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Inside the mind of Ali France.

Ali France, a white woman with long brown hair and wearing a light pink jacket, stands in Parliament.

Many with disability would have felt a sense of hope as Labor MP Ali France gave her maiden speech to Parliament last month, her lived experience of disability giving the disability community a dedicated voice in Federal politics.

Powerd Media sat down with Ms France for a discussion about how her worldview drastically changed after she became an amputee, sparking her passion for improving the lives of people with disability.

I was very naive to the obstacles that people with a disability are faced with every day out in the community until I…lost my leg
Ali France

Recalling the moment, the mother of two shares how she was crossing the road with her youngest son, Zac. While she was able to push Zac out of harms way, a car ran into Ms France which resulted in her sustaining a crush injury.

“That was really devastating,” she says. “I spent the first two and a half years in my chair. I still do, but as an above knee amputee, I also walk around a little bit.”

Ms France explains the frustration she felt as she became aware of the barriers faced by the disability community.

“Just getting around to the community, getting a disabled parking space…I found a lot of places that I used to go had stairs. It was just incredibly difficult navigating the world.”

These feelings only intensified when she lost both her former husband, Clive, and eldest son, Henry, to cancer within months of each other.

It was these challenges that inspired Ms France’s assent into the world of politics.

I thought the only way to make change is to be involved in policy and policy development
Ali France

The disability advocate says she is passionate about elevating policies around the cost of childcare, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and disability employment.

“Single mothers with disability should be able to have the same opportunities. I think scrapping the activity test was a huge difference for that because all kids should have the opportunity to learn and get the best start in life.”

Similarly, Ms France claims the NDIS is key to women with significant disability being able to enjoy their motherhood and be able to care for their kids.

Everything that you are doing as a parent…becomes a bit harder if you're a woman with disability. That's why the NDIS is so important to provide support so you can be the mum that you want to be
Ali France

As for employment, Ms France says she can empathise with those being denied work on the basis of their disability.

“After my accident, I really felt the perception from others that I was less capable when actually I was nothing of the sort,” the Labor MP explains. “Everyone should have the opportunity to advance themselves in their communities and have the opportunity to build their own wealth…whatever that means for them.”

For now, Ms France is focused on improving the lives of those in the disability community in anyway she can.

“I'm really excited about having the opportunity to have a voice in any changes that come up in the future.”

Audio of Ali France interview

Video transcript

0:00

Labor. MP early France is passionate about improving the lives of people with disability. Speaking with Powerd media, she explains how she is creating change through her involvement in disability policy, I was very naive to the obstacles that people with a disability are faced with every day out in the community. Until I myself had those obstacles. I lost my leg in 2011

