Funding boost for disability-led research to accelerate action on Disability Royal Commission safety recommendations

People with disability will lead new research into family violence, safe housing, and autonomy in decision-making. The research aims to increase safety and reduce abuse and neglect. 

The National Disability Research Partnership (NDRP) has awarded $900,000 to 15 disability-led research projects focused on improving safety for people with disability. This initial investment will be followed by additional funding rounds for larger projects.

The research is funded by the NDRP through a grant from the Australian Government as an initiative under Australia's Disability Strategy 2021–2031.

"These projects bring together researchers, community organisations, and policy stakeholders to build knowledge grounded in lived experience. They aim to improve safety outcomes for people with disability across a range of settings." 

— Mary Sayers (she/her), NDRP CEO 

All projects use co-design approaches, ensuring research is shaped by people with disability from the beginning. Research teams include people with disability, First Nations People, Disabled People's Organisations, and culturally and linguistically diverse communities, working with university researchers. 

All projects receive ongoing NDRP support, including practical guidance and collaborative learning on areas such as trauma-informed practice, co-design, ethics and knowledge translation. 

Three of the funded projects demonstrate the breadth and innovation of the disability-led approach: 

Exploring family violence through a disability lens 

Children and Young People with Disability Australia, partnering with the Australian Institute of Family Studies, will investigate how families of children with disability experience family violence – co-designed research that hasn't existed before in Australia. 

The project explores how disability intersects with race, gender, culture, and geography to shape families' experiences and support needs. 

"This research is a foundational step in challenging the invisibility and systemic silencing that children and young people with disability like me have experienced as victim/survivors of domestic and family violence across all levels of society." 

— Gi Brown (they/them), lived expertise researcher with disability 

Creating safe homes

This project challenges the assumption that group homes are the safest option for people with intellectual disability, and explores better alternatives. 

Given the extremely high rates of abuse people with intellectual disability face in group homes, University of Melbourne academics, working with Inclusion Australia, will evaluate Service-for-One support models as alternatives. 

While governments focus on tightening regulation, this project will investigate individualised support (where workers are directly employed rather than through providers) which has been reported by families to lead to greater safety and autonomy. 

"People with an intellectual disability deserve to have control over where and how they live. Inclusion Australia is excited to be part of the co-design of this research to ensure good options, such as the Service-for-One model, are available to them." 

— Catherine McAlpine (she/her), CEO, Inclusion Australia 

Exploring the dignity of risk with adults with intellectual disability

The University of Queensland, partnering with Down Syndrome Australia and Down Syndrome Queensland, will explore when protection becomes restriction for adults with intellectual disability. 

The project addresses a challenge facing NDIS workers, parents and carers who struggle to balance safety with opportunities for growth and development. 

"People with intellectual disability are often not given the opportunity to be agents over their own lives. Supporting them to make choices and have real agency and power can make their lives safer." 

— Darryl Steff (he/him), CEO, Down Syndrome Australia 

Read the full list of projects funded in Round 1.