Author: Emma Bloom

The power of peer learning

Peer learning is when people learn with each other and from each other.

A peer is someone that is similar to you.

Peer learning is very important because it demonstrates how people with an intellectual disability can gain trust from their peers. This can also help people speak up for themselves.

Peer learning can help to make sure that people with an intellectual disability are able to share their personal experiences and share their opinions in a safe space.

Inclusion Australia Policy Officer, Brooke Canham spoke with her colleagues Rebecca Biddle and Liam Doyle about their own experiences with peer learning.

Rebecca said that learning from peers has helped her when she has difficulty with technology and when she needs help understanding something. If Rebecca has something on her mind, forgets a meeting or feels worried, she feels like peers are there to help guide her and support her.

“We can learn from each other, build connections and learn through each other’s experiences.” 

Since working at Inclusion Australia, Rebecca has attended multiple peer learning meetings where she has enjoyed sharing her experiences and listening to the experiences of her colleagues. Rebecca said, ‘peer learning has helped me be more confident, learn more skills, and helped me to listen more.’

Brooke also talked to Liam who shared his insights about what peer learning means to him. Liam said that he feels comfortable to share his own stories and that it is good to get to know each other without the stress of everyone else being around. In Liam’s words, ‘peer learning is a big yes from me!’

Beck and Liam reflected that peer learning offers a lot, ‘We all help each other in different ways. Peers help me, and I help them too!’

New report shows all Centrelink payment suspensions must stop now

Inclusion Australia joins other advocacy organisations in again calling on the Government to immediately stop all Centrelink payment penalties linked to compulsory activities. These are tasks you must do to get and keep a Centrelink payment. 

Today, the Ombudsman released its second report into how compulsory activities known as mutual obligations are being run. 

The findings show serious, ongoing problems across the system. It shows that many people are being penalised based on inaccurate information with poor oversight, and that a large number of decisions are later found to be wrong.

These failures have big impacts on many people with disability who have compulsory activities, including almost 13,000 people with an intellectual disability on JobSeeker. In just the first three months of this year, almost 30% of all Centrelink payment suspensions were issued to people who have told Centrelink about their disability. Every penalty can push someone into financial crisis, making it harder to buy food, pay bills and stay safe.

You can read the full statement from the Ombudsman’s first report here.

Organisations calling on the Government to stop all Centrelink payment suspensions and to remove the Targeted Compliance Framework include: 

  • Anglicare Australia 
  • Antipoverty Centre 
  • Anti-Poverty Network South Australia 
  • Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) 
  • Disability Advocacy Network Australia 
  • Economic Justice Australia 
  • Inclusion Australia 
  • People with Disability Australia
  • Physical Disability Australia 
  • Single Mother Families Australia 
  • Sweltering Cities 
  • Women with Disabilities Australia 

We urge the Government to take immediate action to prevent further harm to people who depend on Centrelink payments to meet their basic needs. 

Joint statement – Disability representative organisations call for transparency on ‘Computer-Generated NDIS Plans’

The Guardian’s recent reporting on proposals to introduce computer-generated NDIS plans appears to signal a substantial change in the way participant budgets may be determined. Disability Representative Organisations (DROs) emphasise that reforms require the highest standards of scrutiny, transparency and safeguards to ensure they do not undermine the rights and experiences of people with disability.  

Our concerns about the use of automation in New Framework Planning are compounded by changes to review pathways, which appear to narrow the grounds on which decisions can be challenged and limit the scope of the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), which cannot vary a participant’s plan and can only trigger a reassessment by the original decision-maker. This would significantly limit participants’ ability to correct errors or challenge flawed assumptions. At the same time, there is currently no clear guarantee that written evidence provided by participants will be considered in these processes.

We are deeply concerned that these changes, combined with increasing automation, will create significant risks, particularly for people with the highest support needs. 

