Photo: SRC and SUPRA Disabilities Officers at the recent NUS Disabilities Conference at the University of Western Sydney. From left to right: Khanh Tran, Vince Tafea, Victor Zhang, Gemma Lucy Smart, Remy Lebreton.
2024 has been a year of profound contradictions in disability rights and inclusion in Australia. We’ve witnessed concerning policy shifts: the NDIS reforms that advocates warn could limit vital supports, a ‘lacklustre’ government response to the Disability Royal Commission’s recommendations, and a Universities Accord that problematically excludes people with ‘profound disabilities’ from its participation targets.
Yet amidst these challenges, our disability community at the University of Sydney has grown more active and organised. Through SUPRA’s Disability and Inclusion Network, we’ve created spaces for collective advocacy and action. Our Disability Inclusion Week centered diverse voices through events like the Disability and Your Rental Rights workshop and the Mad, Queer, Crip Panel, addressing intersectional experiences often overlooked in mainstream discourse. The launch of our Disabilities Community Room in Manning House marked a significant milestone, establishing a dedicated hub for disabled students to gather, organise, and plan advocacy initiatives, as well as a place for rest and respite.
This year has reinforced what we’ve always known: community building and collective organising are essential tools for achieving systemic change. As both SUPRA and CAPA Disabilities Officer, I’ve seen firsthand how shared experiences and collective advocacy can drive institutional transformation.
Looking ahead, our advocacy priorities are clear. We’re pushing for a consistent approach to Academic (Access) Plans at a national level, ensuring that higher degree research candidates and academics with disabilities have the support they need to succeed. We’re demanding meaningful consultation that genuinely engages lived experience, reform of progress evaluation meeting settings for HDRs at the University, and advocating for the Labor government to remove the tax burden on RTP scholarships for part-time students. For coursework students, we’re working with the University to implement Universal Design for Learning principles to make education accessible for all.
This year the theme of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, ‘Amplifying the Leadership of Persons with Disabilities for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future’, reminds us to acknowledge both our challenges and our achievements in organising for change. While policy setbacks are significant, our community’s continued activism—demonstrated through Welcome Week engagement, rebuilt connections through CAPA, and ongoing advocacy work—shows that collective action is powerful. We may face an uncertain policy landscape, but our commitment to disability justice, informed by lived experience and strengthened through community organising, remains absolute.
The coming year will require sustained advocacy as we continue pushing for systemic change. But today, we recognize our community’s achievements in creating inclusive spaces and our shared commitment to disability justice. Together, we’re not just responding to challenges—we’re actively working to create the inclusive university environment we deserve.
Gemma Lucy Smart
SUPRA Disabilities Officer
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