Choice and dignity
Respect each person’s autonomy, privacy, communication preferences and right to make choices.
Inclusion, access & rights
Support should work for you—not the other way around.
Disability can shape how someone experiences distress and reaches support. Information and services should respect each person’s choices and remove barriers, whether those barriers are physical, communication-related, sensory, social or systemic.
Informed by Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031: 2024 update, the Australian Government’s national disability policy framework. Read the Strategy
Policy and law are not the same.
Australia’s Disability Strategy is a national policy framework and shared government commitment.
It is not itself an Act of Parliament and is not legal advice.
A rights-based approach
What the Strategy asks us to keep in view
The Strategy draws on the social model of disability: barriers in attitudes, environments, services and systems can disable people. Inclusion means changing those barriers, not expecting each person to adapt alone.
Access and adjustments
Provide information and support in accessible ways and consider reasonable adjustments for individual needs.
Participation and safety
Include people with disability in decisions that affect them and take their safety concerns seriously.
Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031: 2024 update, PDF pp. 13–15, 23, 68, 74.
International disability rights
From Convention to commitment
UN DESA explains the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the work of advancing inclusion and rights.
Advancing the inclusion and rights of persons with disabilities: From Convention to commitment
Video from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). Watch on YouTube
A whole-of-life approach
The Strategy’s seven outcome areas
The Strategy treats these areas as connected. Mental and physical health, safety, access to support and participation in community life can affect one another.
Employment & financial security
Fair opportunities, income and choice about the future.
Inclusive homes & communities
Accessible housing, places, transport and community life.
Safety, rights & justice
Rights upheld, discrimination addressed and people safe.
Personal & community support
Supports that help people live independently and participate.
Education & learning
Access to education, training and lifelong learning.
Health & wellbeing
Accessible physical and mental-health care throughout life.
Community attitudes
Respect, inclusion and equal participation in society.
Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031: 2024 update, PDF pp. 14, 40–43.
People are not one-size-fits-all
Inclusion must be intersectional
The Strategy explains that disability intersects with race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, culture, language, age, religion, class and where someone lives. These experiences can overlap and compound barriers; people within any group are not all the same.
The Strategy specifically names Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTIQA+ people, women, culturally and linguistically diverse people, and people in rural or remote areas. It notes that First Nations people with disability can face a choice between services that meet cultural needs and services that understand disability. Support should not make people choose between them.
Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031: 2024 update, PDF pp. 28, 46, 51.
This website uses one NSW Aboriginal Affairs artwork with the artist’s attribution and permission; it does not represent every Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Nation or community. Cultural content and local support information should be developed with the relevant community.
Making support easier to reach
What accessible support can look like
The Strategy highlights physical, sensory, cognitive, psychosocial and communication access—not just ramps or buildings.
- Offer clear, plain-language information, with headings and links that explain where they lead.
- Make pages work with a keyboard, screen reader, browser zoom and different devices; use readable contrast and visible focus.
- Provide captions and transcripts for video, and do not make audio or colour the only way to receive important information.
- Offer more than one way to seek support where possible, and explain what happens when someone contacts a service.
- Respect a person’s chosen communication method, support person, identity and pace; ask what would help instead of assuming.
- Involve people with disability—including people with lived experience—in designing and checking information and services.
Informed by Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031: 2024 update, PDF pp. 22–24, 40–43, 59, 74.
Understanding the legal framework
Key laws, standards and rights instruments
The Strategy sits alongside laws made by different governments and international human-rights instruments. The following summaries reflect how the 2024 update describes them; check the current official text and your state or territory for details.
Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth)
The Strategy says the Act makes disability discrimination unlawful in a broad range of public life, including services, facilities, education, employment and access to premises. It discusses direct and indirect discrimination and reasonable adjustments. The Act has exceptions and specific legal tests; this page is not a complete statement of the law.
Strategy, PDF pp. 26, 68.
Disability standards made under the DDA
The Strategy names the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002, Disability (Access to Premises—Buildings) Standards 2010, and Disability Standards for Education 2005. Each addresses a specific area of access and opportunity; they are not a single general-purpose digital-accessibility code.
Strategy, PDF p. 69. See the Federal Register of Legislation for current instruments.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Commonwealth)
The Strategy lists this Act and the NDIS Rules as part of the framework for disability supports. NDIS eligibility and funded supports are distinct from general mental-health care and crisis response; check official NDIS information for individual circumstances.
Strategy, PDF p. 73.
Disability Services and Inclusion Act 2023 (Commonwealth)
The 2024 update describes this as a framework for funding and regulating Commonwealth disability services, with a focus on human rights, service quality and safety. It is not a substitute for checking which service or program applies.
Strategy, PDF p. 12.
State and territory laws
Anti-discrimination, disability-services and inclusion laws vary by jurisdiction. The Strategy cites Tasmania’s Disability Rights, Inclusion and Safeguarding Act 2024 as a state-specific example—not a national law. Check the relevant government and legislation register for current laws where you live.
Strategy, PDF pp. 12, 73–74.
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Australia ratified this international human-rights treaty in 2008. It is not an Australian Act; the Strategy connects it with Australia’s international commitments and disability-rights reporting.
Strategy, PDF pp. 13, 68, 73.
The Strategy also references other international rights instruments, including conventions on children’s, women’s and racial equality rights, and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (PDF p. 73).
Clear limits
Information, not legal or clinical advice
This page is a plain-language summary of a national strategy. It does not determine anyone’s legal rights, disability or NDIS eligibility, or the right service for an individual. Laws, standards and available supports may differ by jurisdiction and change over time.
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