Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The strategy aims to support the one in five Canberrans who live with disability to have full and equal participation in all aspects of community life.
The ACT Government has released the 10-year ACT Disability Strategy 2024-2033 and First Action Plan 2024–2026.
One in five Canberrans live with disability.
The strategy aims to support them to have full and equal participation in all aspects of community life.
It will guide how the ACT Government works to create a more inclusive Canberra by making systemic changes to embed consideration of people with disability in all it does.
Canberrans with disability experience significant disadvantage and marginalisation.
On average, people with disability are less likely to finish school, attend university or have paid employment, and more likely to experience violence.
The Government has allocated $5.54 million over four years to address the priorities in the Strategy.
Some of these initiatives include:
- support for Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to deliver culturally safe and inclusive services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with disability
- setting employment targets for people with disability in the ACT public service
- working with the community sector to deliver a peer support program to improve the wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ people with disability
- creation of new disability liaison officer roles in Housing ACT and Access Canberra
- strengthening the ACT Government’s capacity to consistently provide accessible communications and information.
Implementation of the Strategy will occur through three action plans over 10 years.
The Strategy and accompanying action plans will focus on achieving outcomes against each of the 12 wellbeing domains of the ACT Wellbeing Framework.
The principles and actions in the Strategy and First Action Plan were developed through extensive consultation with people with disability, families, carers, community organisations and ACT Government agencies.
Local organisation Advocacy for Inclusion welcomed the new strategy.
“In particular we welcome: the commitment to introduce a new Housing Disability Liaison Officer position, the funding to an Aboriginal community controlled organisations to deliver culturally safe and inclusive services, work to establish a communications hub with an easy English Specialist and Auslan Interpreter within Access Canberra, the increases to the Inclusion Grants and the I-Day grants, the training to up skill Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Workers and the systemic self-advocacy program for people with intellectual disability,” Head of Policy Craig Wallace said.
“We also welcome an ambitious 9 per cent target for disability employment in the ACT Public Service along with moves to transition the International Day of People with Disability celebrations to community control.”
Disability Reference Group Chair Renée Heaton said the strategy builds on good work already taking place.
“This ACT Disability Strategy brings together the important work already happening while committing us all to a future direction paved by real actions and goals. Canberrans have benefited from a progressive and contemporary community, and we want these benefits to extend to people with disability. We want to aim high and work together so that this strategy and the subsequent action plans see every Canberran doing something to make inclusion a reality,” she said.
The ACT Disability Strategy and First Action Plan build on the other interconnected strategies, including the ACT Inclusive Education Strategy 2024–2034, the ACT Disability Health Strategy 2024-2033, and the ACT Disability Justice Strategy 2019–2029.
View the Strategy and Action Plan at act.gov.au/open/disability-strategy.
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