0:31

I was a pedestrian, and a car ran into me and my son. I spent the first two and a half years in my chair, and I still spend a lot of time in my chair, but also, as an above knee amputee, I also walk around a little bit, but my pathway into politics was after I lost my leg. I was just really frustrated with so much of the world outside me, and I thought the only way to make change is to be involved in policy and policy development, and that's how I made my way. I joined the Labor Party and started getting involved. What challenges did you initially face after your accident? Firstly, it was recovering from the trauma. It took at least six months just for my leg to heal, and I was having nursing at home. During that period, I had terrible chronic PTSD and very bad anxiety. I really struggled to get out of the house for two or three years, I wasn't able to use a traditional socket because I had a crush injury, so that was really devastating. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't use the traditional socket. So then I ended up having this groundbreaking surgery for Osseo integration, which has given me the opportunity to walk and stand a bit more. But the other obstacles were just getting around to the community, like getting a disabled parking space at the shops, or so that I can go to the post office, or I can go to the chemist. I found that a lot of places that I used to go had stairs. It was just incredibly difficult navigating the world outside me. It still is. And have you found that there are some barriers, there are, shall we say, specific to women with disability? Yes, I definitely think that there are specific issues for women, particularly in getting back into the workforce. I think that the usual bias that happens for women and men and getting pay parity and getting jobs, you just add to that disability. And as a disabled woman, we know from the statistics, you're less likely than a disabled man to get a job, and that means you're less likely to prosper. It's all compounded, and I think that there are definitely specific issues for women who have experienced domestic violence. It's very difficult as a woman with a disability whose carer is the one perpetrating the violence. You talk a lot about the cost of childcare. How did the cost of childcare affect your family? I wasn't a single mother when my kids were going through childcare, but back then, almost 20 years ago, I had to stop work. We lost money as a family, about $300 a week if I stayed at work and sent my kids to childcare. So yeah, it was a really big issue. It's a huge barrier for women trying to get back to work. But also, I'm pleased that for disabled women, we've scrapped the activity test for our childcare reforms, which means that you don't have to prove that you're working for your kids to be able to access free childcare. I think that many children of single mothers with a disability should be able to have the same opportunities to go to childcare as families that don't have a disability and who are working. So that was an important change that the Albanese Labor government introduced. You talk about parents with a disability, what kind of feedback have you heard from parents with disability? Yeah, well, I've had mums who haven't been able to get a job, whose kids were not able to access the childcare opportunities that other kids were able to access at the age of three or four. And I think scrapping the activity test was a huge difference for that, because all kids should have the opportunity to learn and get the best start in life. I think the NDIS is key to women with significant disability being able to enjoy their motherhood and be able to care for their kids, and they should be able to do that just as much as women without a disability. Everything that you're doing as a parent, cooking, cleaning, bathing, getting them to their sporting activities, getting them to school and back, all of that just becomes a bit harder if you're a woman with a disability, and that's why the NDIS is.

5:00

Important to provide support so you can be the mum that you want to be. Can we talk just briefly about Henry and his journey within the health system? When Henry was going through his treatment, we spent a fortune on medications, and I don't know how many families survive it for people who are going through cancer treatments, but any chronic health condition, we've just bought down the maximum cost of a PBS medication to $25 so I'm really pleased with that change. I think there's room for change in Queensland's health system, in which Henry was an 18 year old kid, and he was in wards with much, much older people that didn't really suit his needs, and he was basically in hospital almost full time for 18 months, had a very huge impact on his mental health. I feel really grateful that we have Medicare. He got the very best treatment from the Royal Brisbane Hospital. I'm really sad that the Queensland Government has decided to delay the new cancer hospital. I think that's going to have a huge impact on patients the current Royal Brisbane hospital. The staff are amazing, but it is at capacity and beyond capacity, and I just think it's unacceptable. The hospital was due to start in June, July, and they've put it off to the never, which I think is a disgrace. So I'd like that to change. I'm pleased that the federal government is putting record funding into health and our hospitals, but I think the Queensland Government has a bit to do in making sure that Queenslanders who end up in a situation in which they're fighting cancer, that they have the hospital that they deserve. Speaking of the Queensland Government, they recently announced their intention to build six segregated education special schools, as it were, what do you make of that?

I personally would love to see every school being accessible to all students, I think the way in which we combat and bring down unemployment in the disability community is making sure that disabled people have access to every workplace, school, higher education facility, and it goes to reducing the stigma, and I think that's incredibly important for the whole disability community. So I myself, would like to see more schools that are accessible to everybody. Having said that, I know that our teachers in our special schools are magnificent people, and I know that a lot of parents are supportive of their kids being in special schools. I'd just like to see more integration between regular schooling and special schools. I hope that into the future, we just adapt our schools to accept everyone in the local community and not exclude people with a disability. How do you plan to ensure people with disability have the same opportunities as the rest of society. Going forward, I'm really passionate about employment for people with a disability. I really struggled to get back to work after my accident, and I really felt the perception from others that I was less capable when actually I was nothing of the sort. I think that employment means that we have the opportunity to prosper. Everyone should have the opportunity to advance themselves in their communities and have the opportunity to build their own wealth, and whatever that means for them. And I think people with a disability have for a long time been effectively blocked from doing that. So employment is a huge one, and I know that the new Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek, is also focused on this and wants to see an increase in people with a disability having better employment opportunities, and I hope that we can somehow move the dial on employment rates for people with a disability, because they've been stagnant for 50 years, which is terrible. So yeah, I'm really excited about having the opportunity to have a voice in any changes that come up into the future.