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2025 ROUND 1 FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS
Co-design funding for disability-led research: $900,000 invested, 15 projects funded
Over 6–10 months, these projects will either co-design research proposals or use co-design methods to bring together what is known about a topic.
Find the Round 1 Funding guidelines and further information here.
The research is funded by the NDRP through a grant from the Australian Government as an initiative under Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031.
On this page
Projects funded in Stream 1: Co-design of research proposals
These projects will support the co-design of future research that is needed.
Sometimes I'm too safe: Exploring the dignity of risk
Young adults with intellectual disability are leading this important research to understand when being ‘kept safe’ actually limits their opportunities to learn and grow. This groundbreaking project will co-design a research study to help families, support workers and NDIS providers find the right balance between safety and independence.
Project lead: Prof. Rhonda Faragher
Lead organisation: University of Queensland
In partnership with: Down Syndrome Australia, Down Syndrome Queensland
Community: Adults with intellectual disability
Building culturally safe support for refugee communities
This vital project will help break down barriers faced by people with disability from Karen and Afghan Hazara refugee backgrounds in regional Victoria. Community members, researchers and staff from health and disability services will co-design pathways to safer, more accessible services that better understand cultural needs.
Project lead: Prof. Angela Dew
Lead organisation: Deakin University
In partnership with: Bendigo Community Health Service, Amicus Community Services, Lifely, Intereach
Community: People with disability from Karen and Afghan Hazara refugee backgrounds.
Pleasure-centered sexual safety for neurodivergent people
Moving beyond risk-focused approaches, this innovative project celebrates the agency of neurodivergent women, trans and gender-diverse people in Victoria. It's building new understanding of what sexual safety and pleasure mean to this community, co-designing research to create evidence for advocacy, health and justice reform.
Project lead: Dr Sophie Hindes
Lead organisation: La Trobe University
In partnership with: Women with Disabilities Victoria, Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, Reducing Gender-based Violence Network
Community: Neurodivergent women, trans and gender-diverse people
Keeping people with disability safe on farms
This project will bring people with lived experience together with disability services, researchers and workplace safety agencies to identify the key challenges for physical and psychological safety of people with disability working in Australia's agriculture sector. This community-driven project will deliver a research proposal to help make farming more inclusive and accessible for everyone.
Project lead: Ms Josie Clarke
Lead organisation: Ability Agriculture Foundation
In partnership with: Central Queensland University Institute for Future Farming Systems
Community: People with disability working in agriculture
Psychological safety for children with 'behaviours of concern'
Children with disability who are labeled as having 'behaviours of concern' face unique risks to their psychological safety. This team will co-design research to help schools and services better understand and support these children, moving away from exclusion toward genuine inclusion.
Project lead: Dr Sarah Knight
Lead organisation: University of Melbourne
In partnership with: Heads Together for Brain Injury, Yellow Ladybugs
Community: Children with disability and families
Safe Homes: alternatives to group homes
Could individual support be safer than group homes? This crucial project will co-design research to evaluate 'service-for-one' models with families who've found greater safety and autonomy through direct employment of support workers. This work could transform how we think about supported living.
Project lead: Dr Tess Bright
Lead organisation: University of Melbourne
In partnership with: Inclusion Australia
Community: People with intellectual disability and complex support needs
Family violence in families of children with disability in Australia
This landmark project will focus on how Australian families with children with disability experience family violence. By exploring how disability intersects with culture, gender and geography, this project will co-design research to create evidence for better support when families need it most.
Project lead: Dr Liz Hudson
Lead organisation: Children and Young People with Disability Australia
In partnership with: Australian Institute of Family Studies
Community: Families of children with disability
Feeling safe in your own skin
Using innovative movement, dance and immersive technology, this powerful project challenges ableism in rehabilitation settings. Led by people with disability, it's designing research that reimagines how the body can be a site of empowerment rather than vulnerability in healthcare environments.
Project lead: Prof. Rachael McDonald
Lead organisation: Swinburne University
In partnership with: Genyus Network
Community: People with disability in rehabilitation and healthcare
Culturally grounded safety for First Nations women with disability
This important project focuses on continence, safety and access to services for First Nations women with disability. Using culturally grounded approaches, this team will co-design research that informs continence care that truly respects both disability needs and cultural values.
Project lead: Ms Jody Barney
Lead organisation: Deaf Indigenous Community Consultancy
In partnership with: University of Melbourne, Continence Nurses Society of Australia
Community: First Nations women with disability
Safety for CALD communities in Aged Care
As Australia's population ages, more people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds with disability are entering aged care. This project will co-design research that examines how both formal policies and informal practices affect their safety and wellbeing.
Project lead: Ms Sadikshya Dulal, National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA)
Lead organisation: Australian Association of Gerontology
In partnership with: National Ethnic Disability Alliance
Community: People with disability from CALD backgrounds in Aged Care
Safe meals for people with swallowing difficulties
Building on previous successful research, this project tackles the complex challenge of ensuring meals are both safe and enjoyable for people with dysphagia. The team will co-design research to influence disability support providers’ policies and the ways staff provide mealtime support. It's addressing choking risks while maintaining dignity and pleasure in eating.
Project lead: Prof. Bronwyn Hemsley
Lead organisation: University of Technology Sydney
In partnership with: Onemda, Melba Support Services, Speech Pathology Australia
Community: People with disability and dysphagia in supported accommodation
Exploring the mobility safety concerns of Australians with deafblindness
People with deafblindness face unique challenges simply leaving their homes safely. This community-supported research explores navigation, road crossing and mobility concerns, working directly with this often-excluded community to understand their lived experiences.
Project lead: Dr Meredith Prain
Lead organisation: Able Australia
In partnership with: Macquarie University, NextSense
Community: People with deafblindness
Reproductive justice and neurodivergence
Neurodivergent communities face systemic barriers to reproductive rights and justice. This participatory research centers neurodivergent expertise to investigate drivers of harm and co-design solutions that promote bodily autonomy and safety in reproductive healthcare.
Project lead: Dr Jessica Moulton
Lead organisation: University of Melbourne in collaboration with University of Technology Sydney and University of Queensland
In partnership with: Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT, Sexual Health Quarters WA, Sexual Health Victoria
Community: Neurodivergent people accessing reproductive healthcare
Projects funded in Stream 2: Knowledge synthesis projects
These projects will use co-design methods to bring together what is already known about a topic.
Barriers Within Bars: Indigenous people with disability in prison
This vital research examines the unique challenges faced by Indigenous people with disability in Australian prisons. Working with advocates, families and former prisoners, it's uncovering gaps in knowledge and identifying areas that urgently need improvement.
Project lead: A/Prof. Sheelagh Daniels-Mayes
Lead organisation: University of Melbourne
In partnership with: AccessAble Braille Enterprises
Community: Indigenous people with disability in the justice system
Autistic people's safety across life stages
This comprehensive umbrella review brings together research across different life areas and experiences to create the most complete picture yet of Autistic people's safety. Led by a team of Autistic, neurodivergent and non-autistic researchers, it will identify what puts Autistic people at risk and what helps them stay safe.
Project lead: A/Prof. Iliana Magiati
Lead organisation: The University of Western Australia
In partnership with: Reframing Autism, ASPECT Research Centre for Autism Practice, Empower Autism
Community: Autistic people across the lifespan