People with disability, their families, and advocates have long raised concerns about the lack of transparency and accountability in how the NDIS makes decisions. Reference to ‘Computer-generated’ NDIS plans indicates Automated decision-making (ADM) – the use of computer systems to automate all or part of an administrative decision-making process. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a broad term referring to an engineered system that generates predictive outputs such as content, forecasts, recommendations or decisions for a given set of human-defined objectives or parameters without explicit programming.

ADM and AI systems are only as reliable as the information fed into them. If historical data has under-represented people with a psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, neurodevelopmental disability, complex communication needs, people with fluctuating, multiple or complex disabilities, First Nations people, and other intersectional and marginalised communities, ADM will reproduce and amplify those gaps. This is well-established across other sectors: algorithms built from “average” cases consistently fail those whose experiences sit at the margins – including women, First Nations people, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and people with disability.

Computer-generated decisions also cannot explain how they reached a conclusion, what assumptions were prioritised, or whether the model was designed to minimise cost or standardise prices across vastly different geographic, service contexts and thin markets. People cannot meaningfully challenge a decision if they cannot see or understand how it was made. When this opacity is combined with weaker review rights, participants face the real risk of being unable to contest flawed assumptions.

These risks are heightened for the many people who already face significant barriers in navigating the NDIS or the ART, including people with an intellectual disability or those without access to informal supports, advocacy or legal representation. 

This opacity is particularly concerning in Australia, which continues to lack a comprehensive legal framework regulating the use of AI and ADM in public administration. Without regulation, there is no requirement for algorithms to be transparent, reviewable, or accountable. Issues such as privacy, data integrity, system resilience, and the risks associated with commercial AI providers remain unresolved. 

The needs assessment and new planning framework needs to be meaningfully co-designed with the disability community and their representative organisations. This includes commitments to transparency, regular meetings and clarity about timelines and when feedback and ideas can influence legislation, Rule-making and implementation. 

DROs call on the NDIA to:

  • Publicly disclose current Agency proposals on where ADM or AI will be used in New Framework Planning – including in the budget allocation process – how it operates, the datasets it relies on, the degree of human oversight and capacity for positive intervention. 
  • Provide public information and dedicated community briefings on every stage of the Needs Assessment and New Planning Framework, including how the Support Needs Assessment will be used to develop a budget. 
  • Publish any legal advice about the reviewability of new framework plans at the Tribunal, and ensure all aspects of the New Framework Planning rules are explainable, can incorporate all relevant information, and that the plan budget is capable of being meaningfully challenged at internal and external review. 
  • Partner with DRO and DRCOs to jointly agree on a strategy for co-design of all aspects of New Framework Planning and Rules development – including any proposed use of automation – by end of 2025.  

About our organisations

This statement was developed by DROs with coordination support from Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) in their role as the National Coordination. DROs are funded by the Department of Social Services (DSS) to represent people with disability. 

The following organisations have contributed to and/or expressed their support for this joint position statement: 

  • Australian Autism Alliance  
  • Australian Federation of Disability Organisations  
  • Children and Young People with Disability Australia  
  • Community Mental Health Australia  
  • Disability Advocacy Network Australia  
  • Down Syndrome Australia   
  • Inclusion Australia 
  • National Ethnic Disability Alliance
  • National Mental Health Consumer Alliance 
  • People with Disability Australia  
  • Physical Disability Australia  
  • Women With Disabilities Australia 

*Statement amended 8 December 2025 with addition of endorsing organisation, National Ethnic Disability Alliance. We apologise for this omission in initial publication.

National Advocacy Collective (NAC) joint statement – Social Security and Other Leg. Amendment (Technical Changes No. 2) Bill 2025

The National Advocacy Collective (NAC) is a group of people across Australia who support the rights of parents with an intellectual disability. Inclusion Australia supports the group to do their work in different ways.

The NAC has made a joint statement calling on the Government to remove the Schedule 5 amendment from the Social Security and Other Legislative Amendments (Technical Change No 2) Bill 2025.

