PDA’s CEO, Jeremy Muir, and Project/Policy Offer, Sarah McInnes were recently guest speakers at the National Disability Research Partnership (NDRP) Evidence to Action event “Building Respectful Partnerships”.
This session brought together advocacy leaders and researchers who challenged common myths about working together in disability research.
To watch this very interesting discussion, go to:
https://youtu.be/QPRhsVz3pp4?si=7_2dmqfq1OIWO7u-&t=886
After a significant number of re-writes, refining and researching, the fabulous Sarah McInnes and I, on behalf of PDA, have completed our submission on the review of the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (1992).
After finalising our 39-page document and wondering what it meant, who was going to read it and how much impact it would have, I became side-tracked.
The first issue that caught my attention was a post showing Senator Jordan Steele-John debating with the staff from the Department of Public Administration around accessibility at Parliament House in Canberra. The stonewalling of improving access due to ‘feasibility’ is unbelievable. I can’t help wondering if Australia’s bastion to democracy, the place where our human rights are supposed to be upheld determines that access for all has to pass a ‘feasibility’ test before consideration, what example is being set. I’m not filled with confidence that once the DDA undergoes a makeover, it will finally become the tool that stops discrimination with a ‘no-excuse’ mandate. Those of us who remember writing submissions for the first round of DDA standards back in the 90’s, witnessed a failure of willingness by government to provide a true instrument of change. This cannot happen again.
The second distraction came from my own musings. I can’t help wondering that as a nation, and as a country we not alone in this, but in 2025 we have not become sophisticated enough to realise that we shouldn’t need a DDA, nor a sex discrimination act, nor a racial discrimination act. Acts that are supposed to protect and uphold human rights. Perhaps, as a nation, we should have started with a human rights act that was for ALL Australians, and, if it had been necessary, added elements that clearly indicated that acts of discrimination were just not permissible. Not a feasibility test in sight.
There was a third distraction, and I promise this will be the last. As the CEO of PDA, this morning I received the Disability Sector Update from NDIA. This update gives information about all things NDIS/NDIA related. One of updates indicated that the NDIA, as a workplace had released its Gender Equity Action Plan. The update states “This Plan is part of our ongoing efforts to make our workplaces welcoming, safe and inclusive for everyone.
Gender equity benefits everyone. Gender equity is when all genders are treated: fairly, equally, with respect.” Well, what is interesting about this piece of information is, Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA) has been seeking clarification regarding the pausing of the NDIS Gender Strategy, with the agency indicating they would be introducing a set of ‘inclusion principles’ instead. You see where I’m going with this. The agency rightly believes that there is a need for a Gender Equity Action Plan, but NDIS participants don’t deserve the same consideration. Curious.
PDA’s incredibly dedicated and talented Jeremy Muir (CEO) and Sarah McInnes (Policy/Project Officer) have spent many hours working through the Disability Discrimination Act in their preparation of a submission to the Attorney General’s Department.
This has now been forwarded to the relevant parties and can be viewed by going to:
The PDA Executive Board, after reviewing the 2024 AGM Board election processes, determined that the WA Director incumbent was appropriately elected for a 3-year term. Thus, the WA Director position is not open for nominations at this year’s 2025 AGM. We apologise for any inconvenience and misunderstanding caused. If members have already nominated (or were intending to) for the WA Director position, please be aware there is a vacancy for the WA Associate Director position and we welcome nominations for this role. There are no other changes to other vacant positions, these being:
Sharon Boyce – President
Mark Pietsch – Vice President
Paul Williamson – Vice President
Tammy Milne – Treasurer
CALLING ALL PDA MEMBERS.
Have you registered for PDA’s upcoming AGM?
Saturday 6th December 2025
2pm NSW/VIC/ACT/TAS
1:30pm SA
1pm QLD
12:30pm NT
11am WA
Held online via Zoom.
Join us to hear
Hear what PDA’s been up to in 2025 and what our plans are moving forwards.
PDA’s Ambassador, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, will also be sharing his thoughts on issues affecting our members and Australia’s wider disability community .
To register your attendance, please go to:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/JAuZAeuaRJi9-31_FUlozA?os=ipad#/registration
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Meeting documents will be circulated ahead of the AGM.
We really look forward to you joining us and saying “hi”.
