The need to include people with lived experience of an issue, such as disability, is becoming standard, but what does this really mean? Are we to be included to talk about only our personal stories, or are we to be included so our expertise in the systems and...
The new Federal Government is holding a Disability Employment Roundtable this week, after having a Jobs and Skills forum with disabled people last week. So what should be on the agenda to get actual change for disabled people excluded from employment? As always,...
I gave a speech at the Disability Employment Australia Conference on June 1, about the Disability Economy, and the economics of the NDIS, asking some hard questions about whether disabled people are part of this economy, or the products to be traded....
Last week, I asked disabled people about what issues were most important to them in the Federal Election, and got a flood of great answers with a few key themes. The responses covered making being sick and disabled a whole lot more affordable, fixing the admin and...
My essay about living through a pandemic as a disabled person is out in the latest issue of Meanjin. I wrote this at the end of 2021, and it includes very personal reflections about what the pandemic has meant for me, and the community I'm so grateful to be part of....
[This was my Patreon article from last Sunday, and is just as relevant today. Sign the petition to get action on vaccines for disabled people.] I’m angry and sad today, so this post has more swears than usual. Disabled people and disability workers in a group home in...
Back in March, I wrote for Eureka Street about the fight for the future of the NDIS. I said: Right now, there is a fight on for the future of the NDIS. On one side is the Federal Government, determined to have total control over the Scheme, and to change its very...
There has been some discussion about using the word 'disabled' in the recent release of Growing Up Disabled in Australia. The editor, Carly Findlay, posted about it on her Facebook page, and on her blog. There have been comments on events for the book, chiding us for...
I have an essay in the new collection Growing Up Disabled in Australia, all about what it was like coming to terms with being disabled, and how I've grappled with the complexities of the social model of disability. It's the first personal piece I have written in a...
With the move that many workplaces and campaigns are making to using more online tools, such as Zoom, it's more important than ever that people and organisations do some basic accessibility so that everyone is included. Lots of groups are moving to using video...
Disabled people, and those that love them, have told the latest hearing of the Disability Royal Commission about their experiences in the health system. Neglect, abuse, violence all featured, with medical people and systems often talked about, not as caring health professionals, but as callous and cruel.
My latest essay is out on the public health news site, Croakey, looking at the major NDIS changes coming from the Tune Review, but more importantly, whether this will make the NDIS work for disabled people.