Submission 3366 — Mr Andrew Hartwell (Attachment 5) — NDIS Future Generations Bill

Next-Phase Disability Policy Ecosystem Packs

Consolidated document

Prepared from the next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite.

Note: Draft email-template sections have been excluded from this consolidated document.

Included policy packs

1. Foundational Supports and the Risk of a Shadow NDIS Without Rights
2. National Disability Agreement and Intergovernmental Cost-Shifting
3. Disability Advocacy, Legal Assistance and Enforcement Capacity
4. Inclusive Education Implementation and School Accountability
5. Health System Access, Hospital Discharge and Disability-Related Health Care
6. Psychosocial Disability, Mental Health and NDIS Boundary Risk
7. Restrictive Practices, Behaviour Support and Closed Settings
8. Guardianship, Supported Decision-Making and Legal Capacity
9. Disability, Domestic and Family Violence, Coercive Control and Safeguarding
10. First Nations Disability Justice and Community-Controlled Service Design
11. CALD, Migrant and Refugee Disability Access
12. Migration, Visa Health Requirements and Disability Discrimination
13. Disability Employment, Procurement and Public-Sector Leadership
14. Supported Employment, Segregated Work and Transition Pathways
15. Carers, Kinship Networks and Unpaid Support Collapse
16. Disability Poverty, Income Support and Cost of Living
17. Digital Inclusion, AI, Automated Services and Accessibility by Default
18. Disability Data Governance and Outcomes Measurement
19. Emergency Management, Climate Adaptation and Disaster Resilience
20. Accessible Transport, Streets, Micromobility and Autonomous Technology
21. Accessible Housing Supply, Local Planning and Social Housing Allocation

22. Aged Care, Disability Ageing and Younger People in Aged Care
23. Justice, Police, Prisons and Forensic Disability
24. Children, Early Childhood and Thriving Kids
25. Autism Strategy Implementation and Neurodiversity Policy
26. Disability and Public Procurement
27. Arts, Culture, Sport, Recreation and Civic Participation
28. Disability and Voting, Democracy and Public Decision-Making

Policy Risk Pack 01: Foundational Supports and the Risk of a

Shadow NDIS Without Rights

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Foundational Supports and the Risk of a Shadow NDIS Without

Rights

Core risk Foundational Supports must not become a lower-cost, lower-rights substitute for NDIS access. The key risk is that people are diverted from individualised, reviewable supports into thin, discretionary or uneven mainstream services. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of foundational supports and the risk of a shadow ndis without rights. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Foundational Supports must not become a lower-cost, lower-rights substitute for NDIS access. The key risk is that people are diverted from individualised, reviewable supports into thin, discretionary or uneven mainstream services. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this

occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for foundational supports and the risk of a shadow ndis without rights with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief Issue Foundational Supports and the Risk of a Shadow NDIS Without

Rights

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Foundational Supports must not become a lower-cost, lower-rights substitute for NDIS access. The key risk is that people are diverted from individualised, reviewable supports into thin, discretionary or uneven mainstream services.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Foundational Supports https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/foundational-supports-for-people-with-disability  Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Thriving Kids https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/thriving-kids  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 02: National Disability Agreement and

Intergovernmental Cost-Shifting

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area National Disability Agreement and Intergovernmental Cost-

Shifting

Core risk Current reforms require a durable intergovernmental settlement so that Commonwealth, state and territory systems cannot move disability-related costs between portfolios while people fall through the gaps. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of national disability agreement and intergovernmental cost-shifting. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Current reforms require a durable intergovernmental settlement so that Commonwealth, state and territory systems cannot move disability-related costs between portfolios while people fall through the gaps. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this

occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for national disability agreement and intergovernmental cost-shifting with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue National Disability Agreement and Intergovernmental Cost-

Shifting

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Current reforms require a durable intergovernmental settlement so that Commonwealth, state and territory systems cannot move disability-related costs between portfolios while people fall through the gaps.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Foundational Supports https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/foundational-supports-for-people-with-disability  Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Disability Royal Commission Progress Report 2025 https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/disability-royal-commission-progress-report-2025-0  Disability Gateway - Australia’s Disability Strategy - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

No machine-readable text was extracted from this page.