Schedule 5 would give police new powers to advise the government to stop a person’s Centrelink payment. 

The NAC is very concerned that this would have negative impacts for people with intellectual disability, including parents with intellectual disability and especially those who are in contact with justice systems already. 

You can read the joint statement here or click below.

An Easy Read version of the joint statement will be coming soon.

You can find out more about the NAC by clicking here. 

Luke addresses the world stage

Inclusion Australia Policy Officer, Luke Nelson recently went to The Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) at the UN in New York.

Catherine and Luke inside the UN next to a statue smiling.

Luke was 1 of 15 people with disability from around Australia invited to attend the Conference of State Parties. We talked to Luke about this incredible achievement.

“The Conference of State Parties is an international conference for people with disabilities. I went with Catherine, the CEO of Inclusion Australia.

Catherine and I went to lots of events together. I enjoyed hearing different countries talk about their own hot topics. We listened to people from UAE, Nepal, South Korea, Zimbabwe, and more, talk about inclusion. For example, India, talked about what they are doing to increase inclusive education. The South Korean government talked about how to best support people with disabilities in terms of funding.

I was lucky to be given the chance to talk about artificial intelligence (AI) and how it impacts people with an intellectual disability.

Artificial Intelligence can sometimes be helpful. It can make things faster or stop simple mistakes. But most AI systems are not designed for people with an intellectual disability in mind. This can cause harm.

Luke sitting at a table talking into a microphone giving his speech inside at the UN. Catherine standing behind him.

People with disabilities have the right to equal access to information and digital systems. This is a right in the CRPD. We need to remember that humans need to be involved when it comes to AI.

I was only given 3 minutes to talk. It was the fastest presentation I have ever given! But it was the most amazing experience of my life.

It was encouraging to be included in all parts of the event, whether it was international, national or state affairs. That’s what it’s all about for me. To make sure people with disabilities get their voices heard.

No country is perfect. However, I did feel that Australia is very well placed. I am pleased to be a person with disability in Australia. I am pleased to be in our system after some of the things I have seen and heard.

So here I am. 35 years old. I started my career 18 years ago. I would have never thought I would speak at the UN. I have ticked a huge career moment off my bucket list!

I will encourage people to speak up for the rest of my life. That is my job. That is what I will always do”.

You can learn more about the CRPD here.

People With Disability Invisible in Federal Budget

Tonight’s Federal Budget raises more questions than answers about how people with disability are going to be supported through the government’s major reforms to the NDIS.

Cuts to the NDIS have been outlined, as expected, with the Federal Government projecting almost $1 billion in immediate savings over the next financial year.

$364.5 million has been set aside for general supports – to fund services for those no longer eligible for the NDIS. This is the first time a dollar value has been provided, and it’s positive to see.

Yet the Budget does not outline whether or not this funding is contingent on states and territories matching it. Cutting the NDIS without establishing robust alternatives is leaving people with disability with nowhere to turn.

Disability support services are not optional – they are essential for daily life. People with disability rely on them to get out of bed, shower, go to work or school, and participate in their communities. Without adequate support, people with disability face disproportionate poverty, cost-of-living pressures, and exclusion.

In key Budget cost-of-living measures, people living with disability are absent. In Australia’s housing strategy, there is no mention of accessibility.

People with disability are missing in this budget. Just 18 months after Australia’s ‘landmark’ 4-year $600 million Disability Royal Commission, it is like it never happened.

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability was billed as a transformative opportunity for our community to be heard. Yet in this Budget, it hasn’t even rated a mention.

People living with disability appear largely invisible in the Federal Government’s financial path forward for Australia. Are we really back here?

THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN ENDORSED BY:

• Australian Autism Alliance (AAA)
• Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO)
• Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA)
• Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA)
• Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA)
• Down Syndrome Australia (DSA)
• First Peoples Disability Network Australia (FPDN)
• Inclusion Australia (IA)
• National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA)
• People with Disability Australia (PWDA)
• Physical Disability Australia (PDA)
• Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA).

