Universal Design Tips: Handrails
Looped handrail to beach stairs, Keast Park, Seaford VIC
Image copyright © Sophia Kitson 2025
28 April 2025
Universal Design Tips to Improve Handrails for Everyone
Handrails are an important feature for a wide range of users. They can offer stability to the elderly, people who are frail and have reduced stamina, people with certain ambulant disabilities, people with amputations, joint and muscular issues, and people with balance and vestibular issues. Handrails can also be useful where people might require additional support or passive guidance, for example where a handrail guides people around an obstruction such as a building column encroaching into a circulation space.
For people with vision impairments, the angle of handrails can provide orientation cues by assisting in understanding the slope of the ground plane below and by defining where stairs and ramps start and stop.
For all users, handrails can enhance safety by potentially helping to arrest a fall.
For stairs and ramps that are subject to the National Construction Code / Building Code of Australia (NCC / BCA), the Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards (often referred to as the Premises Standards), and the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport (DSAPT), there are mandatory requirements for the design of handrails that must be met for access compliance including:
Cross section shape and outer diameter
Height to the top of handrails
Consistency of height to the top of handrails
Extension and termination design
Clearances between handrails and adjacent walls, obstructions and mounting posts
Edge finishes
Fixing and rigidity
As highlighted in our post which discusses compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act – “Is it DDA compliant?” – the Premises Standards, DSAPT and the NCC / BCA do not apply to all types of premises and the requirements do not consider the full diversity of disability or the functional needs of all users. Thinking beyond the requirements set out in the Disability Standards and the NCC / BCA, and designing the built environment so it supports and enhances access and inclusion for everyone is key to meeting the intent of the DDA. Designing with consideration to Universal Design principles is one way to achieve this.
The following Universal Design tips are simple and practical ways to help improve accessibility and ease of use for everyone.
Handrails in the Public Realm
As noted above, the Building Codes and Disability Standards are not applicable to all types of premises and are limited in scope so there are circumstances where there may not be a specific Code or Standard mandating inclusion of handrails, such as to stairs and ramps within parks and open spaces. However, as best-practice and to meet the intent of the DDA, handrails should be provided to all publicly accessible stairs and ramps, regardless of whether doing so is required for official access compliance sign-off. Handrails should be designed in accordance with the Australian Standards for access, in particular AS 1428.1.
Providing handrails to the sides of a single level change should also be considered. The NCC / BCA access provisions do not currently require handrails to be provided to a single step. However, any level change – even a single step – can be difficult to negotiate for some people with ambulant disabilities, joint issues such as arthritis, and balance issues, and the provision of suitable handrails can greatly enhance comfort, safety and independence for many people.
For auditoriums, theatres, stadiums, outdoor amphitheatres and the like, it is recommended considering providing handrails to both sides of the aisles where steps are provided between tiers or platforms. The typical design of these types of spaces prohibits the provision of handrails fully meeting AS 1428.1 closest to seating tiers, however providing truncated handrails next to the end of seating rows can enhance accessibility for many users. A draft of AS 1428.6 (2025) has recently been released for public comment. This is Part 6 of the Design for Access and Mobility series and covers fixtures and fittings. It provides commentary about handrails to seating tiers and platforms and although it’s still in draft form, it is anticipated it will become a reference for guidance in the near future.
Luminance Contrast
Making handrails readily apparent to all users is an easy way of improving accessibility.
Providing handrails with a minimum 30% luminance contrast against adjacent walls and surfaces can assist people with vision impairments to more easily locate handrails. It can also be beneficial for people with cognitive impairments such as dementia by making handrails more distinguishable and enhancing overall legibility of the built environment.
The NCC / BCA, Premises Standards and DSAPT outline a requirement to provide handrails with a minimum 30% luminance contrast, however this is only in relation to public transport buildings and infrastructure. For all other project types, it is worth considering adopting this approach.
Handrail with an additional, lower handrail.
Image credit: Gil Ribeiro from Unsplash
Additional Lower Handrails
At the time of writing this post, for a Class 9b building used as a primary school, and for a Class 9b building which contains an early childhood centre, the NCC / BCA requires the provision of an additional, lower handrail at the following heights to the top of the handrail:
665mm to 750mm for primary school buildings, and
450mm to 700mm for early childhood centres.
For other building and project types where it is not mandated to provide an additional handrail at a lower height, this feature should be considered, especially for the public realm, buildings with a civic function, and spaces designed specifically for children, as it can greatly enhance usability of handrails by children and people of short stature.
This elegantly detailed handrail we came across in Perth has good contrast against the adjacent wall and an outer diameter at the lower end of the permitted range.
Image copyright © Sophia Kitson 2025
Outer Diameter
The Australian Standards for access outline what is considered to be an appropriate outer diameter (OD) to handrails for use by people with disabilities. The 2001 and 2009 revisions of AS 1428.1 (which are referenced by the NCC / BCA and DSAPT at the time of writing this post), specify an OD range of 30mm to 50mm. The current 2021 revision of AS 1428.1 (which is referenced by the updated Premises Standards) specifies an OD range of 30mm to 52mm.
Although the current revision of AS 1428.1 permits use of a handrail with an OD of up to 52mm, specifying an OD closer to the permitted minimum of 30mm should be considered as this is useable by a broader range of people. Handrails with a smaller profile are easier to grip by people with smaller hands such as women, children and people of short stature. Smaller handrails may also be more comfortable to use by people with arthritis, and with congenital or acquired hand differences.
Where handrails are provided with an additional, lower handrail, it is particularly important to consider the OD of the lower handrail given the users will be predominantly children and people of short stature. Currently, for a Class 9b building which contains an early childhood centre, the NCC / BCA requires a cross-sectional dimension of the additional, lower handrail to be not less than 16mm and not more than 45mm as measured in any direction across its centre.
Double central handrail to parkland stairs, Barangaroo Reserve, Sydney NSW.
Image copyright © Sophia Kitson 2025
Central Handrails
Where central handrails are provided, consideration should be given to designing the central handrail as a ‘double’ or ‘looped’ handrail as it reduces the risk of people’s hands colliding on a single handrail as they travel in opposite directions. This is an important consideration for people with vision impairments and for people who favour one side of their body over another, for example if they have a haemiplegia, weakness, or amputation, as they might become unstable if they let go of the handrail.
Braille and tactile wayfinding information provided to a handrail at a Dutch railway station. ‘UIT’ means out, and is also short for ‘uitgang’ which means exit.
Image copyright © Sophia Kitson 2025
Wayfinding
Handrails can provide an opportunity to enhance wayfinding for people with vision impairments. Although rare to see in Australia, there are numerous examples from overseas of handrails being provided with raised braille and tactile information to assist in guiding people with vision impairments to nearby exits, and to help them understand which level they are on, or which platform they are approaching.
As access consultants and Universal Design specialists with significant experience in interpreting and applying the requirements of the disability access legislation, Realm Access is ideally placed to help our clients meet their obligations under the DDA. We welcome the opportunity to assist in incorporating Universal Design principles and industry best-practice into each project to ensure the public realm is safe and accessible to a diverse range of people.
If you would like further information or assistance with your project, please do not hesitate to contact us.
And if you’re looking for design inspiration, please visit us on Pinterest – we have a board dedicated to beautiful handrails!