Specialist arts programs support economic participation and wellbeing for artists with disability (Provider advocacy) | External submission

Submission 843

Submission to the National Disability Insurance Agency

Regarding the proposed NDIS Reforms – “Securing the NDIS for Future

Generations”

Submitted by Arts Project Australia Inc, Northcote Victoria

Arts Project Australia (APA) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

APA is deeply concerned that the proposed reforms will have severe and potentially devastating consequences for people with disability who rely on specialist community participation supports, particularly those accessing NDIS funded arts-based programs. The reforms also present a signiﬁcant threat to the viability of specialist disability arts organisations such as ours.

For more than 50 years, Arts Project Australia has provided a vital creative, cultural and social community for artists with intellectual disability, autism and other disabilities. Since its establishment in 1974, APA has become one of Australia’s leading studios and galleries for artists with disability, supporting hundreds of artists to develop creative practices, exhibit professionally, participate in public life and build meaningful community connections.

Our programs are not recreational add-ons or discretionary activities. They are essential supports that foster employment opportunities, conﬁdence, social inclusion, emotional wellbeing, skill development, independence, cultural participation and community connection.

The proposed reforms risk dismantling these supports for some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

“Arts Project is good to make you express yourself and good for skills and all of that — and it’s quite fun.” Adrian Lazarro – APA artist since 2004

Arts Project Australia’s contribution and success over more than 50 years For over ﬁve decades, Arts Project Australia has demonstrated the enormous social, cultural and personal value of specialist arts programs for people with disability. APA has supported generations of artists with disability to:

develop sustained artistic practices,
exhibit in leading galleries and institutions,
participate in national and international exhibitions, 1

Submission 843

sell artwork professionally,
build public recognition and professional identity,
contribute meaningfully to Australia’s cultural landscape. Arts Project Australia has become internationally recognised as a leader in contemporary art and disability inclusion. The organisation has played a critical role in challenging outdated assumptions about disability by demonstrating the artistic excellence, capability and creative contribution of artists with intellectual disability and autism.

Many APA artists have achieved extraordinary success, including:

representation in major public and private collections,
exhibitions across Australia and internationally,
recognition within the contemporary art sector,
professional artistic careers and income generation,
long-term community participation and creative engagement. Importantly, Arts Project Australia’s programs do not only deliver profound social, emotional and wellbeing outcomes — they also create genuine pathways for economic participation and ﬁnancial independence. APA champions neurodivergent artists and artists with intellectual disability through a professional exhibition and gallery program operating across its main gallery at Collingwood Yards, the Northcote Project Space, national and international exhibition opportunities and an extensive online exhibition platform. Together, these programs provide accessible and professional channels for artists with disability to exhibit, promote and sell their work to broad public audiences while building sustainable creative careers.

APA artists regularly earn income through gallery and exhibition sales, receiving the majority share of proﬁts from works sold through APA’s physical galleries and online sales. APA also actively promotes artists through major prizes, awards and high-proﬁle licensing partnerships, including collaborations with organisations such as Gorman and Yarra Trams.

The organisation additionally facilitates image licensing opportunities for books, publications, gallery guides and merchandise ensuring artists are directly compensated through licensing fees and royalties. Artists also frequently secure paid commissions for corporate collections, public projects and private clients through APA’s professional networks, exhibition programs and advocacy.

These opportunities are critically important because they provide not only ﬁnancial reward, but agency, recognition and public visibility. Through exhibitions and professional artistic practice, artists are empowered to tell their stories publicly, contribute meaningfully to Australia’s cultural life and build professional identities that extend beyond limiting assumptions about disability. For many participants, this represents one of the few genuinely accessible pathways to economic participation, self-determination and public recognition available to them.

Submission 843

APA’s work therefore produces not only deeply valuable qualitative outcomes in wellbeing, belonging and social inclusion, but demonstrably quantitative outcomes through income generation, professional development and economic participation. This directly aligns with the stated objectives of the NDIS to support both social and economic participation for people with disability.

Beyond artistic achievement, APA has created a lifelong community for many participants — a place of belonging, safety, friendship and identity. For some artists, Arts Project Australia has been the single most stable and enduring support in their entire adult lives.

The organisation has also contributed signiﬁcantly to broader public understanding of disability inclusion, cultural participation and accessibility within the arts sector. This work aligns directly with the objectives of the NDIS and Australia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including the right to participate fully in cultural life and community life.

