Advocates from the disability community are urging the Prime Minister to “not waste time” as the Albanese government gears up for its second term in parliament. But they say action is now needed to back up the rhetoric that dominated the recent election campaign.

People with Disability Australia President Trinity Ford says with the government’s new sweeping majority in the House of Representatives and the Greens’ “power to control the Senate,” she is “cautiously hopeful” there will be positive action.

Ford says Mark Butler and Jenny McAllister are both welcome additions to the NDIS portfolio and could be “well placed to build trust and relationships.” “They’ve been fairly good on the rhetoric side of things, so I’m cautiously hopeful, but I’m also nervous about this transition”, Ford said.

“We understand that there are a bunch of changes to the NDIS that we’ve been calling for, and there are changes the government is keen to make to make the scheme fit for purpose. “Doing that requires proper codesign and sharing of power with people with disability.”

CEO of the Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) El Gibbs says the government’s majority in parliament will make the future direction of the sector “interesting.” “It’s good having a senior Minister responsible for foundational supports and settling deals with the states”, Gibbs said.

She adds, however, that she has “mixed feelings about the NDIS working into the Health Services portfolio,” said Gibbs. Gibbs said moves to tighten NDIS supports did not take into consideration the lived experience of not just People with Disability but society at large.

With the election of Ali France in the seat of Dickson and the parliament now comprising two people with physical disabilities, Gibbs says now is the time for action.

“We have seats at the table that we have never had before.”

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Both advocates say the government’s vision of the future direction of the sector is likely to be revealed by the way it treats specific issues.

As far as People with Disability Australia is concerned, Ford says she wants to ensure ‘choice and control’ remain at the centre of disability policy and continued access to the appeals process.

“There’s a generations-long-standing history of policy development being one-sided.” “The disability rights movement has inherited this and fought to improve it.

Ford says foundational supports were crucial to supporting people with disability, especially those not on the NDIS or “who are being kicked off”.

“There’s nowhere for them to land and that creates a huge burden on families.” Ford said the states were increasingly pressured to deal with the aftermath, despite being unequipped to deal with disability.

“It’s where we see people with disability taking up hospital beds, being picked up by the police because they don’t have their needs met and are distressed. “It’s where we see people flunking out in schools and putting undue strain on teachers to meet the needs of students”.

“There’s a generations-long-standing history of policy development being one-sided”, Ford said. “The disability rights movement has inherited this and fought to improve it. “We’ve got our first disabled woman in parliament in Ali France”.

Gibbs says she doesn’t “live my life in a box”. She says because people with disability are now being faced with debts for things that were free before, “it’s causing a huge amount of harm and consequences. “The idea that we can chop stuff in the middle is ridiculous.”

Gibbs criticises the Treasury’s approach to the NDIS, asserting claims the program is unsustainable are neither “true nor helpful”.

“The more they try to make a boundary, the more expensive things are going to get. “There’s a big, wide world outside the NDIS, and it’s important to talk to people with disabilities outside the NDIS about foundational support,” Gibbs says.

Gibbs leaves a subtle warning to the government. “The Prime Minister said very clearly in the election campaign that he wasn’t going to leave anyone behind. We’re going to hold them to account.”