Policy Risk Pack 03: Disability Advocacy, Legal Assistance and

Enforcement Capacity

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Disability Advocacy, Legal Assistance and Enforcement Capacity

Core risk Rights in the DDA, NDIS, education, tenancy, employment and consumer law are only meaningful if people with disability can obtain advocacy, advice and representation before harm occurs. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of disability advocacy, legal assistance and enforcement capacity. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Rights in the DDA, NDIS, education, tenancy, employment and consumer law are only meaningful if people with disability can obtain advocacy, advice and representation before harm occurs. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for disability advocacy, legal assistance and enforcement capacity with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Disability Advocacy, Legal Assistance and Enforcement Capacity

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Rights in the DDA, NDIS, education, tenancy, employment and consumer law are only meaningful if people with disability can obtain advocacy, advice and representation before harm occurs.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report  Disability Gateway - Australia’s Disability Strategy - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

No machine-readable text was extracted from this page.

Policy Risk Pack 04: Inclusive Education Implementation and

School Accountability

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Inclusive Education Implementation and School Accountability

Core risk The Disability Standards for Education provide a rights framework, but students still face informal exclusion, inadequate adjustments, bullying and inconsistent accountability. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of inclusive education implementation and school accountability. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context The Disability Standards for Education provide a rights framework, but students still face informal exclusion, inadequate adjustments, bullying and inconsistent accountability. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for inclusive education implementation and school accountability with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Inclusive Education Implementation and School Accountability

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  The Disability Standards for Education provide a rights framework, but students still face informal exclusion, inadequate adjustments, bullying and inconsistent accountability.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Department of Education - 2025 Review of the Disability Standards for Education https://www.education.gov.au/disability-standards-education-2005/consultations/2025-review-disability standards-education  Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 05: Health System Access, Hospital Discharge

and Disability-Related Health Care

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Health System Access, Hospital Discharge and Disability-Related

Health Care

Core risk Health reform must address diagnostic overshadowing, inaccessible acute care, hospital discharge failures and the treatment of disability-related need as someone else’s responsibility. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of health system access, hospital discharge and disability-related health care. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Health reform must address diagnostic overshadowing, inaccessible acute care, hospital discharge failures and the treatment of disability-related need as someone else’s responsibility. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for health system access, hospital discharge and disability-related health care with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Health System Access, Hospital Discharge and Disability-Related

Health Care

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Health reform must address diagnostic overshadowing, inaccessible acute care, hospital discharge failures and the treatment of disability-related need as someone else’s responsibility.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - National Roadmap for Improving the Health of People with Intellectual Disability - https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/national-roadmap-for-improving-the-health-of people-with-intellectual-disability  Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - About the new rights-based Aged Care Act https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/aged-care-act/about  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 06: Psychosocial Disability, Mental Health and

NDIS Boundary Risk

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Psychosocial Disability, Mental Health and NDIS Boundary Risk

Core risk People with psychosocial disability are at risk of being excluded from both the NDIS and mainstream mental health systems where recovery language is used to narrow access without building community supports. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of psychosocial disability, mental health and ndis boundary risk. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context People with psychosocial disability are at risk of being excluded from both the NDIS and mainstream mental health systems where recovery language is used to narrow access without building community supports. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for psychosocial disability, mental health and ndis boundary risk with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Psychosocial Disability, Mental Health and NDIS Boundary Risk

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  People with psychosocial disability are at risk of being excluded from both the NDIS and mainstream mental health systems where recovery language is used to narrow access without building community supports.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Foundational Supports https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/foundational-supports-for-people-with-disability  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report  AIHW - People with disability in Australia 2026: Key data gaps https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

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Policy Risk Pack 07: Restrictive Practices, Behaviour Support

and Closed Settings

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Restrictive Practices, Behaviour Support and Closed Settings

Core risk Restrictive practices remain a cross-system risk in disability services, schools, mental health, aged care, youth justice and prisons. Reform must reduce harm without leaving families and providers unsupported. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of restrictive practices, behaviour support and closed settings. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Restrictive practices remain a cross-system risk in disability services, schools, mental health, aged care, youth justice and prisons. Reform must reduce harm without leaving families and providers unsupported. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for restrictive practices, behaviour support and closed settings with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Restrictive Practices, Behaviour Support and Closed Settings

