7 May 2025
People with Disability Australia (PWDA) extends our congratulations to the Labor Party on
your election victory.
PWDA is a national disability rights and advocacy organisation made up of, and led by,
people with disability. We are a voice of our own for people with disability, in all their
diversity, and the national peak for LGBTQIA+ people with disability.
As the national cross-disability peak body representing the 5.5 million Australians
identifying as having disability, we were pleased to hear your victory speech commitments
to fairness, equality and respect, making our way forward together, and leaving no one
behind. With these commitments in mind, we look forward to continuing to work with you
and your party to advance disability rights and ensure the full economic and social
inclusion of Australians with disability during the term of the 48th Parliament of Australia.
As a Disability Representative Organisation, PWDA undertakes systemic advocacy and
provides individual advocacy support to people with disability experiencing a broad range
of issues, including issues with the NDIS. The disability community have told us that the
Australian Government responses to key disability reform processes – the Disability Royal
Commission and the NDIS Review – haven’t met the community’s expectations, legislative
changes have placed NDIS supports at risk, and people with disability are being left
behind socially and economically.
In the next term of government, NDIS funding must be secured, foundational supports
must be made consistently available, and income support payments must cover the true
cost of disability. We need accessible housing, stronger human rights protections including
for LGBTIQA+ people with disability, better representation in government and an inclusive
public sector. These are necessities.
In our pre-election platform shaped by the voices of PWDA’s national
membership and the wider disability community, PWDA called on the incoming
government to commit to practical solutions in 7 key priority areas:
- Invest in the NDIS: Guarantee long-term, sustainable funding, ensure participant
control over our supports and prevent cost-cutting that restricts access to essential
supports. - Fund Nationally Consistent Foundational Supports: Ensure disability supports
outside the NDIS are consistently available and delivered. These supports are
essential not optional for the 5.5 million Australians with disability, including the
nearly 5 million who aren’t on the NDIS. - Raise the Rate: Increase income support payments, including the Disability Support
Pension (DSP) and JobSeeker, to above the poverty line so people with disability
can afford the cost of living and achieve financial security. Increase Commonwealth
Rent Assistance to cover the real cost of accessible housing. - Make Housing Accessible: Mandate the “Livable Housing Design Silver Standard”
in the National Construction Code across all states and territories and commit to a
national housing plan that meets the needs of people with disability. - Ensure Disability Representation in Government: Create a Minister for Disability
Inclusion in Federal Cabinet and establish a dedicated Department of Disability
Equality and Inclusion. - Protect Our Human Rights: Strengthen disability rights through a Human Rights Act
and improvements to the Disability Discrimination Act. Fully fund individual and
systemic advocacy services so people with disability can protect and enforce their
rights. - Support Diversity in the Public Sector: Increase employment of people with
disability and safeguard diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in federal public
sector workplaces.
At this critical juncture of disability reform, with so much at stake, Disability Representative
Organisations and the re-elected Australian Government have an opportunity to continue
to work together to ensure people with disability are at the centre of disability policy and
legislative reform, to ensure successful reform outcomes – not only for people with
disability but for all Australians.
People with disability know what works for us and we look forward to continuing to work in
partnership to take real action to progress disability-led, codesigned policy and legislative
reform to advance the human rights, economic security, and full inclusion of people with
disability in Australian Society
We look forward to continuing to work together in good faith to ensure our voices are
heard, valued, and included.
Please see our 2025 Election Platform which outlines our seven key policy priorities.
ENDS