A new Commonwealth Individual Disability Advocacy Program OCTOBER 2 2026
Hardwick House Unit 1, 6 Phipps Close Deakin, ACT 2600
neda.org.au
1
2
Acknowledgement of Country
NEDA acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands across Australia. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and acknowledge their long history of advocacy and self-determination. These efforts continue to inspire and guide our work for equity and justice.
About NEDA
National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) is a Disability Representative Organisation, advocating federally for the rights of people with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and their families and kin.
NEDA is a founding member of Disabled People’s Organisations Australia (DPOA).
Context
It is important to note that people with disability from CALD backgrounds are not a homogenous group. They include people with varied cultural identities, migration pathways, languages, and family and community structures. Various factors shape how individuals seek, access or are referred to supports, and the unique barriers they face in doing so.
Research shows that the intersectional barriers experienced do not arise simply from cultural or linguistic difference alone, but from how systems are shaped by structural barriers, complex migration pathways, and Australian institutional norms that define who is regarded as “normal”, “legitimate” or even “eligible to be included.”
From this perspective, the challenges faced by people with disability from CALD backgrounds within social services, systems are complex and intersectional.
Introduction
The Commonwealth Government’s response to the recommendations of the Disability Royal Commission acknowledges the crucial role that individual disability advocacy plays
in supporting people with disability navigate the inaccessible processes and systems embedded in Australian society. The consultation paper further acknowledges its role in working to reduce the risk of abuse, violence, exploitation and harm to people with disability, and build capacity to make choices and decisions about their lives.
NEDA welcomes the commitment to the establishment of a new individual disability advocacy program, centring the rights, needs and choices of people with disability, and to build and improve on programs of the past.
For CALD people with disability, the barriers inherent to equitable engagement with Australian administrative systems are compounded and complicated not only by language and cultural barriers, but also through digital exclusion, racism, stigma, and socioeconomic disadvantage.
The Commonwealth’s new Individual Disability Advocacy program must be designed with consideration of these intersectional disadvantages impacting people of disability from CALD backgrounds and address the systemic issues, biases and barriers which led to access gaps in the National Disability Advocacy Program.
Prior CALD engagement with NDAP
Government and academic publications have well documented the systemic low engagement from Australia’s various CALD communities within the organisations previously funded to deliver the National Disability Advocacy Program.
Acknowledged barriers in this area include the previously mentioned language and communication issues, a lack of culturally responsive, trauma-informed services but more crucially, an extremely limited awareness within their communities of the existence of individual advocacy services, supports and their eligibility to access them.
It could be argued that these specific intersectional challenges and inequities experienced by people with disability from CALD backgrounds should actually increase the demand for Individual Advocacy support from these cohorts, however the comparatively low numbers of people with disability from CALD backgrounds accessing mainstream individual advocacy and advocacy services rather highlights that the barriers to participation, inclusion and access exist not only within the broader government systems, but also in the very programs and organisations designed to address and challenge those barriers.
Especially within communities where different members of the same cultural or language group includes people in Australia under different migration pathways and visa conditions, and eligibility for support would differ, word of mouth and community spread information can often include misinformation and confusion around who can access what.
The widespread lack of awareness of access to Individual Disability Advocacy was not confined to the potential clients of the program, but extended beyond this to the organisations, charities and NGOs whose core mission was to support CALD communities within Australia, leaving referral pathways underdeveloped and limiting opportunities for people with disability from CALD backgrounds to be connected with advocacy services. High staff turnover within the sector is an additional factor inhibiting these natural pathways.
Conversely, anecdotal reporting from NEDA member organisations (both funded and unfunded by NDAP) suggest that demand for services and support has risen significantly, indicating that where their cultural identities and needs were at the forefront of the offered support, engagement and subsequent outcomes were significantly more successful.
The key difference in this space appears to have been the overt and direct communication of eligibility, such as the inclusion of terms that signal CALD-specific support like “multicultural” in an organisation’s name. Targeted advocacy organisations for people from CALD backgrounds were more readily accessed because community members perceived that this service was for them, in contrast to mainstream options that did not clearly communicate this. Where language and literacy are already barriers, the ability to easily assume or confirm eligibility makes a significant difference.
The New Individual Disability Advocacy Program
The findings of the Disability Royal Commission found that while the role of Individual Disability Advocacy plays a key role ensuring that people with disability can equitably participate in society and make choices about issues that affect their own lives, the existing NDAP was no longer adequately responding to the changing and challenging needs of individuals in need of individual advocacy support. Development of a new Individual Disability Advocacy Program will allow for a revision and rescoping of what disability advocacy should look like for the diverse needs and abilities of Australia going forward.
