Have you experienced poor access to healthcare services or treatment due to your physical disability?
Have you felt let down by, discriminated against or just not heard by medical professionals?
Why does the expectation of fair and accessible healthcare not always meet reality?
On Tuesday 5th August at 6pm AEST, PDA will be addressing these (and other) issues in a webinar that examines Australia’s healthcare system and where it is failing those living with physical disability.
Our guest speakers will contribute to the conversation, sharing their respective knowledge, experiences and expertise and addressing your concerns and personal perspectives.
Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM is a frontline medical professional, working as a principal medical officer in the emergency department at the Gold Coast University Hospital. His understanding of the medical system, its resources, capabilities, successes, challenges and shortfalls will provide a thorough overview of what needs to be addressed to improve services to people with disability.
The inimitable Carol Taylor is also on our speaking panel. With a background in law, and as the world’s first quadriplegic fashion designer of adaptive fashion and inclusive design, she is already positioned as a strong disability advocate working towards positive change for Australia’s disability community. However, recent issues around her own health have amplified her passion for making things right in a healthcare system that needs to address accessibility and patient-centred care for people with disability.
Another of our speakers that we are proud to announce is Dr Yi Yang, a Research Fellow with the University of Melbourne. Well respected and known for her research on health inequalities faced by people with disability, she is interested in quantifying inequalities in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and assessing the potential impact of policy changes in reducing these inequalities. As an epidemiologist, Yi has also led studies examining cancer inequalities among people with disability.
We are so incredibly grateful to have these accomplished individuals as panelists at this upcoming webinar and thank them for agreeing to be involved.
Please keep an eye on our socials for exciting announcements about additional panel members.
PDA’s CEO, Jeremy Muir, believes that fair and accessible healthcare is an important conversation that needs to be had, raising issues that need to be addressed. “How would you feel if you arrived to have an X-ray or CT scan only to find you couldn’t access the premises or the scanning technology? Unfortunately, this is the experience for many people living with physical disabilities. With this inequity potentially leading to their missing out on necessary preventative or diagnostic screening, they may be put at an increased risk of time dependent diagnosis and preventative medical care. Why, in 2025, is equitable healthcare not accessible by every Australian and why are the failings and inadequacies stemming from this failure to provide not being put right?”
This webinar will reignite the conversation and provide important insights for people with disability, the healthcare sector, service providers and the very systems that need to hear what’s truly happening and what needs to be sorted now.
To register for this webinar, go to:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/7617509040703/WN_6zzLprNATDeWu1GD8ARb5A
On registering, we also invite you to share any questions that you would like to ask our speakers. You can choose to remain anonymous in asking these questions.
The opportunity to ask questions will also be made available during the webinar. However, please be mindful that these questions will be answered dependent on time constraints.
We look forward to you joining us for this incredibly important discussion and your helping to explore what is and isn’t working in the provision of healthcare for people living with disability in our country.
