Giovanna Lever
Giovanna lives with Currarino syndrome alongside her youngest daughter. A pivotal family trip in 2016 navigating international travel with complex medical needs became the catalyst for over a decade of advocacy and industry leadership. Founder & MD of Sparrowly Group, a globally award-winning advisory firm. She has supported over 1,000 businesses and developed Tourism Australia's accessible tourism training program.
Yann Charavel
Yann's wife lives with hearing impairment, and travels with colleagues with disability showed him how few services support people's needs. That experience drives his commitment to inclusive travel. He brings consulting experience transforming organisations across France, Canada and Australia. He is also Co-Founder and Director of Supported Travel eXperiences and AccessibleOz, two travel agencies specialised in accessible travel experiences.
Andrew Hager
Andrew navigates the world alongside a visually impaired partner and an autistic son, giving him a daily understanding of what genuine accessibility means, and where it falls short. He brings significant expertise across strategy and operations in accessible tourism. He is also Co-Founder and Director of Supported Travel eXperiences and AccessibleOz, two travel agencies specialised in accessible travel experiences.
Ready to understand your access?
Whether you run one venue or look after a whole state, AccessA shows you where you stand, what to do next, and how to talk about it with confidence.