Author: Natasha Nobay

There are a lot of benefits in becoming a PDA member.

Firstly it’s free.

But it also provides a wonderful community of people who truly understand what it means to live with a physical disability.

With physical disability making up a huge *76.8% of Australia’s reported 5.5 million disabled, PDA represents the vast majority of our country’s disability community – over 4.2 million in fact.

As well as Australians living with physical disability, we also welcome their families, friends, carers, support workers, providers and anyone with a supportive interest as PDA members.

We’ve been around since 1995 and are one of a very small handful of Australian disability organisations that actually has members and board representation in every Australian state and territory.

This gives us a national footprint and allows PDA to have its finger firmly on the pulse of disability in our country.

It is through this representation that our strong voice is heard and that we are included in Australia’s disability conversation.

As an organisation run by people with physical disability for people with physical disability, PDA also truly understands and stands for the needs, rights and consideration of its members.

We put disability rights at the forefront of all that we do.

www.pda.org.au/membership/

Join today.

You’ll be glad that you did.

*https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/disability/disability-ageing-and-carers-australia-summary-findings/latest-release

There’s still time to apply for a postal vote – but you will need to apply by 6pm on April 30 by going to

https://forms.aec.gov.au/PostalVoteApplication/Form/Apply/840f239c-412f-4758-9ac3-b28e008ebbd0?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR6fUs9hSMyuQF2j_mO6yp2dUDjO46u-EtjPW6eS0o1zix1hkShWQleRzz4InQ_aem_4eY_licEjlLr4ox5AlXgfQ

You can also visit an early polling place ahead of Saturday. To find your nearest early voting centre, go to

https://www.aec.gov.au/election/voting.htm#start

However, for both postal votes an early voting, you will need a legitimate reason as to why you can’t attend a polling place on election day. These include you:

• * being outside the electorate where you are enrolled to vote
• * are more than 8km from a polling place
• * are travelling
• * can’t leave your workplace to vote
• * are seriously ill, infirm, have recently given birth or are expected shortly to do so
• * are caring for someone who is seriously ill, infirm, has recently given birth or is expected shortly to do so
• * are a person with disability
• * are caring for a person with disability
• * are a patient in hospital
• * have religious beliefs that prevent you from attending a polling place
• * are in prison serving a sentence of less than three years or otherwise detained
• * are a silent elector
• * have a reasonable fear for your safety.

If you are blind or have low vision, you can vote over the phone by calling 1800 913 993. Registrations for telephone voting operates 8:30am to 5:30pm Australian Eastern Time (AET) Monday to Friday for the 10 business days immediately prior to polling day (excluding national public holidays), and 8am to 6pm AET on polling day. For more information, go to

https://www.aec.gov.au/election/fe25/telephone-voting.htm

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) provides mobile voting (also referred to as mobile polling) in certain locations to provide an in-person voting service to individuals who experience barriers to electoral participation. This includes those:

• * in residential aged care
• * in hospitals
• * in residential mental health
• * in residential locations for people with a disability
• * accessing homelessness services
• * in prisons
• * residing in First Nations locations.

For more information and to find locations, go to

https://www.aec.gov.au/election/fe25/mobile-voting.htm

If you are planning to vote in person at a polling place on Saturday, you can find your most convenient venue (including detailed accessibility info) by going to

https://www.aec.gov.au/election/voting.htm#start

For more information on accessible voting at this election, visit

https://www.aec.gov.au/assistance

PDA releases Joint Media Release with other Australian Disability Representative Organisations.

April 24, 2025

MEDIA RELEASE

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”: PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY NEED ECONOMIC JUSTICE IN COSTOF LIVING CRISIS

With 9 days left until the Federal Election, Australia’s disability representative organisations have come together with solutions to relieve cost of living pressures on 1 in 5 voters – people with disability – who have so far been ignored in the campaign.

“Cost of living is hitting people with disability particularly hard, and yet it has not featured in the campaign, so we have come up with our own solutions that are ready to be actioned on day one of the new government,” said El Gibbs, CEO, Disability Advocacy Network Australia.

“Disabled Australians face unique cost of living pressures. Our new National Blueprint for Economic Justice has been developed by and with people with disability and highlights income support, employment and housing as the key areas where disabled Australians are facing the biggest challenges.”

Jenny Karavolos, Co-chair, Australian Autism Alliance said everyone deserves enough money to live with dignity and participate in society. But right now, income support systems trap people with disability in poverty and punish them for trying to work.

