The ACT Disability Directed Advocacy Caucus (including Advocacy for Inclusion, ACT Down Syndrome & Intellectual Disability, and Women with Disabilities ACT) have made a shared submission to the ACT 2025-26 Budget Consultation process.
We have identified five key priorities for consideration and targeted investment. We have two main urgent priority funding asks to address the disability advocacy funding crisis and funding to enable people with disability to engage with government reforms, support the foundational supports implementation and stocktake, audit and surface capacity to deliver tier one foundational supports.
Disability advocacy in Canberra is in crisis from sustained pressure in our individual and systemic advocacy work due to demography, NDIS changes, engagement with multiple reform processes including in Health, Education and Justice, multiple reform pieces, expanded expectations and the continued fallout from COVID. Our organisations are facing key stresses, staring down the barrel of cuts and imminent redundancies and will not be able to meet Government and community expectations for continued engagement in reform work without appropriate resourcing.
We also seek better government delivery capability on Foundational Supports and funding to deliver government election promises and address key priorities and support gaps. Some of these include the need for more intensive case management, improvements to health services and infrastructure, more client facing Disability Liaison Officers, action on violence prevention, investments in inclusive education and work on transport, urban planning and accessible, affordable housing.
You can also find the submission on the ACT government Budget website (as no. 6) and read other submissions here: https://www.budgetconsultation.act.gov.au/input-received