“It is such a great place to come because there are so many different people, so many great artists around the whole place. Everyone feeds off one another.” Jordan Dymke – APA artist since 2013

Specialist day programs are essential, not optional It is critical that the NDIA and the Australian Government recognise that specialist day programs receiving funding under social, civic, and community participation, such as Arts Project Australia are not discretionary lifestyle activities or optional “extras.” They are essential disability supports that play a fundamental role in the lives, wellbeing, safety and long-term stability of people with intellectual disability and autism.

For many participants, programs like Arts Project Australia provide the primary structure, purpose and meaningful engagement in their week. They are places where people experience belonging, routine, identity, friendship, creative expression and inclusion in ways that are often unavailable elsewhere in society.

People with intellectual disability and autism continue to face signiﬁcant barriers to participation in mainstream education, employment, social and community environments. Many experience social isolation, exclusion, discrimination, communication barriers, sensory overwhelm and chronic loneliness. Specialist day programs exist because mainstream systems frequently fail to meet the needs of people with disability.

Arts Project Australia and similar programs provide environments that are safe and accessible, professionally supported and relationship-based, sensory-aware and inclusive, structured and consistent. These environments allow participants to engage meaningfully in community life in ways that would otherwise not be possible. The beneﬁts of these programs are profound and lifelong.

Submission 843

Our artist cohort gain:

routine, stability and emotional regulation,
increased conﬁdence and self-esteem,
communication and interpersonal skills,
social connection, friendships and reduced isolation,
independence, self-determination, purpose and aspiration,
creative and employment opportunities for cultural participation,
pathways to professional development and economic participation,
improved mental health and wellbeing. For many artists, attending the APA studio is one of the only times they are fully included, valued and recognised for their strengths, talents and contributions rather than deﬁned by disability. We are more than a program — we are a community built on long-term relationships, trust and belonging. For many participants, Arts Project Australia is an extended family built through years of trust, care, creativity and connection.

Programs such as Arts Project Australia also provide critical preventative support. They reduce the likelihood of worsening mental health, social withdrawal, behavioural distress, family breakdown and long-term disengagement from community life. The impact extends far beyond individual participants.

Families and carers rely heavily on these programs for stability, respite and support. Many families describe Arts Project Australia as life-changing — not only because of the opportunities it creates for artists, but because it provides safety, consistency, emotional support and a genuine future for their loved ones.

Without specialist day programs, many participants would face:

increased isolation,
reduced income and economic independence,
deterioration in wellbeing,
reduced independence,
loss of communication and social skills,
worsening mental health,
greater reliance on acute services and crisis supports,
reduced participation in community life. The long-term social and economic cost of removing these supports would be enormous and would ultimately place greater pressure on families, Supported Independent Living homes, health systems, mental health services and other government-funded supports.

“You are able to express yourself through doing your own artwork and enjoy talking to your friends here.” Paul Hodges – APA artist since 1998

Submission 843

Impact of the proposed reforms on participants The proposed reductions to social, civic and community participation funding are of immediate and profound concern. Many APA participants rely on these funding categories to attend studio programs, access support workers and participate safely in structured creative environments.

If participant budgets are reduced by 20–50%, as proposed, many artists will be forced to reduce attendance or cease participation altogether. Many APA artists cannot simply transition into generic community programs or unsupported mainstream settings. Disability arts environments exist because participants require tailored supports, skilled staff, accessible environments and consistent relationships to participate meaningfully and safely.

The reforms’ increased emphasis on informal supports and family responsibility fails to recognise the reality faced by many families already under enormous pressure. Families and scarce mainstream community programs cannot replace specialist programs, trained support staff, creative environments and long-standing peer communities. The likely outcome is that some of the most vulnerable people in the community will lose access to one of the few places where they experience belonging, purpose, inclusion and aspiration. They will fall through the cracks.

“I enjoy coming here and making different things. Lots of friends here. I would be pretty bored if I didn’t have this.” Lisa Reid – APA artist since 2002

Impact on specialist disability arts organisations The reforms also create serious risks to the sustainability of specialist organisations like Arts Project Australia.

APA’s model depends on the viability of community participation funding streams. Reductions in participant funding are likely to lead to:

reduced enrolments,
ﬂuctuating attendance,
shorter participation periods,
increased administrative burden,
reduced revenue certainty,
increased ﬁnancial instability. At the same time, the proposed reforms expand Ministerial powers to cap pricing, restrict support hours and impose tighter controls over staffing and service delivery.