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Restrictive practices remain a cross-system risk in disability services, schools, mental health, aged care, youth justice and prisons. Reform must reduce harm without leaving families and providers unsupported.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Disability Royal Commission Progress Report 2025 https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/disability-royal-commission-progress-report-2025-0  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report  Disability Royal Commission Progress Report 2025 - Recommendation 6.6 Supported decision-making principles - https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/disability-royal-commission-progress-report 2025/volume-6-enabling-autonomy-and-access/recommendation-66-supported-decision-making-principles

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 08: Guardianship, Supported Decision-Making

and Legal Capacity

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Guardianship, Supported Decision-Making and Legal Capacity

Core risk Supported decision-making reform is central to legal capacity, autonomy and CRPD compliance, but remains uneven across jurisdictions. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of guardianship, supported decision-making and legal capacity. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Supported decision-making reform is central to legal capacity, autonomy and CRPD compliance, but remains uneven across jurisdictions. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for guardianship, supported decision-making and legal capacity with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Guardianship, Supported Decision-Making and Legal Capacity

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Supported decision-making reform is central to legal capacity, autonomy and CRPD compliance, but remains uneven across jurisdictions.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Disability Royal Commission Progress Report 2025 - Recommendation 6.6 Supported decision-making principles - https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/disability-royal-commission-progress-report 2025/volume-6-enabling-autonomy-and-access/recommendation-66-supported-decision-making-principles  Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act  Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - About the new rights-based Aged Care Act https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/aged-care-act/about

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 09: Disability, Domestic and Family Violence,

Coercive Control and Safeguarding

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Disability, Domestic and Family Violence, Coercive Control and

Safeguarding

Core risk People with disability experience distinctive forms of violence and coercive control, including abuse through support, communication, mobility aids, medication and funding control. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of disability, domestic and family violence, coercive control and safeguarding. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context People with disability experience distinctive forms of violence and coercive control, including abuse through support, communication, mobility aids, medication and funding control. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for disability, domestic and family violence, coercive control and safeguarding with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Disability, Domestic and Family Violence, Coercive Control and

Safeguarding

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  People with disability experience distinctive forms of violence and coercive control, including abuse through support, communication, mobility aids, medication and funding control.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report  AIHW - People with disability in Australia 2026: Key data gaps https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps  Disability Gateway - Australia’s Disability Strategy - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

No machine-readable text was extracted from this page.

Policy Risk Pack 10: First Nations Disability Justice and

Community-Controlled Service Design

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area First Nations Disability Justice and Community-Controlled Service

Design

Core risk National disability systems often assume urban provider markets and Western diagnostic pathways, creating particular risk for First Nations people with disability, especially in remote communities. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of first nations disability justice and community-controlled service design. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context National disability systems often assume urban provider markets and Western diagnostic pathways, creating particular risk for First Nations people with disability, especially in remote communities. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for first nations disability justice and community-controlled service design with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue First Nations Disability Justice and Community-Controlled Service

Design

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  National disability systems often assume urban provider markets and Western diagnostic pathways, creating particular risk for First Nations people with disability, especially in remote communities.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 AIHW - People with disability in Australia 2026: Key data gaps https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps  Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Foundational Supports https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/foundational-supports-for-people-with-disability  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

No machine-readable text was extracted from this page.

Policy Risk Pack 11: CALD, Migrant and Refugee Disability

Access

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating Medium-High

Policy area CALD, Migrant and Refugee Disability Access Core risk People with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse communities face compounded barriers around language, migration status, service navigation and culturally safe support. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of cald, migrant and refugee disability access. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context People with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse communities face compounded barriers around language, migration status, service navigation and culturally safe support. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for cald, migrant and refugee disability access with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue CALD, Migrant and Refugee Disability Access

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating Medium-High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  People with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse communities face compounded barriers around language, migration status, service navigation and culturally safe support.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 AIHW - People with disability in Australia 2026: Key data gaps https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps  Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Foundational Supports https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/foundational-supports-for-people-with-disability  Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 12: Migration, Visa Health Requirements and