In addition to embedding principles of co-design, co-determination and trauma informed practice, the program must be designed, resourced and implemented to centre the choices and needs of people with disability, while ensuring intersectional identities do not become further synonymous with increased marginalisation.
Service Delivery Stream
Targeted Specialist Services
Government funded First Nations specific Advocacy services have shown to have been a successful element of NDAP to date. While First Nations people’s engagement with mainstream services had been consistently on the lower side, it was noted that when specific targeted programs and organisations were put in place to support in a culturally safe and appropriate way, engagement and more importantly outcomes improved significantly.
This is consistent with what NEDA has heard from our members, however access to such targeted services is limited due to a minimal number of these specific services currently funded under NDAP. The funded services do not provide service throughout Australia, leaving many individuals without this choice.
The new program should ensure that sufficient targeted services are funded to ensure that this choice is available to disability from CALD backgrounds across Australia regardless of location of residence.
Targeted specialist Roles
Under NDAP, mainstream advocacy services had been funded to employ specialist advocates within their organisations to provide culturally safe and trauma informed Individual Advocacy. It is NEDA’s understanding that results for this were often mixed, and hampered by a lack of prior engagement, networks, rapport or connection with community referral pathways.
In addition, funding was often limited to one or two specialist roles per organisation, which constrained the ability to respond to diverse cultural, linguistic, gender and religious preferences among clients. Even where an advocate was from a CALD background themselves, they may not have aligned with the specific cultural or linguistic needs of all clients. Ensuring diversity within staffing; and training all advocates to provide culturally safe and responsive support, is essential to avoid over-reliance on individual staff. When
specialist positions are the sole holders of this knowledge, the departure of a single staff member can result in a significant and often irreplaceable loss of capability within the service.
Community Partnerships
Under NDAP, advocacy organisations had generally been funded individually, with all partnerships, networking and collaboration left to these individual organisations to initiate, develop and maintain individually.
This cannot be the format of the new program. Siloed support centred around a single funded organisation creates spaces for the most vulnerable to all through service gaps and remain disconnected from the supports they need.
Funding for the provision of Individual Disability Advocacy services must include the development and creation of operational partnerships and strong networks with organisations across diverse sectors, including those supporting people who identify as CALD, LGBTIQA+, First Nations, women and people experiencing DV. Support should be prioritised to reflect the intersectional identities of our disability community.
Collaborative partnerships between disability advocacy organisations and community organisations, charities, NGOs and social enterprises with established rapport and trust from their clients would ensure a strengthened pathway for individuals to access information and support.
A vital consideration for this is to acknowledge the considerable unpaid advocacy work that many community organisations already complete in support of their clients, however this frequently risks unsafe practices and burnout without appropriate resourcing and training, and in extreme cases can lead to the abuse or exploitation of individuals already vulnerable or at risk.
Advocates outposted permanently within partner organisations would provide for flexibility and safety, and the potential for culturally safe warm referral processes and cross sector capacity building for a stronger community.
National Advocacy Support Helpline
The helpline performs an important function in providing access to flexible and accessible advocacy services. An expansion of the helpline to include options for video calls or other flexible methods of communication would be beneficial both as cultural and linguistic support, noting that a reliance on watching facial expressions, lips and body language are not uncommon either within a cultural or a disability context.
Scope of support
Under NDAP, eligibility for advocacy support is restricted to citizens and permanent residents (with some exceptions). With a growing proportion of individuals living, working and raising families Australia on non-permanent visas, there is a growing subset of data that is not accounted for in this space.
Individuals and their families under these visa categories are limited in the support available to them and lack access to accurate and timely information for themselves and their families in the advent of a disability diagnosis whilst based in Australia.
Many still interact with, engage with and are required to navigate unfamiliar systems for treatments, education, and social or community services with little or no support either in relation to options available to them, or in understanding how to engage with systems they must use despite being ineligible for most formal supports.
Expanding the eligibility for assistance through the helpline to include individuals and their families in the instance of a diagnosis of a disability whilst living in Australia would create a more responsive system by ensuring that families who are ineligible for mainstream supports can still obtain essential information and assistance when a disability is identified.
Sector Strengthening Stream
Advocate Training
The current advocacy workforce is drawn from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including former disability support workers, nurses, social workers and lawyers. While this
diversity brings valuable perspectives and lived experience, there is no nationally recognised qualification or minimum competency standard for advocates.
As a result, core skills, practice approaches and levels of cultural and trauma-informed capability vary considerably across the sector.
Establishing an accredited training program for all new advocates should be considered to mitigate the risks associated with inconsistent and potentially unsafe service delivery.
Such training should include foundational modules in trauma-informed practice and dedicated content on working safely and effectively with priority groups, including First Nations, women, CALD communities and LGBTIQA+ people.
