Hi there x This is a collection of resources gathered for disabled community workers, artists and organisers during the Disability Justice Labs, held by MAIA. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, but we hope it serves as a starting point for finding community, learning, and nurturing working practices that help you protect your boundaries & your community when doing the messy work of community organising.

Tools to support/develop working as Disabled Organisers

1. Access Riders

When you begin working with other people or organisations, you may find it helpful to have a document that explains what your access needs are, and to negotiate how they will be met by your colleagues while you’re working together.

Here is a Template Access Rider, and a Detailed Guide about how to write one.

Here’s some practical advice you might find helpful when sharing your access rider for the first time (Thanks Toni!):

• Ask for your access rider to be witnessed and signed
• Ask for a named person in the organisation to discuss meeting your ongoing needs
• Ask for a copy of the organisation’s Access Policy, or closest equivalent
• Ask what financial & human resources the orgaisation has for meeting yours, your collaborators’ and your audiences’ access needs
• You might find it helpful to point out the additional costs associated with disability when negotiating resources to meet access needs
• Ask for your contract to include information about how you will be compensated if you need to pull out of the project because of unmet access needs outlined in your access rider

You may find it helpful to discuss the organisations’ understanding and commitment to Disability Justice, the Social Model of Disability, and other related concepts when deciding if you want to work with them.

1. Collaboration Agreements

A collaboration agreement is a document that outlines how disabled artists & venues will work together to meet the needs of disabled participants, audiences, visitors & collaborators throughout a project’s lifetime, particularly in public facing work.

Collaboration Agreement - by Sam Metz & Sage Stephanou

1. Conversations with your friends as collaborators

As disabled people, we’re often working with friends & people close to us to develop projects & spaces. Because these are people we care deeply about, and who we know well - we often skip over some important questions about how we want to work together. It can be really helpful to have honest conversations at the start of working together about what you all want, what your limits are, and how you’ll honour & nurture your personal & professional relationships.