“By redesigning the Disability Support Pension to reflect the real costs of disability and removing barriers to work, the next Government can ensure all disabled people have the economic security needed to thrive,” Karavolos said.

The National Blueprint emphasises that economic barriers are the result of how systems have been designed to exclude people with disability, not inevitable consequences of disability.

Darryl Steff, CEO of Down Syndrome Australia said every person should have the opportunity to use their skills and talents in meaningful work that pays fairly.

“We are calling for the next government to implement the Disability Royal Commission recommendation to phase out sub-minimum wages and to set a 15% disability employment target for the public sector. This will mean people with disability will finally have the chance to contribute our skills and build economic security,” Steff said.

The National Blueprint for Economic Justice presents clear, achievable actions for the next Government to transform three critical areas:

• * Income support that reflects the real costs of disability and supports independence
• * Employment systems that ensure equal pay for equal work and create genuine opportunities
• * Housing options that provide the foundation for economic security and community participation

“All Australians deserve a safe, affordable, accessible place to call home that connects us to our communities. But housing developers, landlords, and policymakers have created a market where accessible housing is scarce and unaffordable, forcing many disabled people to live with family members or in institutions against our wishes,” said Jeremy Muir, CEO of Physical Disability Australia.

“The next government can transform this situation by enforcing accessibility standards nationwide and creating financial incentives for accessible housing development, giving disabled people the foundation we need for economic security,” Muir said.

The Blueprint highlights how people with disability bring valuable perspectives and innovative problem-solving skills to workplaces and communities when barriers to participation are removed.

“First Nations people with disability know exactly what we need for economic security, but decision-makers have designed systems that exclude us and ignore our expertise,” said Tennille Lamb, Director of Strategy, Policy and International at First Peoples Disability Network.

“Governments make choices about what to prioritise. Creating economic justice for people with disability is a choice the next Government can and must make to fulfill our rights and strengthen our entire society, Ms Lamb said.

Catherine McAlpine, CEO of Inclusion Australia, emphasised that disabled people must lead the redesign of economic systems.

“The disability community has enormous expertise in making economic systems fairer and getting them to work for everyone.  This needs to include people with an intellectual disability, who bring unique perspectives in the workplace.

The next government must move towards the end of sub-minimum wages in a genuinely consultative way, while ensuring people with complex support needs are not left worse off. Government can lead the way by example through creating specific employment targets for people with intellectual disability within the public service,” McAlpine said.

The National Blueprint represents a watershed moment as disabled people demand economic justice ahead of the federal election.

Trinity Ford, President of People with Disability Australia said disabled people want the same things as everyone else – housing that meets our needs, a fair job and enough money to live safely and with dignity.

“Right now, too many of us are locked out from these basics,” Ms Ford said.

“Our Blueprint shows what needs to change. We need the next government to act.”

Key Facts:

Income Support and Housing

• * $525.65 per week – Disability Support Pension rate (single, over 21)
• * $630 per week – National Median Advertised Rent (PropTrack, March 2025)
• * People with disability face additional costs of living of $107-$173 per week on (National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM), University of Canberra, 2019)
• * Only 4.1% of Australia’s housing stock meets minimum accessibility standards (Silver level of the Livable Housing Design Guidelines) (Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), 2021)
• * 9% of NDIS participants aged 25 and over live with their parents, compared to approximately 10% of the general population in this age group. (NDIS Quarterly Report Q2 2022-23; ABS Household and Family Projections)

Employment

• * $24.10 per hour – National Minimum Wage
• * $3.01 per hour – The minimum legal rate a person with disability can be paid in an Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE). 20,000 Australians with disability work in an ADE.
• * 30% – Fewer people with disability in paid employment compared to people without disability (or other employment gap recent stat here)

General

• * 4 million Australians are living with a disability
• * 11% – The number of Australians living with disability on NDIS

ENDS

The National Blueprint is endorsed by:

• * Australian Autism Alliance
• * Australian Federation of Disability Organisations
• * Children and Young People with Disability Australia
• * Community Mental Health Australia
• * Disability Advocacy Network Australia
• * Down Syndrome Australia
• * First Peoples Disability Network Australia
• * Inclusion Australia
• * National Ethnic Disability Alliance
• * People with Disability Australia
• * Physical Disability Australia
• * Women With Disabilities Australia

Image above: Logos of Australia’s Disability Representative Organisations

An Easy Read version of this CEO Update is available at https://www.pda.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/PDA-Member-Update-Easy-Read-Version.docx

Hello Members,

For those of you who I have not yet had the pleasure to meet or speak with, I’d like to introduce myself.