Disability Discrimination

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Migration, Visa Health Requirements and Disability Discrimination

Core risk Migration health settings remain a direct legal tension with disability equality because projected cost and service-access tests can exclude people with disability and their families. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of migration, visa health requirements and disability discrimination. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Migration health settings remain a direct legal tension with disability equality because projected cost and service access tests can exclude people with disability and their families. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for migration, visa health requirements and disability discrimination with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Migration, Visa Health Requirements and Disability Discrimination

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Migration health settings remain a direct legal tension with disability equality because projected cost and service-access tests can exclude people with disability and their families.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Department of Home Affairs - Review of Australia’s visa Significant Cost Threshold https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/reports-and-publications/submissions-and-discussion-papers/review-of australias-visa-significant-cost-threshold  Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 13: Disability Employment, Procurement and

Public-Sector Leadership

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating Medium-High

Policy area Disability Employment, Procurement and Public-Sector Leadership

Core risk Employment reform should not be limited to service-provider contracts; it must change employer behaviour, public-sector practice, procurement leverage and workplace adjustment systems. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of disability employment, procurement and public-sector leadership. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Employment reform should not be limited to service-provider contracts; it must change employer behaviour, public-sector practice, procurement leverage and workplace adjustment systems. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for disability employment, procurement and public-sector leadership with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Disability Employment, Procurement and Public-Sector Leadership

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating Medium-High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Employment reform should not be limited to service-provider contracts; it must change employer behaviour, public-sector practice, procurement leverage and workplace adjustment systems.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Department of Social Services - Inclusive Employment Australia - https://www.dss.gov.au/inclusive employment-australia  Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act  Disability Gateway - Australia’s Disability Strategy - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

No machine-readable text was extracted from this page.

Policy Risk Pack 14: Supported Employment, Segregated Work

and Transition Pathways

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Supported Employment, Segregated Work and Transition Pathways

Core risk Supported employment reform must prevent people with disability being trapped in low-paid segregated pathways while preserving genuine support, social connection and choice. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of supported employment, segregated work and transition pathways. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Supported employment reform must prevent people with disability being trapped in low-paid segregated pathways while preserving genuine support, social connection and choice. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for supported employment, segregated work and transition pathways with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Supported Employment, Segregated Work and Transition Pathways

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Supported employment reform must prevent people with disability being trapped in low-paid segregated pathways while preserving genuine support, social connection and choice.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Department of Social Services - Next steps in supported employment consultation https://engage.dss.gov.au/next-steps-in-supported-employment-consultation-on-the-way-forward/  Department of Social Services - Inclusive Employment Australia - https://www.dss.gov.au/inclusive employment-australia  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

No machine-readable text was extracted from this page.

Policy Risk Pack 15: Carers, Kinship Networks and Unpaid

Support Collapse

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Carers, Kinship Networks and Unpaid Support Collapse

Core risk NDIS, health, aged care and housing reforms often assume unpaid carers will absorb service gaps, creating hidden fiscal and human risk. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of carers, kinship networks and unpaid support collapse. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context NDIS, health, aged care and housing reforms often assume unpaid carers will absorb service gaps, creating hidden fiscal and human risk. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for carers, kinship networks and unpaid support collapse with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Carers, Kinship Networks and Unpaid Support Collapse

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  NDIS, health, aged care and housing reforms often assume unpaid carers will absorb service gaps, creating hidden fiscal and human risk.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Foundational Supports https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/foundational-supports-for-people-with-disability  Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - About the new rights-based Aged Care Act https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/aged-care-act/about  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

No machine-readable text was extracted from this page.

Policy Risk Pack 16: Disability Poverty, Income Support and

Cost of Living

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Disability Poverty, Income Support and Cost of Living

Core risk Poverty, rent stress, energy costs, transport costs and the disability premium undermine the practical enjoyment of rights and increase demand for crisis systems. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of disability poverty, income support and cost of living. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Poverty, rent stress, energy costs, transport costs and the disability premium undermine the practical enjoyment of rights and increase demand for crisis systems. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for disability poverty, income support and cost of living with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Disability Poverty, Income Support and Cost of Living

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Poverty, rent stress, energy costs, transport costs and the disability premium undermine the practical enjoyment of rights and increase demand for crisis systems.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 AIHW - People with disability in Australia 2026: Key data gaps https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps  Disability Gateway - Australia’s Disability Strategy - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads  Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

No machine-readable text was extracted from this page.

