Australian family-owned restaurant brand Rashays Casual Dining recently announced that it is working towards making each of its 22 restaurants deaf-friendly by 2019, rolling out the initiative through its Rashays Training Academy.

The move follows the Rashays’ Punchbowl store announcement that it will be the first restaurant in Sydney to make it mandatory for all staff to learn basic Auslan - Australian sign language. The company also committed to employing more members of staff that have hearing difficulties.

Punchbowl store owner Bashar Krayem and his staff jumped at the opportunity to reduce the barriers for members of the deaf community seeking to access the restaurant.

Rashays Founder Rami Ykmour said the move was a world-first. “There are deaf restaurants where deaf people are employed, but we’re the first restaurant to employ hearing staff and make it mandatory for them to learn basic Auslan,” he said. “We’re the first of our kind world-wide.”

Mr Krayem, who won an Australian Muslim Achievement Award in the “Man of the year” category in 2017, is passionate about giving back to the community. 

“We live in the community and we are around community, so we try our best to deal with the community in the best way possible and whatever work we can do to create a good environment for community,” he said.  “Our aim is to be the most inclusive restaurant in Australia.” 

Mr Krayem was supported by the Zero Barriers movement — an initiative driven by the Multicultural Network and supported by the NSW Business Chamber, three local governments in South West Sydney and Settlement Services International (SSI).

Sensory Hour promotion supports families dealing with autism 

Earlier this year, Rashays Punchbowl hosted its first Sensory Hour Iftar dinner, for customers with autism and their families. During this time, lights were dimmed, electronics turned off, and machinery that made excessive noise was stopped. The initiative was promoted to families of children with autism through the local not-for-profit organisation “Gift a Smile”. 

“This is the first time that I have felt that it was okay to take my child to a restaurant ever since he was born,” said one of the mothers attending the Iftar dinner. “We finally have come to an environment where we feel accepted and not have to worry about being judged.”

Financial commitment to inclusivity benefits communities

The large number of staff and extra support required to initiate the Sensory Hour activities meant there was additional financial cost to the restaurant. However, Rashays saw that as a long-term investment resulting in more customers accessing its restaurants and a more inclusive and happy community overall.

Sean Williamberg, Inclusion officer at the NSW Business Chamber and a former restaurant owner himself, said, “Profitability from making a restaurant more inclusive triples on average as most of us do like to access restaurants with at least two other people, not to mention that inclusive restaurants mean happier communities resulting in a more productive society and willingness to spend locally.”

Javier Ortiz, Settlement Services International’s Multicultural Disability Inclusion and Promotion Officer, said, “We can all take a lesson from Rashays and think about the opportunity and benefits that stem from making our communities more inclusive.”

From June 20, Rashays Punchbowl will host Sensory Hours every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00 pm.

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