2024 09 26 Disability Election Forum

I delivered the following address to the ACT Disability Election Town Hall. The event was an online event hosted by the Disability Person’s Organisations, Advocacy for Inclusion, Women with Disabilities ACT, ACT Down Syndrome and Intellectual Disability, and the Mental Health Community Coalition of the ACT.

“Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on the needs of people living with a disability in the ACT and to share some of  what a Canberra Liberals Government will do to support them.

Over the last 4 years as the shadow minister for Disability, meeting with many people and organisations, I have learnt that there are over 77,000 Canberrans living with a disability, with only just over 10,000 receiving NDIS support.

I am crucially aware of the great disparity in particularly in economic circumstances for those living with a disability. For example, in 2023 only 62.5% of people with a disability were in the workforce, compared with 84.1% of those living without a disability.

To support those living with a disability, a Canberra Liberals government will work to build a CONNECTED community where people living with a disability have the opportunity to participate both economically and socially.

Our focus is on a number of fronts. First we want to support the work of our disability people’s organisations (DPO). There are 2 key reforms here, the launch of a Disability Advisory Council with access to the Minister, and secondly, and increase funding to disability organisations to cope with the increased requirement due to the NDIS and growth and reform. A CL govt will provide an additional $875,000 per year over the next four years to our DPOs.

Our focus is particularly on working to get people living with a disability connected economically, to promote economic independence. A Canberra Liberals government will promote economic independence for those living with a disability who want to work and be financially independent.

We will do so through programs designed to increase job opportunities for those living with a disability, to support businesses in employing them, and to support their connection and ongoing engagement in the workforce to live fulfilling working lives alongside their abled peers.

As well as additional provision of funding for Australian school-based apprenticeships for young people living with a disability, currently not available for those 16–18-year-old. I am happy to talk more about these initiatives in response to any questions.

But, there is one other initiative that I should mention here. In response to multiple calls for better access to diagnostic supports for those who may be neurodiverse, a Canberra Liberals government will invest a further $1.5 m per year over  4 years, that is $6 million, to improve access to diagnostic services for parents who suspect their child may be neurodiverse.

This support will be available for all children up to 16 years of age, with a provision for two years for those people who are above 16 (but under 25) who have not been able to access diagnosis. This will greatly ease the financial burden for those parents who currently are unable to access these services and must travel to Sydney to have their child diagnosed at significant cost to themselves.

I look forward to bringing these and other initiatives to fruition once in government.

END”

To read more about what a Canberra Liberals government will do in office read here.