13Access to Global Opportunities

Austral Education Group demonstrates an institutional commitment to advancing access, diversity, equity, and inclusion across all international educational programs. As a Certified B Corporation™, Austral undergoes independent verification by B Lab to satisfy rigorous standards of social performance, equity, transparency, and accountability across its workforce, supply chain, and student experiences. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) is a core social factor in Austral's materiality matrix, actively guiding inclusive hiring practices, diverse representation among program speakers, and the elevation of historically underrepresented perspectives.

Austral's operations are governed by a formal Equality and Diversity Policy and an Equal Opportunities Policy Statement. These policies mandate equal treatment and actively prohibit discrimination, harassment, or victimization on the basis of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion, marriage/civil partnership, or pregnancy across all company activities, recruitment, and program management. With staff presence across 21 countries representing 27 nationalities, Austral leverages a multicultural workforce to foster inclusive environments and cultural empathy for participating cohorts.

Austral Education Group removes physical and operational barriers to ensure that global experiential learning is accessible to all participants, regardless of mobility or physical disability. In direct alignment with UNC Chapel Hill's objective of accommodating student disabilities to the maximum practical extent, Austral conducts proactive accessibility planning prior to travel. This includes evaluating destinations, hotel properties, meeting venues, cultural sites, and ground transportation to ensure full physical accessibility.

Austral possesses a proven operational track record of managing international study tours for participants with physical disabilities, reduced mobility, visual impairments, and medical conditions:

• Wheelchair Accessibility & Tailored Itineraries

  For a Dublin City University program, Austral customized the entire itinerary—including hotel selection, restaurant venues, corporate meeting spaces, and specialized ground transport—specifically to accommodate a student traveling in a wheelchair. Similar high-level adaptations and extra on-ground Program Coordinator (PC) support have been deployed for wheelchair users traveling on programs in Vietnam, Brazil, and Chile.
• Support for Diverse Physical & Sensory Needs

  Austral has successfully accommodated participants using crutches, blind participants requiring high-level site adaptation, participants accompanied by service dogs, and students with cerebral palsy, hemiplegia, or epilepsy requiring specialized medication protocols.
• On-Ground First Responders

  Local, bilingual Program Coordinators accompany cohorts daily to assist participants with mobility needs, escort students to healthcare facilities if required, and provide real-time operational adjustments.

Austral ensures that its digital tools and communication platforms comply with international accessibility standards so that all students can interact with program materials without technical barriers.

• Web Content & Mobile App Standards

  The primary student travel application (Travefy) and the secure online registration portal (Aanmelder / Regpack) comply fully with WCAG 2.0 A&AA and Section 508 accessibility standards.
• European Accessibility Act Alignment

  Digital content, digital travel documentation, and registration platforms align with accessibility standards (such as EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1) under Directive (EU) 2019/882.
• Paperless Access

  All essential program materials, day-by-day itineraries, speaker biographies, and destination guides are digitized and delivered through the accessible mobile application, enabling screen-reader compatibility and offline access.

Austral actively creates safe, supportive, and inclusive environments for neurodivergent learners, students facing identity-based difficulties, and groups traditionally underrepresented in education abroad.

• Neurodiversity & Adaptive Pacing

  During pre-trip coordination, Austral collaborates with university program leads to adapt daily schedules, session durations, and quiet spaces for neurodivergent participants.
• Medical, Health, and Dietary Pre-Vetting

  Through secure registration portals, Austral collects detailed medical, accessibility, and dietary restriction data (e.g., vegetarian, vegan, nut allergies, gluten-free, halal) to customize group dining and hotel buffets prior to group arrival.
• Diverse Speaker Sourcing & Ethical Local Purchasing

  Austral actively elevates diverse voices by engaging local female business founders, minority-owned suppliers, social enterprises, and community-based organizations in host destinations. This ensures that underrepresented students see diverse leadership reflected throughout their global business visits.

UNC can see a snapshot here of all groups that have travelled with a student or faculty member with a disability since the pandemic.

Furthermore, Austral Group’s travel app (travefy) and registration platform (Regpack) all comply with WCAG 2.0 A&AA & Section 508 accessibility standard.

Austral collaborates closely with university partner leadership to engineer cost-efficient itineraries, enabling institutions to lower the financial barrier to entry for study abroad programs.

• Accommodation Strategies

  For extended undergraduate academic modules lasting up to one month, Austral utilizes apart-hotel accommodations to secure lower lodging costs and self-catering flexibility, such as the long-duration undergraduate School of Accounting programs managed for Auburn University in Italy and Spain.
• Scalable Itinerary & Activity Budgeting

  Program managers structure cultural and educational activities around university budget targets, offering tiered options ranging from low-cost local immersions (e.g., public transit cultural scavenger hunts and community visits in Santiago starting at $20 per student) to high-level corporate visits, ensuring financial feasibility without sacrificing academic rigor
• Destination Cost Efficiency

  Austral strategically develops global immersion options in lower cost destinations, such as the options we have available for Panama, that offer superior financial accessibility. By leveraging shorter flight times and significantly lower airfare costs from the U.S. alongside competitive local ground expenses, these programs enable universities to offer high-value, impactful international experiences while keeping total student participation costs as low as possible.