Until recently, Carly Burns found herself unable to venture beyond the car park of the beach.

At 38 years old, Carly, who resides in Frankston on Melbourne’s outer eastern edge, has lived with spina bifida and relied on a wheelchair for most of her life.

“I’ve never been able to independently make my way onto the beach… I would just sit on the concrete and watch,” she shared.

Thanks to a pioneering Australian initiative aimed at establishing the country’s first fully accessible beach, Burns, along with 30,000 other disabled residents of Frankston, now has the opportunity to enjoy the beach as freely as millions across Australia do.

“In the past, my family would carry me, but having the ability to do it on my own now is incredible,” Burns expressed.

Accessible Beaches Australia and Frankston Council unveiled the nation’s most accessible beach to users and supporters on December 5.

The three-month pilot includes 70 metres of beach matting running to the water’s edge to allow wheelchairs to traverse the sand, daybeds with cabanas, five beach wheelchairs, two beach walkers, and a hoist to support transfers between wheelchairs. 

Out of the 160 accessible beaches in Australia, Frankston is the first to have staff and volunteers to help beachgoers enter and exit the water.

For participant Chris Wiggett, swimming at the beach was an opportunity more than seven years in the making.

“Last time I was knocked over, which frightened me,” she said at the pilot launch.

“This morning, a volunteer helped me down to the water. I put my feet in and walked along the sand, and I cried, because it was the first time in years I could do that.”

‘A new level of inclusion’

Other beaches across Australia are increasing their accessibility, with some offering beach mats, wheelchairs and accessible changerooms and parking.

But the mission to create a fully accessible beach in Australia was a dream first imagined nearly 10 years ago by Accessible Beaches Australia founder Shane Hryhorec.

Hryhorec grew up in South Australia, where he spent his days patrolling Grange Beach as a surf lifesaver.

But after breaking his neck in a swimming pool accident in 2007, Hryhorec became an incomplete quadriplegic aged 21.

After his accident, he says the beach quickly became a place he avoided.

“I just instantly had to stop all the things that I liked to do that I would no longer be able to do, and one of those things that first came into my mind was the beach,” he said.

“I just instantly wrote it off in my mind.

“I tried to go to the beach a few times after my accident, and I just found it very, very difficult,  to the point where … the challenge of it just became too great.”

Almost 10 years later, Hryhorec was scrolling the internet when he came across a photo of a beach mat.

“I was blown away, and at that point I was like, we need this in Australia,” he said.

From there, he created Accessible Beaches Australia, which led him to visit the world’s most accessible beach in Antibes, in the south of France, 18 months ago.

“They went to a new level of inclusion that I’ve never seen before,” Hryhorec said.

“I didn’t realise we could be doing so much better until I experienced the best.”

Hryhorec hopes the inclusion of daybeds and volunteer staff can also encourage the ageing population to visit the beach – a sight he said “warmed [his] heart” in Antibes.

“Literally half of the people that were enjoying the beach were probably around their 80s or above, which I just thought was just so special,” he said of the French Handiplage.

“People just assume when they get older is that they just can’t go to the beach, especially if you don’t have someone to go with, or a partner might have passed or something,” he said.

“When you’re seeing our ageing population get to experience the beach, which they may not have been able to do for 10, 15, even 20 years, then that for me is what really grabs at my heartstrings.”

The push for accessible beaches nationwide

Hryhorec credits much of the success of the summer pilot program to Frankston City Council, which worked with the local community to raise $200,000 to bring it to fruition.

“I’ve been doing this work for nearly 10 years, making beaches accessible, and I’ve never seen a council and community get behind something with so much passion and enthusiasm and compassion,” he said. 

“If other communities could just be a smidgen of what Frankston is, what they could achieve for inclusion would be incredible around the country.”

Frankston City councillor Kris Bolam, who just finished his tenure as mayor, said he hopes the pilot “becomes the spark that inspires similar programs across Australia”.

“Hearing families say this is the first time they’ll be able to visit the beach together is incredibly moving. That’s the real success of today,” he said.

That’s a goal shared by Hryhorec and Burns.

“My hope is that every patrolled beach in the entire country has a level of accessibility on the beach, just like in Frankston,” Hryhorec said.

“I hope that others would be able to get the same opportunity that I have been able to get, and I would recommend that they do it,” Burns said.

Until then, Burns is looking forward to her first summer at the beach.

“I have young nieces and nephews, so it will be good to be able to join them in the water rather than having to just sit back and watch.”

The pilot program will run on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays between 10.30am and 2.30pm, from December 6 and finishing February 28, located between the Frankston Pier and Kananook Creek.