Barbecues

Equal access
Requirements for the integration of equal access for all users
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines ‘premises’ as the whole of the built environment and includes existing buildings, new or proposed buildings, transport systems, car parks, pathways, and public parks and gardens.
Note: Consult an access consultant accredited by the Association of Consultants in Access Australia (ACAA).
Elements required for equal access
- Embellishments must be designed in accordance with AS 1428 Design for Access and Mobility.
- Ensure that barbecue slabs are connected to a continuous accessible path of travel (CAPT) to enable equal access for people who use wheelchairs. Ensure that the path of travel is connected to an accessible car park space to deliver a holistic experience.
- Provide equal access to barbecues at the recommended mounting and circulation heights to provide wheelchair access and reach distance (include equal access to all associated embellishments).
- Install equal access barbecues in consistent locations for ease of recognition by people with vision impairment.
- When retro-fitting an accessible barbecue under an existing shelter, consider the location of the shelter support posts. If there is insufficient circulation space, a new shelter may be required
- Install embellishments associated with barbecues at a minimum 500 mm offset from the edge of a pathway, to provide safe clearance for pedestrians and cyclists.
- Avoid finished height difference between a concrete slab and adjoining surfaces to prevent trip hazards and to prevent ‘tramlining’ of pram, bicycle and wheelchair wheels.
- Ramp down turf from the edge of a barbecue slab to prevent a finished height difference which has the potential to tramline/tip wheeled devices, or create a trip hazard.
- The barbecue should have a high visibility push button start with audible alarms at start and finish of cooking cycle. Push buttons should be located for ease of use (not under benchtop).
- Ensure a small 'child safe' distance to barbecue hot plates (based on data sets from accredited ergonomist).
- Instructional signage should be located at an accessible reading height.
- A windbreak around the barbecue hotplate should only be used where absolutely necessary, as it can impede equal access.
Visual/sensory wayfinding
- For people with a vision impairment, provide a minimum 30% luminance contrast between objects and the background they are viewed against, for ease of identification.
- Where luminance contrast may not be achieved (such as grey aluminium furniture on grey concrete), luminance contrast can be addressed by introducing colour into the ground surface providing a minimum 30% luminance contrast with the embellishment base, resulting in the embellishment being more visible for people who have low vision.
- Consider designing nodes with a contrasting coloured concrete, or a variation in surface texture, to enable people with a disability to identify the location of embellishments along a pathway.
- Provide audible alarm with blue (heating) and white (on) barbecue hot plate activation lights (where available) as they are more readily identified by persons with a vision impairment than red and green.
See the following for further guidance:
- Figure 2: Typical double equal access barbecue set out (see LIM Barbecues - Positioning)
- Figure 3: Equal access requirements and small child design inclusions.
Figure 3: Equal access requirements and small child design inclusions

This component is currently in development