Australian Employers Network on Disability

Every good business wants to be disability confident. Sometimes businesses ask: ‘How do we make sure that people who have a hearing or speech impairment can phone us?’

The answer is simple. You just let them know they can call you through the National Relay Service (NRS). It’s an initiative of the Australian Government that allows people with these disabilities to call you, just like anyone else.

Relay calls using the NRS are the main way that people who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment make calls to regular phone users in the hearing world.

There are lots of good business reasons to become Relay Service friendly. It helps you:

• retain existing customers who are deaf, hearing-impaired or speech-impaired

• attract new customers to their products and services from a group of Australians that is growing rapidly as the population ages, and

• meet your obligations under legislation such as the Disability Discrimination Act.

There are five key steps to becoming Relay Service friendly:

1. Check your website – update your online information with relevant NRS information.

2. Train your staff – make sure your contact centre or reception staff have received all the training and resources they need so they can take and make calls via the NRS.

3. Check your publications and stationery – update your factsheets and other print materials with relevant NRS information.

4. Check your business processes – who in your organisation needs to know about the NRS? If you have a separate TTY line, is it still required?

5. Audit yourself – once you have taken the above steps, ask yourselves the following:
• Do our procedures make it easy for NRS callers to do business with us?
• Do our staff provide good service to NRS callers?
• Is our customer information easy-to-understand and helpful for NRS callers?
• Do we keep up-to-date with NRS changes?

When you can consistently answer ‘yes’ to these questions, your business is Relay Service friendly.

The NRS can provide you with free resources and support including:
• training materials for your contact centre and reception staff
• free information sessions with an NRS representative
• recommended wording for your website and publications
• advice on making the transition from advertising a TTY number to using the NRS.

Please contact the NRS on 1800 555 660 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

To download recommended wording and other detailed information on updating your website and publications, go to www.relayservice.com.au/business.