Policy Risk Pack 17: Digital Inclusion, AI, Automated Services

and Accessibility by Default

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Digital Inclusion, AI, Automated Services and Accessibility by

Default

Core risk Digital government and automated decision-making can create new forms of exclusion where systems are inaccessible, opaque, poorly tested or unable to adjust for disability complexity. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of digital inclusion, ai, automated services and accessibility by default. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Digital government and automated decision-making can create new forms of exclusion where systems are inaccessible, opaque, poorly tested or unable to adjust for disability complexity. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for digital inclusion, ai, automated services and accessibility by default with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Digital Inclusion, AI, Automated Services and Accessibility by

Default

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Digital government and automated decision-making can create new forms of exclusion where systems are inaccessible, opaque, poorly tested or unable to adjust for disability complexity.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 AIHW - People with disability in Australia 2026: Key data gaps https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps  Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act  Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Foundational Supports https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/foundational-supports-for-people-with-disability

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 18: Disability Data Governance and Outcomes

Measurement

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating Medium-High

Policy area Disability Data Governance and Outcomes Measurement

Core risk Data gaps prevent governments from measuring unmet need, intersectional exclusion, violence, employment outcomes, service pathways and whether reforms improve people’s lives. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of disability data governance and outcomes measurement. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Data gaps prevent governments from measuring unmet need, intersectional exclusion, violence, employment outcomes, service pathways and whether reforms improve people’s lives. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for disability data governance and outcomes measurement with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Disability Data Governance and Outcomes Measurement

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating Medium-High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Data gaps prevent governments from measuring unmet need, intersectional exclusion, violence, employment outcomes, service pathways and whether reforms improve people’s lives.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 AIHW - People with disability in Australia 2026: Key data gaps https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps  Disability Gateway - Australia’s Disability Strategy - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 19: Emergency Management, Climate

Adaptation and Disaster Resilience

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating Medium-High

Policy area Emergency Management, Climate Adaptation and Disaster

Resilience

Core risk Climate events, outages, floods, fires and heatwaves create specific risks for people who rely on powered equipment, medications, mobility aids, support workers and accessible transport. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of emergency management, climate adaptation and disaster resilience. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Climate events, outages, floods, fires and heatwaves create specific risks for people who rely on powered equipment, medications, mobility aids, support workers and accessible transport. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for emergency management, climate adaptation and disaster resilience with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Emergency Management, Climate Adaptation and Disaster

Resilience

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating Medium-High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Climate events, outages, floods, fires and heatwaves create specific risks for people who rely on powered equipment, medications, mobility aids, support workers and accessible transport.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 AIHW - People with disability in Australia 2026: Key data gaps https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report  Disability Gateway - Australia’s Disability Strategy - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

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Policy Risk Pack 20: Accessible Transport, Streets,

Micromobility and Autonomous Technology

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Accessible Transport, Streets, Micromobility and Autonomous

Technology

Core risk Transport accessibility must include public transport, kerbs, paths, e-scooters, autonomous delivery devices, rideshare, taxis, parking and transport apps. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of accessible transport, streets, micromobility and autonomous technology. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Transport accessibility must include public transport, kerbs, paths, e-scooters, autonomous delivery devices, rideshare, taxis, parking and transport apps. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for accessible transport, streets, micromobility and autonomous technology with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Accessible Transport, Streets, Micromobility and Autonomous

Technology

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Transport accessibility must include public transport, kerbs, paths, e-scooters, autonomous delivery devices, rideshare, taxis, parking and transport apps.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Department of Infrastructure - Reform of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/have-your-say/exposure-draft-reform-disability-standards-accessible public-transport-2002-transport-standards  Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act  Disability Gateway - Australia’s Disability Strategy - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 21: Accessible Housing Supply, Local Planning

and Social Housing Allocation

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Accessible Housing Supply, Local Planning and Social Housing