Katherine Reed is an incredible woman and someone that we are proud to have involved with PDA as Tasmania’s Associate Director.
She has just had her story shared by the ABC.
A great read.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/physicaldisabilityaustralia/permalink/10162578990732599/?
Photo supplied by Basketball Victoria.
November 6, 2025
We are deeply concerned by the schedule 5 amendment to the Social Security and Other Legislative Amendments (Technical Change No 2) Bill 2025 that gives police new powers to advise the government to stop a person’s Centrelink payment.
Stopping a person’s payment before any court process has occurred risks leaving people without income, housing or essentials, and undermines the presumption of innocence that underpins our justice system.
The Disability Royal Commission demonstrated that people with disability disproportionately experience high rates of contact with the criminal justice system, reflecting the broader criminalisation of disability and the lack of appropriate social, health and community supports. Commissioners also documented the significant barriers that our communities face when dealing with police, courts, and other parts of the justice system. These findings show that even within a system designed to uphold due process, people with disability are often denied justice when their rights and needs are not properly understood or accommodated.
We are also deeply concerned that communities traditionally over-policed and disadvantaged, including First Nations people with disability, would be at heightened risk under this amendment.
Given such injustices already occur for our communities under judicial oversight, the risks are far greater in an administrative system where decisions can be made quickly, without due process, evidence, legal representation, or advocacy.
This amendment was introduced without public consultation or adequate scrutiny. Changes that affect millions of Australians should be transparent and informed by those most impacted.
DROs strongly support the calls made by multiple civil society organisations, including the joint statement from Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) and Economic Justice Australia, for the Federal Government to abandon schedule 5 of this Bill.
This statement is endorsed by:
ARE YOU IN WA, the NT, SA, QLD, or the ACT?
If you are, we want to hear from you.
At this year’s AGM, a number of Board positions are up for election:
These positions can be applied for by FULL VOTING MEMBERS (People with a physical disability).
If you are interested in becoming part of PDA’s Board, we invite you to nominate by filling in and returning the ‘Nomination Form’ by close of business on Friday 28 November. This has been emailed out to members. If you have not yet received this form, please email promotion@pda.org.au.
Together let’s steer PDA in to 2026 and beyond.
The elevator doors closed behind me, but it didn’t move.
Uh-oh, I thought. Now what?
In the 14 years I’d been a wheelchair user, I’d never been in a lift on my own before. But here I was, in my first semester of a Japanese Studies degree at Murdoch University, and needing to get to the second floor for a lecture on cross-cultural psychology. It was a very small lift in an old building at the opposite end to the lecture room. My arms weren’t long or straight enough to press the button to go up. I was stuck. For about an hour. And missed my lecture.
This was 1997, before everyone had a mobile phone, so I couldn’t even call for help. Eventually someone came to use the lift and found me – what a surprise they got. I was just relieved to be out of there. Lucky I don’t get claustrophobic.
That afternoon when my mum came to pick me up, I told her what had happened. “You need to carry a stick,” she said.
Being the practical person Mum is, we stopped at Bunnings on the way home. She bought me a wooden dowel, a pack of rubber stoppers that fit the end, and some plastic tubing. When we got home, she put a rubber stopper on one end of the dowel, cut some tubing and slid it over the other end, and gave it to me. Voila: my stick was born.
I put the plastic tubing end into my mouth and tested my stick on a light switch. Oh my goodness, it worked! For the first time in my 17 years, I could do things I’d never thought possible, like turn a light on or off. This would be the start of the independent life I’d craved. Thanks Mum!
But what else could I use it for? I looked around my room. If I hooked the little rubber stopper on my pencil tin on my desk, I – oh yes – I could bring it closer or push it out of my way. I learnt that I could also scratch my head, type on my computer and open and close doors. While I was living with my parents and three younger brothers, it hadn’t occurred to me that I’d need to be capable of doing these things for myself if I wanted to move out of home and not need 24-hour care.
The only challenge with my new stick was how to carry it? I’d need it at uni to press lift buttons, so I wouldn’t get stuck ever again. My stick might be small in diameter but was about a metre long. It was too big to carry on my tray.
My dad got to work in his shed. He was a boilermaker and had lots of tools at home. It didn’t take him long to develop a stick holder. Made from aluminium tubing, he blocked the bottom, and attached a bracket to screw to my leg rest. I now had a stick and could carry it everywhere I went. Thanks Dad!
