FOODIE 101** RASHAYS TO BECOME WORLD-FIRST HARD OF HEARING-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT BRAND

We’re all about equality here at Sydney Social 101, so we were naturally thrilled to hear about Australian family-owned restaurant brand RASHAYS Casual Dining’s brand new policy for the hard of hearing.

Renowned for combining value with a fun, vibrant atmosphere and fresh quality meals has announced that it is working towards making each of its 22 restaurants across Australia deaf-friendly.

In a world-first move, following the success of its Punchbowl venue’s announcement that it will be the first restaurant in Sydney to make it mandatory for all staff to learn basic Auslan – Australian sign language, an initiative the 35 current staff members have embraced with gusto, it will be rolled out across the venues through the RASHAYS Training Academy nationally.

“There are restaurants where people who are hard of hearing but we’re the first restaurant to employ hearing staff and make it mandatory for them to learn basic Auslan,” RASHAYS Founder Rami Ykmour says. “We’re the first of our kind world-wide.”

Each employee will have access to an internal sign-language training portal at RASHAYS Training Academy. As a result, there will be at least one member of staff who can sign on each shift at each of the 20 venues.

The program is still a work in progress with the goal for all restaurants to be deaf friendly by 2019, but the current plan involves bringing on deaf employees and an interpreter to train RASHAYS staff in Auslan. The early training sessions will be recorded, so that future employees will have access to resources for their own training.

In addition to the sign-language online training technology at the Academy, RASHAYS is also making a commitment to employing more members of staff that have hearing difficulties.

The casual, sit-and-stay-awhile charm to RASHAYS draws locals and visitors to its doors and has led to a thriving portfolio of 22 restaurants and 4 food court locations across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and an extensive comfort food menu inspired by Italian, American and classic Australian fare.