Shared e-bikes blocking pathways and access to Auslan interpreters at council events are some of the things Daniel McDonald says he would address if elected to City of Sydney's council at the upcoming local government election.
Mr McDonald, a Wonnarua man and disability advocate, is vying to become one of the first councillors in Sydney who lives with a disability.
He is living with deafness and communicates with sign language.
The artist is a member of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council and on the city's panel that deals with accessibility issues.
Mr McDonald is living with deafness. (ABC Radio Sydney: Declan Bowring)
For the election next weekend, he is running on the ticket of independent Yvonne Weldon.
She is running against long-time Lord Mayor Clover Moore to become the city's first Aboriginal mayor.
"We need people with disabilities to be heard and seen and being a councillor is a platform to influence change," Mr McDonald said.
"We have councillors all over Sydney from all sorts of backgrounds but very few with disabilities."
"Maybe we can make history by having the first Aboriginal woman elected as Mayor of Sydney and the first Aboriginal councillor with a disability."
Mr McDonald believed his lived experience with disability would help the city become more accessible.
Mr McDonald is running on the ticket of Yvonne Weldon's (pictured) independents. (ABC News: Alexander Lewis)
"It's councils that design the majority of our streets, footpaths and public spaces, parks and libraries," Mr McDonald said.
"Council also set the bar for accessibility standards when approving new developments, be that housing, office space or retail [and] hospitality."
He would like to regulate the parking of shared e-bikes on footpaths, which he said often got in the way of people with vision impairment.
Mr McDonald says shared e-bikes often are left in a way that blocks vision impaired people. (ABC Radio Sydney: Declan Bowring)
An important level of government for accessibility
Local government needs to involve people with disabilities because they deal with accessibility issues and are large employers in the community, according to UTS associate professor Phillippa Carnemolla.
"They have a role in ensuring that local communities and community-facing services are more inclusive, and by virtue of that, being accessible as well," Dr Carnemolla said.
Dr Carnemolla said diverse representation was important so local governments could be agents of good governance and inclusion.
"One in five people live with disability in Australia," she said.
"So it's absolutely critical that at a local government level, people with disability are represented."