My name is Jeremy Muir and I have been in the role of CEO of PDA for the past two months and, even though it has been a steep learning curve, I am getting my head around the activities that PDA has been and is currently involved in. 

With that in mind, I want to provide an update on PDA and its current positioning in relation to issues affecting the lives of people living with a physical disability. After all, this is why PDA exists for you, our members.

PDA is recognised as a Disability Representative Organisation (DRO). We are a DRO that provides systemic advocacy for people with physical disabilities. PDA receives funding through the Department of Social Services and the National Disability Insurance Agency with a view to representing PDA and its members by participating in strategies and initiatives, including the reform agenda associated with disability services (for example, the National Disability Insurance Scheme reform and the National Disability Strategy).

Over the past 2 months, I have been to countless meetings with representatives from other DROs, carer organisations, the Department of Social Services, and the National Disability Insurance Agency, as well as meetings with PDA staff, PDA executives and the PDA board. 

Meetings like the DRO Forum and the Disability Representative Carer Organisation Forum (DRCO) happen quarterly, last up to six hours, and involve discussions between DROs, DRCOs, and relevant departments.Issues are raised by the DROs and DRCOs for discussion with the department. The department then provides information and feedback on agenda reform, policy, and outcomes. These meetings allow DROs and DRCOs to address issues from member feedback. At the last DRCO Forum in February, the Honourable Minister Amanda Rishworth attended and gave her account of the current state of the NDIA and the NDIS. All the members who attended appreciated Minister Rishworth’s candour and there was a sense that Minister Rishworth honestly believes that the NDIS reform will create greater efficiencies, improve clarity around process and improve access for participants.

As part of the NDIS Reform, the NDIA has created Co-Design Working Groups that focus on various aspects of the NDIS. PDA represents its members in ‘Co-Design Strategies’. Alongside other DROs we participate in partnership with the NDIA staff in reviewing distinct functions of the NDIS. 

When I came on board PDA was part of the ‘Assessment and Budgeting’ Co-Design Group and the ‘Self-Management Advisory Group’. I will not provide extensive details about these groups as the work is ongoing. Much remains to be done, and efforts will continue to amplify our voice. We have learned that a ‘co-design’ reset will occur, which will change the future proceedings of the Assessment and Budgeting working group.

PDA works in partnership with other DROs under the National Coordination Function (NCF) hosted by the Disability Advocacy Network Australia or, as it is better known, DANA. Being a part of this community provides PDA with the opportunity to collaborate on agreed strategies, supporting national initiatives and discussing issues and topics relevant to the wider disability community. The NCF members released a joint statement on budget night following the budget announcement.

Through this collaborative approach, PDA has endorsed a number of position statements released by other DROs that may will support a positive impact for you, our members. Two statements PDA recently endorsed are:

• Assistance Animal Framework – Australian Autism Alliance 
• Rights-Based Needs Assessment Model – Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA)

PDA has also endorsed and sponsored DANA’s election campaign, with this becoming more visible over the coming weeks in the lead up to the election. PDA has also endorsed the election campaigns developed by The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) and Every Australian Counts.

In case you missed it, I also wrote a blog about accessibility and polling locations. 

When taking on the role of CEO, I thought it important to introduce myself to the current incumbent Minister’s responsible for the NDIS, The Hon Amanda Rishworth and Dr Anne Aly (Minister Assisting with the NDIS) by way of the Introduction Letter. This resulted in an incredibly positive meeting with Dr Aly’s office. With the upcoming election and depending in results, new letters of introduction may be needed to keep PDA on the radar of relevant Ministers.

With the election date now called, PDA wants to canvas you, our members, by way of a survey. This survey will ask you about topics and issues you feel are important and relevant for PDA to focus on throughout the next year or two. This survey will help us decide the best way PDA can represent you. Look out for the survey over the coming weeks.

PDA has also started the recruitment process for a Policy/Project Officer. Again, look out for the announcements about this role and, if you are interested, please consider applying.

In the fast-paced media world, I had the opportunity to provide comments on the discriminatory treatment of a 12-year-old boy living with cerebral palsy and his family by Qatar Airlines. ABC produced the story, highlighting the challenges met by individuals with disabilities, particularly those with physical impairments, during air travel. Further to this, PDA has released a media statement about air travel.

