We have now developed a new ten-year ACT Disability Strategy to create a more welcoming and accessible community and improve the lives of the more than 80,000 Canberrans who identify as people with disability.

This Strategy and the First Action Plan were released on 11 April 2024.

A copy of the ACT Disability Strategy 2024 - 2033 and First Action plan are available in the Document Library on this page.

An Easy English and Plain English version of the ACT Disability Strategy 2024 - 2033 are also available in the Document Library.

This page will be closed soon. Please visit https://www.act.gov.au/open/disability-strategy to find the ACT Disability Strategy and First Action Plan in future.

Banner image description: A collage of six individual photos in a grid format. The photos show people with disability of different genders, ages and ethnicities participating in community activities, including boating, riding a motorcycle, signing using Auslan, being interviewed and working. Images featuring people with disability engaging in the life of community are repeated throughout the website in a range of images and banners.

Due to the website design, alt text is not available for all images. We have attempted to provide image descriptions where this has occurred but please get in touch with OfficeforDisability@act.gov.au if you are not able to access any part of the consultation.

Watch a video from Minister for Disability, Emma Davidson, and members of the Disability Reference Group on what they hope to see in the ACT Disability Strategy.

An open consultation on the ACT Disability Strategy took place from March to July 2022. This consultation was co-designed and led by the ACT Disability Reference Group. The consultation sought your views to shape several key priorities of the new ACT Disability Strategy including:

• creating a blueprint as to how we create an inclusive future
• strengthening and consolidating the ACT's commitment to Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-31
• supporting the priorities of the national strategy whilst incorporating a local viewpoint which supports Canberran’s with disability plus the broader community
• building on the achievements of previous ACT disability commitments.

We held conversations online, face-to-face and directly with stakeholders. Individuals and organisations were able to provide submissions, respond to a survey and use our Kitchen Table Conversation Kit to have and document a discussion.

We are currently reviewing what we have heard during the consultation period and developing the 10-year ACT Disabililty Strategy.

You can contact us at OfficeforDisability@act.gov.au.

In 2022 we consulted with the community to ask ‘what is a good life’ for people with disability as we develop the ACT Disability Strategy. What we heard has now been captured in a listening report and you can read it here.

We are continuing to work closely with the ACT Disability Reference Group to guide the creation of the 10-year ACT Disability Strategy and first 4-year Action Plan which will launch late in 2023.

We’ve released a consultation snapshot on what we have heard during the consultation period. We have also released an Easy English version of this snapshot.

The community’s feedback and ideas will inform the creation of the ACT Disability Strategy and first 4-year Action Plan. The full Consultation Report will be available in January 2023.

Following the consultation report, we will develop the 10-year ACT Disability Strategy and the first 4-year Action Plan that will create opportunities and commitments for a more inclusive and accessible community.

The Strategy and Action Plan will be considered by Government and presented to the ACT Legislative Assembly in late 2023 for endorsement and action.

The above infographics provide a data picture that outlines the experience of people with disability in the ACT. It is informed by both the 2016 National Census, 2018 Survey of Disability Ageing and Carers as well as the yet to be published 2021 Regional Wellbeing Survey.

The paper titled ACT Disability Policy- where we have been and where we are going describes the journey of disability policy over the past 10 years in the ACT.

The Disability Reference Group 2020 submission to Australia’s Disability Strategy provides the submission made to the development of Australia’s Disability Strategy based on consultation with community.

The Voice of People with Disability outlines the importance of people with disability contributing to the shaping of policy, actions and the Strategy and how we are doing that in the ACT.

You can read these documents via the links above or through our documents library on the right hand side of the page.

Image description #1: Graphic titled 'A picture of disability in the ACT' at the top in black text on a light purple background. It includes three sections. The first says 'In the ACT there are 80,000 people with disability' and 'This is 19.4% of the ACT population, which is around 1 in 5 people' in black text, there are five figures and a line accompanying the text; four are in dark purple and one is in lighter purple. In the second, there are specific statistics alongside graphic illustrations of employment, caring, community participation and volunteering; there is black text saying 'Many people with disability work, volunteer and take part in the community'. In the third section, there is black text saying 'Age breakdown' and a pie chart with seven segments depicting the different ages raging from 0 to 65+.

Image description #2: Graphic titled 'A picture of disability in the ACT' and 'Despite this positive contribution, people with disability are negatively impacted by community attitudes' at the top in black text on a light purple background. It includes three sections. The first says '59.6% of people with disability are economically disadvantaged', 'the average income of a person with disability is $700 a fortnight, compared to $1343 a fortnight for people without disability' in black text with a graphic illustration of coins in blue. The second says 'When asked their satisifcation with feeling a part of community peoiple with disability have reported an average of 5.1 out of 10 on the wellbeing index' in black text, there is also a graphic illustration of people standing together in purple. In the third, there are specific statistics related to health, financial wellbeing and psychological distress for people with disability and accompanying illustrations.

Your views, experiences and insights will help inform the development of the ACT Disability Strategy.

The Strategy will support the ACT’s commitments under the Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031 launched in Canberra by the Australian Government on 3 December 2021. Australia’s Disability Strategy will drive change over the next decade to uphold the rights, inclusion and participation of people with disability in all areas of Australian life.

Developing this Strategy will take some time, but we will keep you informed along the way and share with you what we have heard and ask you if you think it sounds right.

If you would you like information in another format, please contact the team via OfficeforDisability@act.gov.au.

If you would like to speak to someone over the phone in another language, call TIS National on 131 450 for a free interpreting service. Let them know you want to speak to the ACT Office of Disability and your chosen language and they will connect you.

If you are deaf and/or find it hard hearing or speaking with people who use a phone, get in touch with the National Relay Service and ask for 02 6207 1086.