INTERVIEWEES AVAILABLE:

• Sophie Cusworth, CEO – Women With Disabilities Australia (Melbourne, VIC)
• Megan Spindler-Smith, Deputy CEO – People with Disability Australia (Canberra ACT)
• Jenny Karavolos, Independent Co-Chair – Australian Autism Alliance (Adelaide SA)
• Skye Kakoschke-Moore, CEO – Children & Young People with Disability Australia (Adelaide SA)
• Darryl Steff, CEO – Down Syndrome Australia (Brisbane QLD)
• Catherine McAlpine, CEO – Inclusion Australia (Melbourne VIC)
• Jeff Smith, CEO – Disability Advocacy Network Australia (Sydney NSW)
• Priscilla Brice, CEO – National Mental Health Consumer Alliance (Sydney NSW)
• Damian Griffis, CEO – First Peoples’ Disability Network (Melbourne VIC)
• Ross Joyce, CEO – Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (Regional VIC)
• Jeremy Muir, CEO – Physical Disability Australia (Brisbane QLD)

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jane Metlikovec 0409 539 880 [email protected]
Janelle Del Vecchio 0459 983 096 [email protected]

PWDA and community organisations condemn Government failure to act on DSP Senate Inquiry Report

Calling for urgent action to address barriers to accessing the Disability Support Pension, the risk of poverty for recipients and to reform how eligibility is assessed and avenues for dispute resolution.

 

During last week’s Senate Estimates the Australian Government released its official response to the report on the Purpose, intent and adequacy of the Disability Support Pension (DSP). People with Disability Australia, ACOSS and disability advocacy organisations have expressed alarm at the Government’s dismissal of the report’s recommendations and called for urgent action to address barriers to accessing the DSP, the risk of poverty for recipients and to reform how eligibility is assessed and avenues for dispute resolution.

Key recommendations from the report that have not been actioned include:

  • Amending claims processes to ensure people with disability or chronic illness who have little opportunity to enter or re-enter the labour force are granted the Disability Support Pension.
  • Removal of mutual obligations for people during the process of their claims and making the program of support voluntary, “abandoning punitive compliance measures” and making employment services more effective.
  • Increasing funding for disability advocacy, community legal services and First Nations organisations to support DSP claimants in their claims process.
  • Increasing funding to improve linkages between Services Australia and First Nations organisations.
  • Establishing principles in the administration of social security, including proactively assisting people to access support; treating people with respect.
  • Making adjustments to service delivery to meet individual needs.

While changes to the impairment tables in 2023 were a starting point for reform, the failure to act on the systemic flaws in how the DSP is administered and who it is available to has left people with disability without the financial resources necessary to live.

People with Disability Australia (PWDA) President Marayke Jonkers:

“It’s unacceptable that this report has sat on the shelf for over two years and received such a lacklustre response. The Government has not explained why the report’s recommendations are no longer relevant. We know the Disability Support Pension needs to be higher and available to more people with disability or far too many in our community will continue to live in poverty and not have the financial resources to meet their most basic needs. The Government must take action.

“This response from the Government collides with changes to the NDIS and people with disability facing new or continued gaps in services and fears over how they will pay for things like mobility aides, assistive technology and support workers.”

“Major changes are needed to support the employment of people with disability but these must go hand-in-hand with an adequate social safety net for those who are unable to participate in employment, including people with chronic illnesses. The Disability Support Pension is a lifeline for many that determines whether their support and living needs will be met – and there are too many people who don’t have access, who should.”

ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie:

“Everyday people with disability struggle to afford the basic essentials of life due to a system that does more to exclude them than support them.

“Each year, 44% of claims for the Disability Support Pension are rejected thanks to a bureaucratic, stressful and impersonal claims process. People with disability end up on the woefully inadequate $56 a day JobSeeker Payment, with some forced to do mutual obligations despite having a disability or chronic ill health.