I developed an independent spirit from that day. My parents had always encouraged me to do as much as I could for myself, while accepting help for the things I couldn’t. But with this stick, I could demonstrate it practically to others. I’m certain it helped me be accepted as an exchange student to Japan in 1999 for 10 months. I wasn’t taking no for an answer and was determined to fulfil my university studies degree by studying at a Japanese university.
The problem with wooden sticks is they broke often. And when overseas studying, it became an issue. We found a hardware / garden centre that had my stick replaced quickly, every time I broke it.
Once back in Perth, I graduated and had to find a job. I was invited to be a guest speaker at disability awareness training sessions for Main Roads staff. I always started my talk by showing my stick and asking what people thought it helps me with.
After one presentation, a man at the back put his hand up to ask me a question. “Why do you use a wooden stick? Have you ever used fibreglass sticks?”
I shook my head. During the morning tea break we chatted further. “We use them as flag poles for the orange flags at children’s school crossings,” he explained. “We often get them back a bit worn out. I could deliver some to you next week.”
Sure enough, the following week he delivered four to my door. They were slightly slimmer than the wooden ones I was used to, and a little heavier. I had to build my jaw muscles to be able to use it effectively, since I use it in my mouth for most things. It took me a while to get used to it, but I haven’t broken a stick since. I’m still using the original ones – for over 20 years now.
In 2015 I received my third assistance dog, Upton. He found my stick difficult to pick up off the floor. He couldn’t get his front teeth underneath it. “What if we added an elastic band?” his trainer asked me.
With the band in place, Upton learnt to target the band to pick it up every time. But I quickly found another use for it: tagging my Smartrider card on and off buses and trains. I always carried my card in a plastic pouch with a pipe cleaner handle, and dangled it from the end of my stick. But on buses, the tag-on machine is above my head height, so the pouch always slid and hit me in the face. The elastic band stops it sliding, and since then I haven’t had to ask other passengers to tag on for me. Thanks Upton!
In 2023 I was browsing social media when I saw a competition called the Simply Open Awards. They were looking for simple solutions and innovations that can help people with disabilities. I made a five-minute video about my stick. I explained why I needed it, how it was made, and demonstrated several uses around my home, from pressing light switches to sliding doors open and closed. I even showed how I can heat my leftover dinner in the microwave with the short stick I have.
One evening I received an email saying I was a prize-winner (a cash prize of £750), and my video had been sent to the judges at the Discovery Awards. The next night I received an email saying my video was voted the top two innovations IN THE WORLD, and my prize was a trip to Vienna to attend the Zero Project Conference in February 2024! All because of the video I made about my stick. The stick I carry everywhere because I was stuck in a lift and couldn’t reach the button. The same stick that has enabled me to catch public transport to work independently, and not need 24-hour care. It really did change my life.
On Saturday 6th December 2025, PDA will be holding its Annual General Meeting and encourages Members to attend via Zoom.
Hear what we’ve been up to in 2025 and what our plans are moving forwards.
PDA’s Ambassador, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, will be joining us and sharing his thoughts around issues affecting our community now and into 2026.
Our Annual General Meeting will be a great chance for Members to be an active part of the PDA community and help our organisation move in to its 31st year.
Register your attendance
To register to attend our AGM via Zoom, please go to:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/JAuZAeuaRJi9-31_FUlozA
If you don’t have a Zoom account, signing up is free, quick and easy. Go to https://zoom.us/signup and create an account.
Please make sure to visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/JAuZAeuaRJi9-31_FUlozA to register for the AGM once you have created a Zoom account.
If you experience problems or have any questions, please email us at promotion@pda.org.au or call 1800 PDA ORG (1800 732 674).
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Meeting documents will be circulated ahead of the AGM.
PDA Board Nominations
At this year’s AGM, Nick Schumi is reaching the end of his current 3-year term as SA Director, and there are vacancies for the roles of Director (NT), Associate Director (NT) and Associate Director (WA).
Full members wishing to nominate for any of these roles need to complete and return the ‘Nomination Form’ by close of business on Friday 28 November.
Similarly, if you wish to appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf, you need to complete and return the ‘Appointment of Proxy Form’ by close of business on Friday 28 November.
We look forward to you joining us at our AGM and saying “hi”.
1800 732 674