To keep up to date with what’s happening in Australia’s disability space, I encourage you to subscribe to PDA’s social media channels, (such as PDA’s Facebook Discussion Page) which will provide you with valuable disability-related information and allow you to provide us with feedback on issues of importance. 

I also encourage you to check out PDA’s website’s blog page, which gives you access to excellent blogs written by PDA Board Members. If you have an idea for a blog that you think may interest the PDA membership, please feel free to contact Natasha Nobay (PDA’s Communications and Engagement Manager) to discuss – natasha.nobay@pda.org.au.

At the risk of writing too much, I will end this first version of the CEO update now. I will continue to provide you with updates throughout the year. If you have any questions or concerns, or you simply want to reach out and say “hi”, please do not hesitate to contact me – jeremy.muir@pda.org.au.

Together let’s make our voices heard.

Jeremy Muir – CEO Physical Disability Australia

If you missed our recent webinar on “ Protecting your rights at work”, you can now watch it on PDA’s YouTube channel:

Whether you’re experiencing issues in your workplace and after advice on what to do, or just want to know your rights and better understand your employer’s obligations, this recording is for you.

Presented by the ACTU’s Assistant Secretary, Joseph Mitchell, this video is informative and clearly explains your workplace rights.

Written by Jeremy Muir – PDA’s CEO

For most people without disabilities, the process of simply flying from point A to point B is understood and, in the most part, goes as expected.

As an airline passenger, you pack your bags, arrive at the airport an exorbitant number of hours before your flight, fight your way through supposed ‘easy’ self-check-in’, drop bags, make intimate 60 second friendships with security, and if you have time, buy an overpriced coffee and wait to board your flying tube of necessary cosiness with a large number of people you have never met.

So why is this not a given for people living with a disability?

When you are a person flying with a disability, particularly a physical disability that requires use of a wheelchair or mobility device, all the above are the same – albeit usually with added road blocks in the process that make air travel cumbersome (at the very least), difficult or (at worst) nigh on impossible.

I am just one air traveller that uses a wheelchair, and I could share several ‘incidents’ that I have personally experienced when traveling over the years. However,  the reality is that I could write a thesis of the number of times people with disabilities have been either overtly or covertly discriminated against whilst trying to access air travel.

On the weekend there was yet another incident where a person with a physical disability was subjected to unnecessary and unwarranted stress due to an airline’s inability to provide reasonable adjustments and demonstrated a severe lack of communication for the passenger. This lies at the hands of Qantas. The passenger in question had not experienced these issues prior, so why now, why the inconsistency in policy and approach? Why do we, as people with physical disabilities, have to keep asking these questions?

On March 28th, the ACCC gave the final go-ahead for the Virgin Australia, Qatar Airlines integrated alliance. This partnership between the two airlines will bring an added twenty eight weekly flights between Australia and Doha, with the promise of reduced airfares due to greater competition. Whilst this sounds fabulous for most Australians, people with a physical disability or those using a mobility device may be impacted by this joint initiative.

Qatar Airlines has an appalling record in its treatment of people with physical disabilities, with discrimination reported on at least a dozen occasions in the last 24 months. The latest involving a 12 year old boy living with cerebral palsy and his family who were denied travel due to the airline’s lack of disability training and protocols.

In today’s landscape of accessibility, occurrences of disability discrimination are illegal,  unnecessary, avoidable and ultimately result in added costs to those discriminated against with little or no compensation.

With Virgin Australia possessing a better record in its protocols for those travelling with accessibility requirements, how will it ensure that its passengers flying with physical disability will not be discriminated against by Qatar Airlines? Have they addressed this issue with Qatar Airlines? Are they aware of the previous incidents of discrimination that have occurred?  Will passengers travelling on Virgin have a relatively good experience, only to meet their connecting international flight with Qatar Airlines and encounter unwarranted and unwanted barriers to travel?  

If and when I choose to travel internationally again, I would certainly not take these potential risks in travelling with Qatar Airlines.  This doesn’t mean other international airlines are perfect when it comes to their policies, procedures and in-person treatment of people with physical disabilities (and let me tell you, their processes vary greatly), but it does mean that the in-person experience comes with a ‘tell us what you need, and we will try our best to accommodate’ approach.

