This monthly newsletter will provide updates on the issues that matter the most to our community and the work that we are doing to create positive change.
We hope that you enjoy this new format and find it valuable and interesting.
If you are a PDA Member and didn’t receive this email, please email promotion@pda.org.au and we’ll make sure that it hits your inbox.
If you’re not yet a PDA member and want to sign up for our FREE MEMBERSHIP, please head across to www.pda.org.au/membership/ to become part of our community and to be kept in the loop around what we’re doing.
With the House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability having commenced an inquiry in regards to this subject, we are putting together responses from our members and the wider disability community to support our submission.
If you have a story or concerns to share around the accessibility and affordability of medical specialists, we encourage you to get in touch with us by emailing team@pda.org.au or by leaving a comment below.
Together let’s work towards positive change.
PDA recently made a submission to the QLD Government’s Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) as part of the review of the Disability Parking Permit Scheme.
You can read this by going to:
With so many people asking “what does this actually mean for me?”, we broke it all down in a practical, easy-to-understand way – cutting through the noise and focusing on what really matters.
Presented by PDA CEO Suzanne Gearing and PDA President Paul Williamson, the session also included live Q&A, shared community concerns, and provided valuable feedback to help strengthen our advocacy to government and media.
The recording is now live on our YouTube channel:
Take a look to see how the Budget may impact you.
And while you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe – it’s free and you’ll be the first to know when new webinar recordings are released.
To help make sense of it all, we’re hosting a FREE WEBINAR tomorrow, Thursday May 14 at 4:30pm AEST:
Presented by PDA CEO Suzanne Gearing and PDA President Paul Williamson, this practical and easy-to-understand session will break down the key Budget measures and explain what they could mean for you.
We’ll cut through the complexity so you don’t have to.
Join us, ask questions, share your concerns, and help shape the message we take to government and the media.
FREE for PDA Members and Friends.
We look forward to having you with us.
To register, please go to:
Presented by PDA’s CEO, Suzanne Gearing, and PDA President, Paul Williamson, this webinar will work through the Budget so you don’t have to.
Join us for a fast, practical webinar where we cut through the headlines, unpack the key measures, and spotlight the areas where the detail is still vague or missing.
Why attend?
Because the Budget shouldn’t be something you have to decode on your own.
We’ll help you understand what’s been announced, what’s still unclear, and how the Budget could affect you personally.
Just as importantly, we want to hear from you. We’ll gather your views, reactions, and concerns to help shape our message to government and the media.
Register by going to:
There are a lot of benefits in becoming a PDA member.
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.
So, if you haven’t signed up for FREE PDA MEMBERSHIP yet, what’s stopping you?
Go to
Join today.
You’ll be glad that you did.
Bond University (in conjunction with Professor Michelle McLean -Editor-in-Chief, Ms Elmarie Stander, Assistant Professor Jaclyn Szkwara, Associate Professor Allan Stirling, Dr Priya Iyer, Associate Professor Tanisha Jowsey, Dr Thomas Titus and PDA’s Ambassador, Dinesh Palipana) has had an invaluable resource published to support and inform those affected by spinal cord injury.
Stemming from an initial idea by Dinesh Palipana and Thomas Titus to create ‘something’ that would be useful to everyone affected by and involved with spinal cord injury, this publication contains information, resources, research and most importantly, personal, lived experiences, in one place.
The direct link to the book is:
www.bond.studium.pub/life-well-lived-with-spinal-cord-injuries
The Queensland Government’s Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) is undertaking a review of the Disability Parking Permit Scheme to identify opportunities to improve safe access to community facilities and services.
TMR administers the Australian Disability Parking Permit Scheme (the Scheme) and is conducting a review of the Scheme to inform further changes and guide necessary improvements.
The goals of this review are to:
The review is considering topics such as the permit application process, eligibility criteria, and options to strengthen compliance and enforcement.
As part of this project, people utilising the Disability Parking Permit Scheme are invited to participate in an online survey.
You can find this by going to:
The survey does not automatically collect personal details (such as your name and email address) unless you provide it yourself.
This survey will close on 22 May 2026.
Feedback from this survey will ensure the scheme continues to assist people with a disability to access community facilities and services.
We understand just how overwhelming and stressful this period is for people with disabilities. Seeing the issue constantly highlighted in the news and across social media can make it feel even more intense and isolating.
At Physical Disability Australia we are acutely aware that this can be traumatizing, so we are being careful to ensure that we keep you updated with the facts, while we spend our energy being as involved as we possibly can in the process, keeping abreast of the facts and sharing them as soon as we can, making sure your voices are heard, and protecting your rights. At the moment it is like having a shadow in your room you can’t quite identify – every fibre in your body feels like you are being threatened, but you don’t know what that threat looks like, what it is capable of doing, or what you need to do to banish it. It may be as simple as moonlight making you aware of a chair that needs to be moved so you don’t fall over it, or as complex as a league of ogres that are just waiting for you to make the wrong move. In this particular circumstance it will be something in between.
Our goal is to learn about this threat, find what parts are going to benefit you and what parts pose a risk. Then we will ensure you are aware of both: give you the tools the use the benefits, and gather your stories as our weapon to overcome the risks. Through this, we will be walking with you – not in front of you so that you can’t see where you are going, not behind you where it is safer, but beside you, with roadmap in hand, to guide you through it.
The journey begins. This is the speech from Minister Butler [Minister Butler speech at the National Press Club – 22 April 2026 | Health, Disability and Ageing Ministers | Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing] and a fact sheet [Securing the NDIS for future generations | Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing].
PDA will be meeting with the Minister in two weeks to learn about the rollout plan, and we will be sharing those details with you. in the interim, we will shortly have a section on our website for you to share your thoughts so that we can ensure you are heard. The link will be posted here as soon as it is up.
Kind Regards,
Suzanne Gearing
CEO
1800 732 674
