Policy Context

Australian Cancer Plan

The Australian Cancer Plan is a 10-year strategy developed by Cancer Australia to improve cancer outcomes for all Australians, particularly for groups with poorer outcomes, including people with disability. One action in the plan is to develop and embed the Optimal Care Pathways into the health system. The Optimal Care Pathways are a framework for the delivery of consistent, safe, high-quality, and evidence-based care for people with cancer.

Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–31

Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-31 outlines a vision for a more inclusive and accessible Australian society where all people with disability can fulfil their potential as equal members of the community. It is a national framework that all governments in Australia have endorsed and helps in protecting, promoting and realising the human rights of people with disability, in line with Australia’s commitment under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)

The UNCRPD is an international convention that sets out the fundamental human rights of people with disability, the purpose being to promote, protect and ensure their full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and promote respect for their inherent dignity. Australia is a signatory of this convention, and it entered into force on 16 August 2008.

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

The NDIS provides funding to people under 65 years old who have a permanent impairment and need specific disability supports to complete daily life activities. It aims to provide support to people with disability to gain more time with family and friends, greater independence, access to new skills, jobs, or volunteering in their community, and improved quality of life. The NDIS also connects anyone with a disability to services in their community. In December 2023, the final report of the NDIS review, “Working together to deliver the National Disability Insurance Scheme”, provided 26 recommendations with 139 actions to change the systems that supports people with disability.

Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability

The final report released in September 2023 includes 222 recommendations on how to improve laws, policies, structures and practices to ensure a more inclusive and just society that supports the independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. The Australian government subsequently produced a response to this report.

National Roadmap for Improving the Health of People with Intellectual Disability

The Australian Government’s National Roadmap for Improving the Health of People with Intellectual Disability aims to address serious health inequities faced by people with intellectual disability. It outlines a 10-year plan to promote a health system where people with intellectual disability are valued, respected, and have access to high-quality, timely and comprehensive health care.