International Day for People with Disability 2020

On this International Day for People with Disability (IDPWD2020) please take a moment to reflect on the challenges we’ve faced this year in having to adjust to working and engaging with the world around us from a distance.

I ask this of you because the reality of how profoundly distressing and isolating it is to be disconnected from the world around us is not a new phenomenon. It has been the ongoing experience of millions of Australians living with complex chronic health issues and disabilities. To the healthy and able-bodied, what is a new experience for you has been the standard that people with disabilities have lived with for generations.

Combating inequity and the inherent ableism ingrained in our societal systems starts with recognising the inherent right to pursue our goals, and be supported in that endeavor no matter our ability.

The more effort we apply in community and health settings to engage with and include people living with disabilities in decision-making, the easier it will be to topple the barriers that prevent people living with disabilities, people like me, from finding the same meaning and fulfilment in their lives that many of us often take for granted.

Empowering people with disabilities to re-engage socially, educationally, and economically through systemic reform of often exclusive societal structures will not only improve the lives of millions of Australians, it will also boost social satisfaction and economic participation - creating an opportunity to employ an entirely new workforce, and save our public services billions of dollars annually by supporting individuals to be financially secure.