Allocation

Core risk Housing reform must address mandatory accessible design, social housing allocation, private rental access, hospital discharge and alternatives to group homes. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of accessible housing supply, local planning and social housing allocation. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Housing reform must address mandatory accessible design, social housing allocation, private rental access, hospital discharge and alternatives to group homes. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for accessible housing supply, local planning and social housing allocation with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Accessible Housing Supply, Local Planning and Social Housing

Allocation

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Housing reform must address mandatory accessible design, social housing allocation, private rental access, hospital discharge and alternatives to group homes.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report  Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act  Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Foundational Supports https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/foundational-supports-for-people-with-disability

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 22: Aged Care, Disability Ageing and Younger

People in Aged Care

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating Medium-High

Policy area Aged Care, Disability Ageing and Younger People in Aged Care

Core risk The new rights-based aged care framework must be aligned with disability rights, NDIS boundaries and the needs of people ageing with lifelong disability. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of aged care, disability ageing and younger people in aged care. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context The new rights-based aged care framework must be aligned with disability rights, NDIS boundaries and the needs of people ageing with lifelong disability. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for aged care, disability ageing and younger people in aged care with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Aged Care, Disability Ageing and Younger People in Aged Care

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating Medium-High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  The new rights-based aged care framework must be aligned with disability rights, NDIS boundaries and the needs of people ageing with lifelong disability.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - About the new rights-based Aged Care Act https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/aged-care-act/about  Disability Royal Commission Progress Report 2025 - Recommendation 6.6 Supported decision-making principles - https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/disability-royal-commission-progress-report 2025/volume-6-enabling-autonomy-and-access/recommendation-66-supported-decision-making-principles  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 23: Justice, Police, Prisons and Forensic

Disability

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Justice, Police, Prisons and Forensic Disability

Core risk People with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability and acquired brain injury face elevated risks in police, courts, custody, forensic systems and youth justice. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of justice, police, prisons and forensic disability. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context People with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability and acquired brain injury face elevated risks in police, courts, custody, forensic systems and youth justice. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for justice, police, prisons and forensic disability with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Justice, Police, Prisons and Forensic Disability

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  People with cognitive disability, psychosocial disability and acquired brain injury face elevated risks in police, courts, custody, forensic systems and youth justice.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report  AIHW - People with disability in Australia 2026: Key data gaps https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps  Disability Royal Commission Progress Report 2025 - Recommendation 6.6 Supported decision-making principles - https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/disability-royal-commission-progress-report 2025/volume-6-enabling-autonomy-and-access/recommendation-66-supported-decision-making-principles

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 24: Children, Early Childhood and Thriving

Kids

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Children, Early Childhood and Thriving Kids

Core risk Thriving Kids must not divert children from the NDIS before alternative early supports are mature, available, nationally consistent and rights-based. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of children, early childhood and thriving kids. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Thriving Kids must not divert children from the NDIS before alternative early supports are mature, available, nationally consistent and rights-based. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for children, early childhood and thriving kids with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Children, Early Childhood and Thriving Kids

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Thriving Kids must not divert children from the NDIS before alternative early supports are mature, available, nationally consistent and rights-based.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Thriving Kids https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/thriving-kids  Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Foundational Supports https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/foundational-supports-for-people-with-disability  Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - National Autism Strategy 2025-2031 https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/national-autism-strategy

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

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Policy Risk Pack 25: Autism Strategy Implementation and

Neurodiversity Policy

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating High

Policy area Autism Strategy Implementation and Neurodiversity Policy

Core risk The National Autism Strategy requires implementation safeguards so autism policy is neuroaffirming, lifespan-based, intersectional and not used solely to narrow NDIS access. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of autism strategy implementation and neurodiversity policy. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context The National Autism Strategy requires implementation safeguards so autism policy is neuroaffirming, lifespan based, intersectional and not used solely to narrow NDIS access. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for autism strategy implementation and neurodiversity policy with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Autism Strategy Implementation and Neurodiversity Policy

