A Commonwealth department made a substantial commitment to fundamentally rethinking how it approaches disability inclusion, prioritising and investing in the Social Model of Disability to create safer, more inclusive and accessible workplaces.
Rather than relying on individual adjustments alone, the department set out to identify, remove and prevent barriers across its systems, processes, environments, culture and behaviours.
Following Executive agreement on guiding principles, the next step was to develop an implementation plan. Holan Group was engaged to design and facilitate a strategic workshop, consolidate participant insights and support the development of a practical framework and implementation approach.
The challenge
The department had established the strategic foundations for adopting the Social Model of Disability but needed to translate those principles into coordinated organisational action.
Many of the systems, processes and working environments that shape employee experience sit within corporate and enabling functions. The department engaged corporate leaders early to build a shared understanding of organisational barriers and identify reforms that could be implemented across the employee lifecycle.
The engagement created a safe space to challenge established perspectives and to discuss openly how best to balance strategic aspirations with practical considerations including governance, accountability, sustainable funding, manager capability, organisational risk and the sequencing of reforms.
Approach
Holan developed a structured consultation and planning approach that combined departmental evidence, lived experience and practical implementation considerations.
Designed the consultation: Holan developed and facilitated a strategic workshop involving senior leaders and representatives from across the organisation.
- Grounded the discussion in lived experience: Participants heard directly from people with lived experience of disability, anchoring the barriers under discussion in real workplace experience rather than abstraction.
- Mapped the employee experience: Participants considered barriers and opportunities across the employee lifecycle and the corporate functions influencing those experiences.
- Structured the discussion: Facilitated activities examined strategic outcomes and priority reform actions, implementation sequencing, risks, governance arrangements and measures of success.
- Consolidated participant evidence: Holan synthesised contributions captured through workshop discussions, worksheets and plenary feedback into a clear record of themes, opportunities and implementation considerations.
- Translated insights into implementation: Participant feedback was used to refine a draft Social Model of Disability Framework, identify reform opportunities and develop a phased implementation approach.
Outcome
A clear strategic framework. Holan developed a one-page draft framework connecting the department’s strategic intent with outcome themes, potential reform areas and guiding principles for future implementation.
A phased path to implementation. The draft implementation plan established a progression from discovery and planning through foundations, delivery and embedding, and ongoing evaluation and improvement. It identified the activities, outcomes, milestones and decision points required to support a structured approach to reform.
Workshop-informed reform opportunities. Participant contributions informed a set of potential initiatives spanning employee support, accessible design, recruitment and onboarding, workplace accessibility, manager capability, representation, communication, measurement and assurance.
A practical model for delivery. Holan demonstrated how reform opportunities could be organised into a coordinated program of work and delivery plan covering benefits, outputs, dependencies, risks and implementation steps.
A foundation for executive consideration. The engagement gave the department a consolidated evidence base and practical planning structure to support continued development of its implementation plan.
Our perspective
Applying the Social Model of Disability shifts the work from the individual to the organisation. It requires understanding how systems, processes, environments and behaviours create barriers and coordinating reform across the corporate functions that own them.
Managers are the single most decisive factor in whether inclusion is experienced or merely stated. We assess capability against evidenced gaps, clarify what managers can decide without escalation, and build skills through practice rather than presentation.
Holan Group helps organisations turn strategic intent and lived experience into clear frameworks, prioritised reform opportunities, practical implementation plans and action that improves the working environment and experience for people with disability; and, in doing so, for everyone.
What we offer
Manager Capability Uplift — Delivering targeted development to build manager capability, authority and confidence in removing workplace barriers and demonstrating inclusive leadership.
Workshop design and facilitation — Strategic workshops that engage executives, process owners and people with lived experience to generate focused, practical insights.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion frameworks and strategies — Frameworks and strategies that connect organisational intent with workforce outcomes, reform themes and measurable implementation priorities.
Implementation planning — Phased roadmaps that establish governance, sequencing, decision points, dependencies and pathways from strategy to delivery.
Operating model and service design — Employee-centred review and redesign of systems, services and processes to improve accessibility, coordination and organisational performance.
Reform program development — Support to convert consultation findings into prioritised programs of work and delivery-ready initiatives.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Social Model of Disability?
The Social Model of Disability recognises that people are disabled by barriers in the systems, processes, environments and attitudes around them, not by their impairment alone. It shifts the focus from changing the person to removing the barrier.
Why involve corporate leaders in disability reform?
Corporate and enabling functions own the systems, processes and environments that shape employee experience, which makes them the people who can actually remove the barriers.
What was the purpose of the workshops?
The workshops brought leaders together to identify barriers across the employee lifecycle, test where reform was possible, and generate practical priorities to inform implementation planning.
