People with Disability Australia (PWDA) welcomes the Australian Government’s release of the National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025–2035 as an important step toward equitable health care for LGBTIQA+ people with disability. PWDA, the national disability rights and representative organisation and peak for LGBTIQA+ people with disability, believes the framework has potential to deliver meaningful improvements but progress will depend on how it is implemented.
“This Action Plan acknowledges many of the barriers to care faced by LGBTIQA+ people with disability and we’re encouraged by its recognition of the importance of lived experience in shaping policy. However, the Plan’s strength will depend on its implementation, and PWDA will continue advocating to ensure these commitments lead to real change,” said PWDA Interim President Trinity Ford.
PWDA has particularly welcomed the Plan’s recognition of the intersecting identities and needs of LGBTIQA+ people, including those with disability.
“LGBTIQA+ people are not a homogenous group – we have diverse identities. The recognition that disability inclusive approaches to LGBTIQA+ healthcare is a necessary and important step for our community. Its emphasis on lived experience, improved data collection, disability-inclusive workforce development, and reducing barriers to care is commendable,” Ms Ford said.
While supportive of the potential this framework holds, PWDA stresses the need for robust implementation to ensure the Plan’s strong principles translate into meaningful improvements.
“When the system is not accessible we miss out on care, medicine and procedures that are important for our safety, capacity and to have bodily autonomy. Addressing this will require co-design with our community and investment in accessible service delivery models,” PWDA Deputy CEO Megan Spindler-Smith said.
PWDA wants to see a particular focus on removing barriers in rural and remote areas for LGBTIQA+ people with disability as accessibility barriers can be compounded by the lack of health care and service providers.
“Being able to access life-saving and life-affirming medicine and care is a human right. We need to ensure that LGBTIQA+ people no matter their location or support needs have genuine choice and control over their health care and bodily autonomy,” said Ms Ford.
PWDA will be advocating for an implementation plan that is disability inclusive and contains clear timelines, accountability measures and detailed actions that progress:
- The full elimination of forced medical procedures, with a particular focus on people with innate variations of sex characteristics and intellectual disability.
- Improved access to essential medicines, including hormone replacement therapies, with a particular focus on increasing pathways for easy access to these medicines for people with disability in rural and remote areas.
- Integrated action plans for disability-inclusive approaches across government services and policy frameworks.
“Our communities deserve more than promises; we deserve transformative change. PWDA stands ready to work with government and LGBTIQA+ communities to ensure there is effective implementation of this framework and its potential is fully realised,” Mx Spindler-Smith said.
ENDS
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ABOUT PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY AUSTRALIA
People with Disability Australia Incorporated (PWDA) is a national disability rights and advocacy, non-profit, non-government organisation. We have a cross-disability focus, representing the interests of people with all kinds of disability and our membership is made up of people with disability and organisations mainly constituted by people with disability.
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