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  The National Autism Strategy requires implementation safeguards so autism policy is neuroaffirming, lifespan-based, intersectional and not used solely to narrow NDIS access.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - National Autism Strategy 2025-2031 https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/national-autism-strategy  Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Thriving Kids https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/thriving-kids  Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - National Roadmap for Improving the Health of People with Intellectual Disability - https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/national-roadmap-for-improving-the-health-of people-with-intellectual-disability

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 26: Disability and Public Procurement

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating Medium

Policy area Disability and Public Procurement

Core risk Government procurement can embed accessibility, inclusive employment and universal design across goods, services, infrastructure, ICT and grant funding. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of disability and public procurement. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Government procurement can embed accessibility, inclusive employment and universal design across goods, services, infrastructure, ICT and grant funding. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand

and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for disability and public procurement with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Disability and Public Procurement

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating Medium

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Government procurement can embed accessibility, inclusive employment and universal design across goods, services, infrastructure, ICT and grant funding.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Department of Social Services - Inclusive Employment Australia - https://www.dss.gov.au/inclusive employment-australia  Department of Infrastructure - Reform of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/have-your-say/exposure-draft-reform-disability-standards-accessible public-transport-2002-transport-standards  Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 27: Arts, Culture, Sport, Recreation and Civic

Participation

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating Medium-High

Policy area Arts, Culture, Sport, Recreation and Civic Participation

Core risk Social and civic participation are not optional extras; they are core to equal citizenship and should not be reduced to low-priority discretionary supports. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of arts, culture, sport, recreation and civic participation. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Social and civic participation are not optional extras; they are core to equal citizenship and should not be reduced to low-priority discretionary supports. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for arts, culture, sport, recreation and civic participation with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Arts, Culture, Sport, Recreation and Civic Participation

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating Medium-High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Social and civic participation are not optional extras; they are core to equal citizenship and should not be reduced to low-priority discretionary supports.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Foundational Supports https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/foundational-supports-for-people-with-disability  Disability Gateway - Australia’s Disability Strategy - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads  Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability - Final Report https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.

Policy Risk Pack 28: Disability and Voting, Democracy and

Public Decision-Making

Next-phase disability policy ecosystem suite

Date: 8 July 2026

Prepared for: policy, advocacy and ministerial engagement

Risk rating Medium-High

Policy area Disability and Voting, Democracy and Public Decision-Making

Core risk Democratic participation requires accessible elections, consultations, parliamentary processes, political parties, submissions and civic education. Primary policy test Whether reform expands practical equality for people with disability or merely reallocates responsibility across systems.

1. Full policy brief

Purpose

This policy pack identifies the disability-specific risks arising in the policy area of disability and voting, democracy and public decision-making. It is designed for use in submissions, ministerial correspondence, stakeholder engagement and internal risk analysis. The central concern is that disability reforms must not treat access, inclusion, support and rights as optional implementation details. Where responsibility is moved from one system to another, the transfer must be accompanied by funding, legal duties, operational capability and enforceable safeguards.

Policy context Democratic participation requires accessible elections, consultations, parliamentary processes, political parties, submissions and civic education. This risk should be assessed against the broader current reform environment: NDIS sustainability changes, the development of Foundational Supports, the Disability Royal Commission implementation agenda, the review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, state and territory service obligations, and the continuing need to align mainstream systems with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Risk analysis The primary policy risk is functional exclusion. A reform may be framed as improving efficiency, targeting, safety, choice or sustainability, but still leave people with disability worse off if mainstream services are not accessible, if funding is uncertain, if review rights are weak, or if the person must navigate multiple systems without support. This is especially acute for people with psychosocial disability, intellectual disability, cognitive disability, acquired brain injury, communication support needs, fluctuating disability, chronic illness, complex health needs, and people who experience intersectional barriers related to age, gender, sexuality, First Nations status, language, migration status, poverty or geography.

A secondary risk is cost-shifting. Governments and agencies may describe a support need as belonging to another system, without ensuring that the other system has a matching duty, budget and delivery pathway. When this occurs, the person with disability experiences the gap as delay, denial, crisis, institutionalisation, family burden or unsafe informal care.