Of further concern to people with physical disability, QANTAS has ordered twenty eight new A321XLR aircraft from Airbus to replace its existing Boeing 737 fleet – with the first plane arriving in June this year. 

However, this model does not seem to address the accessibility requirements of passengers who require access into the cabin and their seats whilst remaining in their wheelchair. Whilst technology to do so now exists, why is this technology not mandatory for new aircraft? Why don’t aeroplane manufacturers make it mandatory for cabin design? Why is the airline industry nearly completely exempt from providing accessible transport when every other transport style around the world (trains, fast trains, very fast trains, ships, council buses, taxis – although not ride-sharing providers) have integrated the technology to do so?

Why is airline travel treated differently? 

Surely if aircraft engineers have the capabilities to design, develop and build a plane that stays in the sky, it can incorporate a cabin design that accommodates wheelchairs.

One of recommendations from The Disability Royal Commission was to review the Disability Discrimination Act. This provides added incentive to enforce better access to airline travel for everyone – including those living with a physical disability.

The Australian Government’s 2024 Aviation White ‘Towards 2050’ skirts around the issues of truly accessible air travel for people with a disability, despite providing an extremely generous timeline of 25 years. One of the goals of the White Paper is to “Improve remedies for damage to wheelchairs and mobility devices.” Surely the best remedy for avoiding damage to wheelchairs is to provide wheelchair accessible cabins and cabin storage for mobility devices.

By 2050, I will be long departed from this mortal coil. To me, it seems inconceivable that it could take up to another 25 years before people with physical disabilities may be graced with discrimination free airline travel.

Optimistically, let us hope it does not take another 25 years before all people with disabilities can be free of discrimination in all aspects of life – whether in employment, education, transportation, or simply in life itself.

Written by PDA’s CEO, Jeremy Muir

With the upcoming Federal Election announced to take place on May 3rd, you now get the opportunity to exercise your democratic right to vote.

Or do you?  

The AEC states that 43% of the national polling booths are fully wheelchair accessible and that a further 48% will have ‘assisted wheelchair access’. (https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-vote-casting-hurdle-these-australians-face/ja0dm5uby)

Voting is your democratic right. You can be fined if you are a registered voter and do not vote.  

So if we all have the right to vote, and it is mandatory, and you can be fined if you do not vote, why aren’t all polling booths and all pre-polling booths fully accessible for every registered voter, or every potential fine recipient? 

Yes, there is the option of lodging a postal vote, but it should not be the only option due to inaccessibility.

Plus, I don’t want to miss out on my other inalienable right of acquiring heartburn from a democracy sausage with my name on it.

No onions please.

People with disability face significant challenges in casting their vote, despite the Australian Electoral Commission’s efforts to make elections more accessible for everyone.

With a paltry 43% of our 7,000 polling places fully wheelchair accessible and just 48% with assisted access, is the AEC failing in its aim to “ensure people with disability are not disadvantaged when participating in the electoral system, and that they have full access to the voting process”? (https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-vote-casting-hurdle-these-australians-face/ja0dm5uby)

Whilst the AEC’s fully accessible polling place numbers will reportedly increase from the 2022 federal election (21.6% to 43%), there will be a decline in assisted access venues (from 62.3% to 48%) – https://www.aec.gov.au/referendums/files/supports-available-for-people-with-disability.pdf.

It is also important that in understanding the true impact of these numbers in the democratic process, demographic and geographic factors (including the locations of these venues vs local voting citizens’ needs for accessibility, and how far people need to travel to access polling stations that meet their needs) must also be considered. 

PDA’s CEO, Jeremy Muir, said “We all have the right to vote. It is mandatory and you can be fined if you do not vote, so shouldn’t all polling booths, all pre-polling booths be fully accessible for every registered voter?”

Venue accessibility is also just one part of our country’s accessible elections conversation. PDA’s WA Director Melanie Hawkes shared her recent difficulties in voting at the WA elections (https://www.pda.org.au/2025/03/13/my-state-election-experience/) – particularly in terms of being able to fill in oversized ballot papers.  

Despite the AEC having a range of initiatives in place to make elections more accessible (such as accessible communication, enrolment and voting options, and polling place accessibility), there needs to be a greater understanding of the myriad of accessibility issues that exist and these can only be truly addressed through involving the disability community in co-design projects.

So how do you think the election process could be better streamlined to ensure that all Australians are provided with the ability to utilise their democratic right and have their say?

What issues have you encountered in being part of a democratic Australia?