For a lot of people in the Hawkesbury, getting around, getting served, or simply feeling welcome in their own community isn’t something they have to think about. For others, it’s a daily calculation. Hawkesbury City Council is hoping to close that gap, and it’s starting by asking the people who live it to help design the answer.
Applications are now open for a new Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee, running from Thursday, 9 July 2026, until 5 pm on Friday, 31 July 2026. The committee won’t be a talking shop for policy experts.
Council is specifically after residents with lived experience, people who have come up against barriers because of disability, gender identity, age, cultural background, sexual orientation or their own circumstances, as well as carers who support someone with disability or who help people who might otherwise be isolated from community life.
The idea, according to council, is that a genuinely inclusive Hawkesbury has to be built with input from people who understand exclusion firsthand, not just imagined by people who don’t. Members will be expected to work through issues collaboratively, weigh up different perspectives, and stay committed to the practical, sometimes slow work of making services, events and public spaces easier for everyone to use, regardless of age, ability, background or disability status.
Council has said it wants the committee to reflect how the Hawkesbury actually looks, drawing in a genuine cross-section of the community rather than a narrow slice.
Getting involved is meant to be as low-barrier as the committee’s own mission. Residents can fill out an expression of interest online at hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/for-residents/community/access-and-inclusion-committee, or pick up and drop off a paper form at the council administration building, 366 George Street, Windsor. Forms can also be posted to PO Box 146, Windsor NSW 2756, or emailed to [email protected].
For anyone who finds forms daunting, or just wants to talk it through with a real person first, council’s Youth and Inclusion Officer, Alison Becroft, is on hand at 02 4560 4444 and can complete an application over the phone.