A third risk is accountability drift. Where reforms are implemented through program rules, grants, commissioning models, digital portals, operational guidance or local service contracts, rights can become harder to understand and enforce. Any policy design should therefore include accessible information, independent advocacy, human review, complaint pathways, data publication and disability-led governance.

Ministerial issue The Minister should be advised that the risk is not simply whether the reform can be announced, funded or piloted. The relevant test is whether it can be relied upon by people with disability in ordinary life. A nominal service, guidance document or website does not replace actual local availability, accessible delivery, safe implementation and reviewable entitlement where appropriate.

Recommended policy response  Create a named implementation plan for disability and voting, democracy and public decision-making with clear responsibility across Commonwealth, state and territory systems.  Apply a no-wrong-door principle so people with disability are not sent between systems without support, referral and continuity of service.  Require public reporting against disability-specific, intersectional and place-based outcome measures.  Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making for people affected by changes.  Build complaint, review and escalation rights into the scheme from the start rather than relying only on general anti-discrimination law after harm occurs.  Require a disability rights compatibility assessment before implementation.  Fund independent advocacy, peer navigation and accessible information for affected cohorts.  Publish implementation data disaggregated by disability, age, location, First Nations status, CALD background, gender and LGBTQIA+ identity where safe and voluntary.

Implementation architecture Implementation should use a staged model: first, map existing obligations and service gaps; second, co-design service standards and eligibility with people with disability; third, fund capability building in mainstream and specialist systems; fourth, create accessible review and complaint pathways; and fifth, publish outcomes data. No person should lose access to an existing support pathway until the replacement pathway is demonstrably available, accessible and safe.

Legal and rights considerations The policy should be screened against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, Australia’s Disability Strategy, relevant Disability Standards, state and territory human rights or anti-discrimination laws, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The key rights considerations are equality before the law, reasonable adjustment, independent living, access to mainstream services, freedom from violence and exploitation, participation in the community, supported decision-making and effective remedy.

Fiscal and systems considerations Short-term savings may become long-term costs if reform increases hospitalisation, homelessness, family breakdown, unemployment, institutional care, justice contact, safeguarding incidents or crisis service use. Treasury and finance advice should therefore include whole-of-government cost modelling, not only savings within the originating program.

2. Two-page ministerial brief

Issue Disability and Voting, Democracy and Public Decision-Making

Decision sought Agree to treat this area as a priority disability policy risk requiring safeguards, consultation and implementation assurance.

Risk rating Medium-High

Recommended position Support reform only where it is rights-based, funded, accessible, reviewable and co-designed with people with disability.

Key points  Democratic participation requires accessible elections, consultations, parliamentary processes, political parties, submissions and civic education.  The risk is greatest where responsibility is transferred to mainstream systems before those systems are accessible or resourced.  People with disability should not be required to become system navigators in order to preserve basic rights.  Implementation must include independent advocacy, accessible information, complaint pathways, data reporting and disability-led governance.  The Government should test the proposal against downstream health, housing, employment, justice, education and safeguarding impacts.

Ministerial talking points  The objective is not to stop reform; it is to make reform safe, lawful and usable.  A rights-based disability system cannot depend on people falling between agencies and then proving harm afterwards.  The Government should measure whether people with disability experience improved access, not merely whether a program has been established.  People with disability, families, carers, kin and representative organisations must be involved in design, delivery and monitoring.

4. Stakeholder engagement priorities Priority stakeholders include Commonwealth disability, health, social services, education, employment, infrastructure and attorney-general portfolios; state and territory disability and mainstream service portfolios; the NDIA; the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission; the Australian Human Rights Commission; and representative organisations led by people with disability.

5. Source notes The following sources should be treated as the starting evidence base for this pack:

 Attorney-General’s Department - Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/australias-anti discrimination-law/review-disability-discrimination-act  Disability Gateway - Australia’s Disability Strategy - https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads  AIHW - People with disability in Australia 2026: Key data gaps https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-2026/contents/key-data-gaps

Note: This pack provides policy analysis and advocacy framing. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed against the final form of any Bill, instrument, program guideline or intergovernmental agreement before lodgement.