Taking a Human Centred Approach to Accessibility and Inclusion: CommBank’s Accessibility and Inclusion Strategy 2024-2026

Over 4.4 million Australians live with disability, with 1 in 3 reporting that their customer needs are often unmet. This stark fact reinforced the need to adopt a Human Centred approach to define CommBank’s Accessibility and Inclusion strategy 2024-2026. The objective was to fundamentally redefine how Accessibility and Inclusion strategies are often perceived – from a compliance tactical approach to an intentional strategic framework where Accessibility and Inclusion are a core value that underpins how we design our products, services, experiences and workplaces to provide equitable access and dignity for all our customers, people and communities.

CommBank’s A&I strategy 2024-2026 is an innovative strategic framework, conveying complexity in a simple, elegant model: an Ecosystem consisting of three pillars: Mindset, Maturity, and Metrics, supported by 11 strategic focus areas, each underpinned by actionable, measurable initiatives we aim to deliver over 2024-2026 to achieve our goal of “Dignity by Design”. Like any healthy ecosystem, its strength lies in the interconnectedness of its parts - and their ability to work together and reinforce and support one another. Embracing the social model of disability (fix the environment, not the person) - the strategy acknowledges the unique strengths of Disability-Advocates* and the value Disability-Advocates can contribute. *We will refer to our scope cohorts as “Disability-Advocates” – this includes: People with disability, Carers for people with disability, Neurodivergent people, People living with mental illness, and Seniors; including employees, customers, and community representatives.

As Australia’s largest bank, Commbank’s A&I strategy will have extensive reach and by that the potential to positively impact the 4.4+ million Australians vulnerable to exclusion due to poor design. The outcomes of this work are still unfolding, with immediate significant impacts, such as: commitment to Accessibility and Inclusion from senior leadership, kick-offs of numerous Accessibility and Inclusion initiatives to achieve the strategy goal, increase in Accessibility and Inclusion and Human Centred Design (HCD) awareness, shift in perception of Accessibility and Inclusion as a value-adder, scaling and replication of the HCD process that underpins this strategy, increase in demand for and investment in HCD, positive feedback from Disability-Advocates within and beyond the organisation, recognition as a model of best practice by third parties such as large NSW government departments and the Australian Disability Network (ADN), as well as winning organisational Excellence Awards.

”It’s being part of the team, being part of general everyday life and how I... can take part. It’s also not being a burden to others. I don’t want to be thinking that other people must work harder just to carry me.” (employee). Our team’s purpose was to redefine the common approach to A&I and drive genuine change. Accessibility and Inclusion can’t be just ’nice to have. Rather, they need to be part of normal business operations. We developed this strategy using a HCD methodology, co-creating with people with sensory, mobility and cognitive disability, seniors, people who are neurodivergent, people living with mental illness, and carers of people with disability. We also consulted with community organisations and SMEs, as well as our own people, including members of our Employee Disability Network(DEN). By conducting in-depth interviews and extensive research, we identified four key themes for inclusivity for our people and our customers, that significantly shaped our strategy: Empowerment, Self-Actualisation, Belonging, and Empathy (see photos for more detail).