The VEC is looking for buildings that have good disabled access to use as voting centres for the state election in November.

It is also holding new training programs to ensure that disabled voters are looked after when they vote.

The VEC has been undertaking the disabled access project through its disability advisory board, which enlists the expertise of groups like the Western Region Disability Network (WRDN).

VEC project officer Peta McCammon said the fixed election date for this year’s election had allowed the VEC to plan more extensively for disabled access.

More than 1700 venues used in the 2002 election were rated for their disabled access using a new, more stringent auditing system, which will also be applied to new sites suggested by the public.

Ms McCammon said using local knowledge was the best way to find the best venues.

“We are interested in any suggestions from people in the community to tell us about buildings that are fully wheelchair accessible.

“It’s the people in the community who really know about the best buildings and we really want to tap into that knowledge.”

Once a building is identified as a potential voting venue, the VEC will send out an inspector to make a detailed assessment of the building.

Helen Adams from WRDN said the public was a good source of information about disabled access as they dealt with the issue on a daily basis and could identify problems that might be overlooked by others.

Ms Adams said it was important that election venues were as inclusive as possible and that consideration was given to disabled parking, wheelchair access and building layout when selecting a polling venue.

Suggestions for possible venues will be accepted up until the end of this week.

For more information or to suggest a venue, call WRDN on 9687 7066 or Peta McCammon at the VEC on 9299 0757.