Arts Project Australia delivers highly specialised supports that include:

professional artist facilitators,
disability support workers,
small-group and high-support environments,
exhibition and gallery programs,
tailored creative development, 5

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accessible studio infrastructure,
long-term relational support models. These supports cannot be delivered through low-cost, standardised models without fundamentally undermining their quality and effectiveness. The reforms’ focus on “efficiency”, “value for money” and scalable service delivery risks privileging generic, transactional models over relational, community-based and creative supports. This creates a real risk that specialist disability arts organisations become ﬁnancially unsustainable.

Without adequate funding and pricing structures that reﬂect the real cost of delivery, organisations like APA may be forced to:

reduce services,
reduce staffing,
increase participant ratios,
limit access for people with higher support needs,
scale back programs,
rely increasingly on unpredictable philanthropy to subsidise essential disability supports.

In the worst-case scenario, organisations such as APA may no longer be ﬁnancially viable. The closure or reduction of specialist organisations would represent a devastating loss — not only for participants and families, but for Australia’s broader cultural and disability communities.

The value of arts-based supports The proposed reforms place increased emphasis on measurable and evidence-based outcomes.

We strongly urge the NDIA and Government to recognise that social and community participation supports produce signiﬁcant outcomes that are often long-term, relational and qualitative in nature, including:

increased self-determination,
improved emotional regulation,
enhanced communication skills,
reduced social isolation,
improved conﬁdence and self-esteem,
increased community participation,
stronger peer relationships,
cultural contribution and identity formation,
increased independence and decision-making capacity,
improved behavioural and emotional wellbeing,
opportunities for economic participation through professional arts practice. These outcomes are profoundly important to participants’ lives and align directly with the stated objectives of the NDIS to support social and economic participation and improve quality of life. Social and community participation is not peripheral to

Submission 843

wellbeing. For every person with disability, it is central to identity, connection, participation and dignity.

Risks of narrower deﬁnitions of “reasonable and necessary” The proposed reforms indicate a narrowing interpretation of supports considered “reasonable and necessary,” alongside increased automation of decision-making and stronger emphasis on standardised evidence frameworks.

This is particularly concerning for creative and community-based supports, which often rely on nuanced understanding of participant circumstances and long-term developmental outcomes.

Automated or rigid decision-making frameworks are poorly suited to assessing the value of participation, social connection and creative development. There is a substantial risk that participants with intellectual disability, psychosocial disability or complex support needs will be disproportionately disadvantaged by these reforms.

“Each time I come, there’s an enjoyment in coming — the friendship and the company. It’s always there.” Steven Ajzenberg – APA artist since 2000

Conclusion

Arts Project Australia acknowledges the importance of ensuring the long-term sustainability of the NDIS. However, sustainability cannot come at the expense of the wellbeing, inclusion and dignity of people with disability.

The proposed reforms risk removing essential supports from people who are already among the most vulnerable members of our community. They also threaten the future viability of our organisation that provides deeply valuable, evidence-informed and community-connected services.

We urge the Government and the NDIA to reconsider reforms that disproportionately impact community participation supports and specialist disability services.

The NDIS must continue to recognise that meaningful participation, creativity, community connection and cultural inclusion are not optional extras — they are essential to a digniﬁed and fulﬁlling life.

Arts Project Australia and many organisations just like ours, are not simply service providers; we are a lifelong community where relationships are deep, enduring and profoundly important.

Recommended Actions for the NDIA

Maintain NDIS funding for specialist community participation programs The NDIA should explicitly recognise specialist disability arts programs, day programs and community participation services as essential supports rather than discretionary or recreational activities.

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Protect participant choice and control Many participants cannot achieve equivalent outcomes through generic mainstream services.
Avoid arbitrary reductions to community participation budgets Budget reductions risk social isolation, reduced independence and increased reliance on higher-cost services.
Retain human-centred decision making Creative and community participation supports often involve complex and long-term beneﬁts that cannot be assessed through automated systems alone.
Recognise the preventative value of community day programs Programs such as Arts Project Australia reduce isolation, support mental wellbeing and help prevent crises.
Recognise Australia’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of

Persons with Disabilities

The right to participate in cultural and community life is a recognised human right.

Co-design future reforms with participants and Organisations who have decades of expertise in delivering successful disability supports. Establish ongoing consultation and co-design mechanisms with participants, families, disability arts organisations and specialist service providers before implementing reforms affecting community participation supports.

“I can’t explain how much I appreciate this place. Coming here lifts my spirits.” Jordan Dymke – APA artist since 2013