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Disability advocates warn that NDIS reforms could dismantle vital peer support networks—particularly for CALD communities—just when they are needed most.

Disability advocates nationwide have called on the Federal Government and the National Disability Insurance Agency to immediately halt and review pricing decisions that threaten essential supports and participant choice.

As the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) continues implementing widespread changes across Australia particular concerns have been raised about the impact on culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.

Dr Qian Fang, a University of South Australia expert in Inclusive Disability Support, emphasises that people with disabilities from CALD backgrounds should be a priority cohort in the government's NDIS reforms.

"When it was launched, it had a goal to have participants from CALD backgrounds," Dr Fang reflects. "Governments need to do more to make the NDIS and the disability system more accessible for people from CALD backgrounds."

Peer support serves as a vital lifeline for participants, helping them gain valuable knowledge to better navigate and utilise disability services. For CALD communities, these services are particularly crucial as cultural and language barriers often impede access to support.

New Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd gave one of his first speeches at the National Centre for Intellectual Disability Health’s Sydney conference yesterday. Modestly describing himself as nothing more than a ‘GP to the nation’, Kidd pointed out how he’d shared coffee in the mornings working next door to the Centre at UNSW.

One part of his message was vital, and should significantly reassure many wondering about the shift of Disability into the Health portfolio. Kidd stressed that as far as he was concerned, nobody should see this as a return to the “medical model of disability”.

As if to prove this, Kidd then sat through a lengthy session devoted to culturally safe and inclusive approaches to intellectual disability health which foregrounded the experiences of individual First Nation’s people.

We’ll be bringing you a detailed report on the conference next Monday.

Nic Stuart, editor [email protected]