NEDA stresses that staff training and communication obligations must be mandatory and delivered within shortened timeframes, noting that if left unaddressed, these issues remain a persistent barrier to safe and equitable advocacy access.
Referral Pathways
The inconsistent referral pathways to Individual Advocacy for people with disability from CALD backgrounds have been noted several times across this consultation paper, and successful inclusion of the needs of people with disability from CALD backgrounds must address these issues.
Addressing this requires the development of government-led, sector-wide training that can be embedded into the induction and ongoing learning programs of community organisations, NGOs and other relevant groups. Providing consistent, government-endorsed training would ensure that frontline staff understand when and how to refer individuals to advocacy support, and that these pathways are visible, understood and accessible from the first point of contact.
Key referral points and pathways are missed due to a lack of understanding, training and clarity about available advocacy supports and eligibility, resulting in many individuals never being connected to the assistance they are entitled to.
Furthermore, the role of medical professionals including GPs and other community health services cannot be discounted as important referral pathways, and ensuring their understanding of the availability and eligibility of individual advocacy support should not be overlooked.
The development of CPD-accredited training for doctors, nurses, social workers and allied health professionals would embed this learning within their mandatory professional obligations, ensuring feasible uptake among practitioners whose workloads leave limited capacity for non-accredited training.
Community Awareness
As noted earlier in this submission, awareness of individual advocacy within CALD communities is extremely limited, and the factors contributing to this are complex. CALD communities are not homogenous; they include people with diverse migration pathways, visa conditions, cultural norms, languages, literacy levels and experiences of interacting with Australian systems. These differences significantly shape how information is received, interpreted and shared.
Within this context, misinformation is widespread. Word-of-mouth remains a dominant information source in many communities, yet language barriers, communication challenges, differing eligibility rules based on visa or citizenship status, and misunderstandings about service roles all contribute to inaccurate or incomplete information being shared. This often leads to confusion about what individual advocacy is, who it is for, and how to access it.
Importantly, the impact of low awareness is not limited to people with disability themselves. Families and unpaid carers who frequently act as the primary support system also experience language, cultural and system-navigation barriers that prevent them from identifying when advocacy is needed or knowing how to seek it. Without accessible and reliable information, these carers are left without the tools required to support the person they care for to access their rights.
To address these issues, the Government should develop and distribute culturally appropriate, in-language information on individual advocacy across community organisations, NGOs, settlement services, cultural associations and other trusted channels. These resources must be accessible to both people with disability and their families and unpaid carers, who are often the first to seek support yet face their own language and cultural barriers. Providing consistent, accurate and translated information will help ensure that CALD communities have a clear understanding of individual advocacy and how to access it when needed.
Transitional Arrangements and Implementation
The consultation paper provides clear transitional provisions including maintaining and extending NDAP funding until such time as the implementation of the new program finalised. NEDA supports this approach.
Summary of Key Recommendations
NEDA recommends that the development and implementation of a new Individual Disability Advocacy program include:
- Embed cultural and trauma-informed design to address structural and intersectional barriers affecting people with disability from CALD backgrounds.
- Fund targeted CALD-specific advocacy services nationwide to ensure genuine choice and culturally safe support.
- Strengthen workforce capability through mandatory accredited training in cultural safety, trauma-informed practice and working with priority groups.
- Resource formal partnerships between advocacy organisations and CALD, First Nations, LGBTIQA+, women’s and community groups to improve warm referrals and service access.
- Expand the National Advocacy Support Helpline to include video options and short-term support for non-citizens and non-permanent residents.
- Improve referral pathways through government-led, sector-wide training, including CPD-accredited modules for health professionals.
- Increase community awareness by distributing accurate, in-language information through trusted CALD networks and support organisations.
Conclusion
NEDA strongly supports the development of a re-designed Individual Disability Advocacy Program that reflects the diverse needs of Australia’s disability community. For people with disability from CALD backgrounds, meaningful access to advocacy requires a program that is culturally responsive, well-resourced, and embedded in strong cross-sector partnerships. By investing in targeted services, culturally safe workforce development, strengthened referral pathways and accessible community information, the
new program has the opportunity to deliver equitable, safe and effective advocacy for all. We welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with the Department to support co-design, implementation and ongoing refinement of this vital program.
References
Australian Government Department of Social Services (2024). Government response to the Disability Royal Commission. Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (2023). Final Report. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (2023). Demand and Gap Analysis Project Summary. National Disability Insurance Agency (2024). Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Strategy 2024–2028. Australian Digital Inclusion Index (2025). ADII Report. AHPRA (2020). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy. Multicultural Framework Review (2024)