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Feature photo credit: Noah Secomb
On the evening of Tuesday 25th March, the Federal Budget, the fourth of this current Government, will be handed down. So what will it mean for the disability community and how it will affect our day-to-day lives?
Advocacy group, People with Disability Australia, has issued a call to Government to implement recommended reforms ensuring Australians with disability can lead fulfilling lives in an inclusive and equitable way.
PWDA urged the Government to invest in “genuine codesign, rather than tokenistic consultation.”
The organisation’s Deputy CEO, Megan Spindler-Smith, says while the government’s focus will be on numbers and surpluses, it’s important to recognise that behind every line item are real people living with disability.
A positive Budget will focus on responsible social investment, with long term considerations, not short-term savings that push many people with disability deeper into poverty and crisis.
Megan Spindler-Smith
Plumtree is a not-for-profit early childhood development organisation, its CEO Sylvana Mahmic, is mother of someone with disability and is hopeful the budget will increase investments into foundational support.
“Too many families who don’t qualify for the NDIS are left without access to the help they need,” she says.
Ms Mahmic argues that a properly funded system of early support would ensure all children get the right interventions at the right time, reducing long-term costs and improving outcomes for families.
The budget must include funding for community-based foundational supports. We need targeted investment in early supports outside the NDIS to ensure that children don’t fall through the cracks.
Sylvana Mahmic
According to Children and Young People with Disability Australia, more than 80% of children with disability miss out on the vital supports they require.
On top of this, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says young people with disability, their families and caregivers face the greatest challenges of the cost-of-living crisis.
People with Disability Australia’s, Megan Spindler-Smith, says the government must use this budget to fund real change so people with disability are safe, supported and fully included:
"This Budget and all party’s responses are the final test before the Federal Election on their commitment to people with disability. Will it deliver the meaningful investments our community needs—or will it put the bottom line ahead of people’s lives?”.
Powerd Media has a place inside the budget lock-up and will be there to bring news and reactions after Chancellor Jim Chalmers addresses the nation at 7.30 pm on Tuesday.