News
Australian politician and disability advocate Jordan Steele-John has contributed to several significant changes within the Australian political landscape during his time as the West Australian Senator for the Greens Party, from climate change to Medicare to the NDIS.
He also lives with cerebral palsy, a physical disability which effects movement.
Powerd Media sat down with the well-established politician to discuss how his upbringing shaped his passion for implementing social and political change.
Growing up, the Greens Senator says his family always made sure he knew he was loved and valued.
If ever there was a thought in my mind that I was broken or lesser, they'd support me to…move from a space of internalised ableism to one of confidence in my identity and my sense of self.
Jordan Steele-John
That doesn’t mean Mr Steele-John didn’t experience challenges obtaining funds to support his needs.
“Growing up in the service system in West Australia where you constantly had to justify your basic needs…it always felt like you were coming up against a system that focused on gatekeeping of resources rather than flagging unmet needs.”
The Senator recalls his earliest memory of listening to his mum on the phone to Centrelink.
“That was really tough because it often put you in a space where…you had to go to somebody and almost beg for the basics, and that's not right,” he says.
Born in the UK, the West Australian based politician says it was these foundational experiences that formed his desire to take an active approach to create change for the disability community.
“I knew from very early that these systems were broken,” he claims. “I find myself now in the space that either can fix them or break them more significantly.”
In 2017, Mr Steele-John became the youngest Senator in the history of Australian politics as well as the first person with a physical disability to be elected at the ripe age of 23. As a result of his position, Parliament House was renovated to include a fully accessible office for Mr Steele-John and a wheelchair accessible space within the Parliamentary Chamber.
It took about eight months to build an office that was accessible to me. It took a bit to build a single space in the parliamentary chamber that I could roll in…nearly 10 years since then, a lot still remains to be made better for the entire institution and the public.
Jordan Steele-John
Career wise, Senator Steele-John was instrumental to the establishment of the Disability Royal Commission and regularly brings attention to everyday issues faced by the disability community, according to his website.
When asked for his thoughts on the Federal Government’s recent announcement of Australia’s first National Climate Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Plan, the disability advocate called for the major parties to heed the Greens warnings regarding climate action.
“Labor, and the Liberals need to put people before the profits of some of these big companies,” Mr Steele-John says. “We cannot keep opening new coal gas facilities and we must revoke approvals of some of these latest projects that should never have been approved in the first place.”
The Senator argues that climate change is a specific threat to the disability community.
We will all continue to live through climate…in a context where our emergency service systems so often let us down, so often think of us last and therefore put us at higher risk.
Jordan Steele-John
He went on to claim that the Australian government needs to improve the collaboration process with the disability community, specifically regarding the NDIS and the Thriving Kids initiative.
There should be services and supports that are in place beyond the NDIS, but they must actually meet community need rather than political expediency.
Jordan Steele-John
Speaking about Thriving Kids, the WA Senator believes the government, states and territories need to provide more information and consultation on the initiative before its July 2026 rollout.
“We see an announcement from the government that was really strong on the community without the necessary consultation or clarification,” Senator Steele-John says. “Many disabled people are sharing with me that they are deeply frustrated that the consultation that they will feel they're promised is not being delivered to.”
As for now, the Greens Senator remains both passionate and
dedicated to elevating the rights of people with disability to the best of his
ability.
When I think about getting to work and fighting, the energy that I'll draw on is a combination of my experiences and the stories people have shared with me. That's what fires me up and gives me energy to fight for people.
Jordan Steele-John