Disability Rights & Services

The disability community in Australia is broad, powerful and diverse - more than 5.5 million Australians identify as disabled. Shamefully, disabled people have been vastly under-represented, silenced and shut out of Government policy and decision-making. 

To address these inequities, the Greens are committed to empowering disabled Australians through measures that enhance advocacy, improve access, and celebrate Disability Pride.

The Greens' plan:

• Establish an Election Access Fund for disabled people to inclusively participate in elections by addressing the access barriers in contesting an election that are not faced by non-disabled individuals. 
• Fund disability advocacy organisations to support & advocate for disabled people, enabling them to effectively do their job to support and advocate for disabled people. 
• Introduce a dedicated Disability Pride Week, sponsored by the Australian Government, that includes grants to support community events and communications that celebrate Disability Pride. 

Disabled people have the same human rights as everybody else and deserve equal opportunity in things like employment, education, housing and healthcare and agency in their own lives. 

Disabled people must be empowered to exercise their agency concerning any formal or informal supports they receive.

Their agency must also guide broader personal decisions and elements of their lives, such as their relationships with others, the communities they interact with and their reproductive rights.  

The Greens' plan:

• Invest in disability awareness training for healthcare professionals and the Primary Care Enhancement Program by designing and delivering trauma-informed, neuro-affirming training led by disabled people to address healthcare barriers.
• Invest in accessible public communications and ensure safe online platforms for disabled people by increasing Auslan interpreter availability, expanding captioning requirements, and establishing a National Disability Telecommunications Service.
• Fully fund a transition plan to close Australian Disability Enterprises and move to inclusive mainstream employment in five years by providing $200m to support a safe and well-planned transition process.
• Legislate an end to forced sterilisation practices, with an education campaign and strengthened enforcement put in place to protect disabled people’s reproductive rights.
• Ensure disabled people are supported in disaster responses by funding disability awareness training for emergency responders, co-designed with disabled people and key organisations.
• Build inclusive education into tertiary qualifications by investing $450m to train educators in inclusive practices and remove barriers to tertiary education for disabled people.

Disabled Australians face significant barriers and harmful systems across education, housing, employment, health, and justice.

The Greens are focused on ensuring government and public services actively uphold the rights of disabled Australians to self-determination, safe access to systems, and freedom from discrimination.

The Greens' plan:

• Establish a Federal Disability Minister and a Department of Disability Services by creating a dedicated leadership position and department to prioritise disability rights and intersectional issues at the federal level.
• Set a 20% quota for full employment representation of disabled employees in the APS by 2030 by ensuring greater disability representation in public service policy, decision-making, and delivery.
• Establish an Office of Disability within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to create a whole-of-government approach to advancing disability rights.
• Develop a dedicated online platform for discussion within the disability community, providing a safe, discrimination-free space for debate, cultural development, and news sharing.

The NDIS should be resourced to support any disabled person who needs it. However, recently,  numerous reviews and the Disability Royal Commission (DRC) have highlighted how broken the system is. 

Disabled people have a right to choice and control over their support, funding that appropriately meets their needs, respectful and fair processes and communication, and an assurance they will be safeguarded from harm.
The Greens are working to deliver on a deep commitment to keeping the scheme inclusive and expanding the NDIS to ensure all disabled people continue to be supported.

The Greens' plan:

• Invest $400m in the NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission, enhancing its capacity to investigate complaints, prosecute abusers, and protect disabled people from violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
• Gradually raise the NDIS age cap, increasing it by 1 year every 2 years to ensure no disabled person is excluded based on age.
• Restore sexual supports to the NDIS by removing the legislative ban, developing a comprehensive sexuality policy, and providing guidance for participants and planners.
• Provide $1.6b to fund the transition from the NDIS to foundational supports for people with psychosocial disabilities. The funding will go towards providing bi-annual $2500 payments.
• Reverse the NDIS budget cuts to ensure a fully funded and resourced NDIS  so that all disabled people who need NDIS support can access it without barriers.
• Fund a $2m review to improve accessibility and establish a national standard for supports in custodial settings.