.png)
Easy read summary
The Australian Government is giving the NDRP more funding. More money is great news!
The NDRP is working on improving Australia’s disability research. Research will be used to make things better for people with disability in Australia.
We are finding better ways for people with disability to do research and to be involved in research. We are also helping share disability research.
Our research is important to Australia’s new Disability Strategy.
Full statement
The funding of $12.5 million for a National Disability Research Partnership (NDRP) over 2022-23 to 2024-25, announced by the Australian Government today, is a major milestone in achieving the vision of a world class disability research and policy hub. The NDRP is a key initiative under Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031 (the Strategy), which was announced today.
This funding will fully establish a partnership to facilitate a collaborative and inclusive national disability research agenda, translate disability research into policy and practice to improve outcomes for people with disability, and enable the NDRP to play a key role to support the Strategy.
The current two-year seed funding commenced in 2019 through a grant from the Department of Social Services to the Melbourne Disability Institute at the University of Melbourne. From its commencement, the establishment of the NDRP has aimed to be inclusive and has been guided by a Working Party made up of people with disability, academics and independent advisors.
By the end of the seed funding phase, which is expected to be mid-2022, the Working Party will have established guiding principles for the NDRP which centres the lived experience of people with disability, a recommendation for a future governance structure, a national research agenda that will that will guide investment in disability research and a plan for how to rapidly improve Australia’s capacity to do high quality disability research by and with people with disability.
The Working Party is grateful for all the support and interest from the disability community over the last two years. It has worked with people with disability, families, allies and supporters, advocacy organisations, academics, service providers and government to shape the vision. Progress to date could not have been achieved without this deep engagement.
Now the Working Party is looking forward to bringing together all the feedback received to date, consulting further and co‑designing our recommendations on the future NDRP with all our stakeholders.
Professor Anne Kavanagh, Co-Chair of the NDRP Working Party says: “I have long hoped and strived for a time when research ‘by and with’ people with disability is the norm; where Australian disability research is of high quality and genuinely contributes to transformative change; and where we have a research workforce, including disabled researchers, within and outside universities that is the best in the world. Today’s announcement is a major step toward achieving this aspiration.”
Professor Bruce Bonyhady, Co-Chair of the NDRP Working Party says: “This Australian Government funding makes our vision for the best and most inclusive research program, improving policy and practice and positioning Australia at the cutting edge of disability research globally, a reality. The investment in NDRP will help to ensure that the best evidence and research is available to support the new Australian Disability Strategy. We are looking forward to finalising our recommendations and transitioning to an inclusive governance structure for a fully established NDRP with a clear research agenda which matches the priorities of all our stakeholders and builds capacity for disability research.”
See Australia’s Disability Strategy is available on the Disability Gateway website, including in Easy Read and Auslan. Click here: Australia’s Disability Strategy Hub
Read Senator Anne Ruston's media release for Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031 here: Landmark strategy to support Australian's with disability.