“The government cannot sweep this national shame under the rug. It has a duty to ensure Australia’s social security provides people with enough to cover essentials, including the extra costs that disability brings, and are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.”

Statement endorsed by:

  • People with Disability Australia
  • Australian Autism Alliance
  • Australian Council of Social Service
  • Community Mental Health Australia
  • Children and Young People with Disability Australia
  • Disability Advocacy Network Australia
  • Down Syndrome Australia
  • First Peoples Disability Network
  • Inclusion Australia
  • National Ethnic Disability Alliance
  • Women with Disabilities Australia

MEDIA CONTACT

[email protected]

0491 034 479

Available for interview:

  • President People with Disability Australia Marayke Jonkers
  • Deputy CEO People with Disability Australia Megan Spindler-Smith
  • CEO ACOSS Dr Cassandra Goldie
  • CEO Children and Young People with Disability Australia Skye Kakoschke-Moore
  • Strategic Partnership Manager Francis O’Neill Community Mental Health Australia
  • CEO Inclusion Australia Catherine McAlpine

ABOUT PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY AUSTRALIA

People with Disability Australia Incorporated (PWDA) is a national disability rights and advocacy, non-profit, non-government organisation. We have a cross-disability focus, representing the interests of people with all kinds of disability and our membership is made up of people with disability and organisations mainly constituted by people with disability.

You can also read the media statement here (click below):

Joint Statement on Lateral Violence in the Disability Community

Our community is going through a tough time. We want to stay focused on the important work we need to do to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

 

We are Australia’s Disability Representative Organisations, and our job is to protect and support the rights of people with disabilities. We are also Australians with disabilities.

Right now, our community is going through a tough time. Some people with disabilities are taking out their anger and frustration on others in the community. We say this kind of behaviour has no place here. We know how hurtful and damaging this can be because we have experienced it ourselves.

This type of behaviour is called lateral violence. Lateral violence often happens in groups like ours that are already being left out in society. Right now, this is happening a lot in the disability community, especially on social media. Social media can be a great place to find support and information, but it can also be very toxic and unsafe. Sometimes people on social media say mean, hurtful and untrue things. This is a type of violence and abuse. We say this is very wrong.

As Australia’s Disability Representative Organisations, we want to say that this kind of violence is never okay, no matter where it happens. People with disabilities should feel safe with one another while we advocate for change. We want to stay focused on the important work we need to do to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

It’s normal and helpful to have different opinions, but it’s not okay to call each other names or be mean. In a world that’s becoming more divided and harsh, we must stand up for each other’s rights.

Let’s not let anger and frustration tear us apart. Instead, let’s come together and be stronger as we work together to make important change.

You can find an Easy Read version of the statement here (or click below): DROs Joint Statement Lateral Violence Disability Community – Easy Read

This statement has been endorsed by:

  • Australian Autism Alliance (AAA)
  • Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO)
  • Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA)
  • Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA)
  • Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA)
  • Down Syndrome Australia (DSA)
  • First Peoples Disability Network Australia (FPDN)
  • Inclusion Australia (IA)
  • National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA)
  • People with Disability Australia (PWDA)
  • Physical Disability Australia (PDA)
  • Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)

Government response to Disability Royal Commission is a missed opportunity

Media Statement by Catherine McAlpine, CEO Inclusion Australia, regarding Government response to the Disability Royal Commission recommendations.

“The Government’s response today to the Disability Royal Commission’s recommendations is underwhelming.

“We learned that just 13 of the Royal Commission’s 222 recommendations have been accepted in full by the Australian government, after more than 4-and-a-half years of work by the Commission, and more than 9 months’ waiting for the government response.

“Today is a frustrating day for people with an intellectual disability in Australia.

“People with an intellectual disability are the most heavily impacted and disproportionately harmed by the current state of segregation in Australia – something the Royal Commission was at pains to address.

“Key recommendations by the Royal Commission including raising subminimum wages and reforms to supported employment and group homes have all been marked ‘subject to further consideration’ by the government. The recommendation to phase out segregated education was noted.

