Community take-up of a toolkit designed to help people with sensory needs to better enjoy large City of Cockburn events has been hailed a resounding success by users and the Council.
Travelling Sensory Bags were made available for 20 concert goers as part of a trial at the City’s Cockburn Sun Sets community event, headlined in February by Perth rockers, Birds Of Tokyo.
In a WA-first, the bags were on constant loan for two-hour blocks at the five-hour concert to people who wanted to enjoy the large-scale event but needed support to regulate their senses in a highly stimulating environment with loud noise and lots of activities.
The bags contain a variety of tools, including headphones, fidget toys and sunglasses, with parents and carers of children with neurodiverse needs full of praise for the initiative.
The trial is the brainchild of Council Events Coordinator, Emma Howe. After Ms Howe’s daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2022, she began exploring practical ways to make large-scale events more accessible for people with sensitivity to stimulating environments.
“Working in the events industry meant my kids were often dragged along to events their whole lives, particularly live gigs,” Ms Howe said.
“That all changed for Bella after she sustained a severe traumatic brain injury in 2022.
“When she returned home from hospital months later, I became acutely aware of how difficult and overstimulating events could be, particularly for neurodivergent people and those with sensory processing challenges.
“Both as a mum and as an event manager, it became very clear to me the lack of readily available, practical tools to help people regulate in large-scale, high-stimulus event environments. That gap is what sparked the initial concept.
“I’m very motivated to help the many people in our community with sensory processing challenges who want to attend City events but feel they will be too overwhelmed to participate comfortably. And so they stay home instead.
“It’s about including as many people as we can and making access to the City’s events a real possibility for everyone.
“As far as we are aware, this is the first initiative of its kind specifically designed for use at large-scale events in WA and possibly Australia wide.”
Ms Howe worked with the Youth Disability Advocacy Network to develop the bags. Council invested $4,900 to launch the trial, including extensive community consultation and co-design, procurement of sensory tools and materials, and preparation of the bags for hire.
The free-to-hire toolkits will be available at the Council’s major events throughout 2026-27.
