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NEWS: NATIONAL DISABILITY SUMMIT 2024
Strength, collaboration and standing ovations: National Disability Summit 2024
The 2024 National Disability Summit, held in Melbourne in September, brought together hundreds of people with disability, advocates, carers and family from across Australia. Link recaps all the action.
The room at Crown Promenade Melbourne was filled with eager ears and attentive eyes for the 15th annual National Disability Summit. A packed agenda meant a full two days of knowledge to gain, and the room was ready to absorb it all.
The star attraction was a speech by outgoing NDIS Minister Bill Shorten. His retirement had been announced not long before the conference kicked off, so his remarks were highly anticipated, and the room was filled as the minister took to the stage.
Shorten began by acknowledging the power and ambition of the NDIS, saying: “This scheme is changing lives”. After reviewing the changes he has enacted to disability policy since the 2022 election, he moved on to the work that is left, including his ongoing focus on increasing transparency and equity across the scheme.
Among the achievements that Shorten said he was proud of was the resolution of many legacy cases at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, now called the Administrative Review Tribunal. He also spoke of the success of his hospital discharge plan. Housing was noted as being another area for the government to work on over the coming months, as well as the implementation of the recommendations from the NDIS Review. Shorten repeated his longheld belief that the NDIS should not be the “only lifeboat in the ocean” for people with disability and Federal and State Governments are working on how to improve disability supports more broadly.
The outgoing minister also addressed concerns around foundational support and provider registration, memorably telling the room that the debate on registration is over. Concluding his speech, Shorten spoke about the positives of the NDIS and how the scheme has changed over the past two years, telling attendees that there is a bright future for the NDIS and that it continues to do a lot of good for those who use it. He promised participants would still be able to use their personal budgets to exercise choice, control and agency, and said his motivation is to ensure the scheme is politics-proof.
The Minister received a standing ovation as he left the stage.
Employment focus
Many sessions looked at how to improve employment for people with disability. There was an emphasis throughout the conference on learning from lived experience – so the panels included people with lived experience of disability, sharing their insights and personal stories.
Many representatives from businesses spoke about the importance of tapping into lived experience by walking with people with disability on the inclusion and accessibility journey. This was acknowledged as ensuring that any changes are effective and meaningful for employees with disability. Panellists also shared the barriers that employers face in hiring more people with disability – for example, some may not be aware of the support available to them, or may think it’s too expensive to make the adjustments a disabled employee might need. Panellists urged employers to inform themselves and find resources to support inclusive hiring and employment to help remove the barriers and improve employment prospects for people with disability.
Surviving to thriving
Wellbeing also took centre stage, especially with a panel on how to go from simply surviving, to thriving in your chosen role while assisting others to do the same.
Dr Alex Harrison, Australia’s first profoundly deaf veterinarian, spoke about using his experience to connect with others in his industry who faced discrimination. He is passionate about challenging ableism in the sector and uses his experience to do so.
He shared a panel with founder and CEO of The Hand Up Space, Nina Tame, who also wants to give back to the next generation of people with disability through mentoring and working together. She told the audience that people with disability are stronger when they come together.
Completing the panel was Catherine Pollaers, an Emerging Leader at Queensland With Disability Network. Pollaers said she had learned through her experience with disability to get what she needs rather than just what others tell her she needs.
Harrison said he feels that as a person with disability in a position of privilege, he has a responsibility to be what he didn’t have when he was younger and to find out what he can do to help others.
Graeme Innes on leadership
Graeme Innes delivered a highly anticipated keynote with a focus on leadership and inclusion. He noted that the voices of people with disability are beginning to be amplified now, with a greater appreciation for lived experience – and yet, people with disability still lag behind on many measures, including employment. Innes recounted his own experience of being a victim of low assumptions by others who didn’t believe he could make it as a lawyer. The respected advocate said lived experience must be recognised as a qualification for leadership, especially on areas of disability policy, as it offers insights into how policies affect those on the ground every day.
He also referred to the changes to the NDIS and said while challenges in the NDIS can be addressed, it will take time and active co-design. He said it is possible to achieve ‘nothing about us without us’, provided people with disability have the tenacity to keep going, the support of their allies, and a community that is prepared to include them.
Healthcare for people with disability
Accessible healthcare was also on the agenda. Associate Professor Dr Dinesh Palipana said healthcare providers should make an effort to create a safe space to allow people with disability to feel comfortable and understood. He added that he would like to see more healthcare workers with disability, to help reshape the sector to be more inclusive. Lived experience should also inform the design of physical spaces like hospitals, so they can be designed to accommodate the needs of people with disability and provide an important perspective on what’s needed to create safe, comfortable and accessible places for health and wellbeing.
Michael Sukkar responds
Shadow Minister for the NDIS Michael Sukkar addressed the audience with a speech on how the opposition will approach the NDIS should it win government next year. He promised to find common ground rather than establish division with the community, and said it’s crucial for the NDIS to evolve and become sustainable, but not to change too rapidly. He said any good work done by the current government would not be “junked” after the election, should the Coalition win the next election.