“Had these, and other similar recommendations been accepted in full, Australia would have taken a big leap forward toward inclusion today.

“It’s heartening to see the government is investing to address negative community attitudes towards people with disability.

“However, research shows time and again that the best way to address negative community attitudes towards people with disability is through direct contact.

“When you segregate children at age 5 by separating students with an intellectual disability from their age peers, it’s no surprise that negative attitudes develop that need to be addressed in the future.

“The new investment announced by government today is around $83 million. Other funding had already been announced in the May budget. This previous funding was, of course, very welcome. We wrongly believed it was a prelude for more major reform to come today, however, it turned out to be the main event.

“Inclusion Australia will now take the time to reflect on the government response, and we will continue to engage with government to advocate for all people with an intellectual disability to drive the level of change we deserve.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Janelle Del Vecchio 0459 983 096 or [email protected]

Government response to violence against people with disability deeply disappointing

Joint Media Statement from Australia’s Disability Representative Organisations regarding Government response to the Disability Royal Commission recommendations.

Today’s Federal, State and Territory government response to our four-and-a-half-year Disability Royal Commission is deeply disappointing and fails to respond to the scale of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability.

National Disability Representative Organisations have expressed significant concern that only 13 recommendations of 222 have been fully accepted, and that after nine months, so many recommendations remain still to be resolved across different levels of government.

We call on all levels of government to urgently act on the 222 recommendations including provide clear timelines within the next six months on all recommendations accepted in principle and embed disability leadership through establishing a Disability Reform Implementation Council. This should be led by a diverse group of people with disability and our representative organisations, ensuring we are setting the pace and directly engaged in the Council’s outcomes.

Many recommendations directly impact the lives of First Nations people with disability. It is critical that implementation of any and all recommendations adhere to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, embedding the Priority Reforms and prioritising the most systematically excluded.

The Disability Royal Commission, which ran from 2019 to 2023, heard from people with disability, their families, supporters, kin, advocates and representative organisations about how many of us have been hurt and harmed at school, at work, in hospital, in prison, in public, and in disability services.

The stories that people with disability told filled three full volumes of the Disability Royal Commission final report, showing the scale of abuse against us. The Royal Commission made 222 recommendations across all levels of government, but also to schools, disability providers, health care, police, prisons, employers and more.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime through examination of the scale of violence so many people with disability experience and deserves and demands a response of the same scale.

The Royal Commission found that ‘across all age groups, a greater proportion of people with disability experience violence than people without disability. People with disability also experience violence more frequently.’ Women with disability and culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability have disproportionate experiences of violence and need adequate responses.

Key recommendations from the Disability Royal Commission, about how to stop the violence that so many people with disability are subjected to, included national coordination, reform of disability service providers, changes to the law, increased access to support and leadership of people with disability in driving these changes. There is little concrete commitments or funding for any of these areas.

We welcome the commitment to the reform of the Disability Discrimination Act, and funding increase for advocacy organisations.

People with disability have asked for better legal protection of the rights of people with disability by translating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). One of the most important reforms that is needed to safeguard people with disability against violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation is the establishment of a federal Human Rights Act, which our organisations support. Disappointingly, this recommendation has not been fully accepted.

National Disability Representative Organisations will provide more detailed analysis as we work through the 300-page response report.

This statement has been endorsed by:

·      Australian Autism Alliance (AAA)

·      Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO)

·      Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA)

·      Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA)

·      Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA)

·      Down Syndrome Australia (DSA)

·      First Peoples Disability Network Australia (FPDN)

·      Inclusion Australia (IA)

·      National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA)

·      People with Disability Australia (PWDA)

·      Physical Disability Australia (PDA)

·      Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)

You can also read the statement here including a list of spokespeople available for interview (or click below).

For arranging interviews with spokespeople contact: Janelle Del Vecchio 0459 983 096 or [email protected]