What will Canberra look like in a decade for people with disability? How could it be better? The ACT Government wants to hear from the public.

Renee Heaton, chair of the ACT Disability Reference Group, has lived with disability all her life. “We are so much further along than when I was a kid, but that doesn’t mean there’s still not work we can do.”

More accessible public places, for instance, or making it easier for people with disabilities to find work.

Emma Davidson, ACT Minister for Disability, today launched the consultation for the ACT Disability Strategy for the next 10 years, which aims to make Canberra more inclusive and equitable. It follows the launch of the Australian Disability Strategy in December.

• ACT Government wants to make a better Canberra for people with disabilities
• Federal disability strategy welcome, but NDIS concerns remain

Until the end of July, Canberrans can take part in kitchen table conversations, online surveys, and public meetings – led by people with disabilities themselves, and their carers, family, and friends.

“We are a progressive city,” Ms Heaton said. “We are full of really good people who have hearts of gold. We want to capture that, harness it, and turn it into a strategy that makes a real difference for people with disability in Canberra.”

“This is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate what codesign and good consultation really look like,” Ms Davidson said, “so that when we’re working with people with disability to build that better future that we all want together, that it’s their ideas and their voices that lead the way.”

For instance, Ms Heaton wants greater universal design across Canberra, so that anyone, regardless of ability or disability, can use a locale. At the moment, she can catch a taxi, get on a bus, or (as of last week) ride the tram, but kerbs are still an impediment.

“I hate having to go the long way round all the time. I get to a kerb and there’s no kerb ramp, so I have to double back and go around. It’s really frustrating. So I think there are things that we can do to absolutely improve accessibility about public places.”

Employment is another concern; like other people with disability, Ms Heaton struggled to get a job. There is, she said, a tendency to treat them like children or patronise them.

“People don’t think that people with disability are worthwhile, that they have value, that they can contribute,” she said. “We need to break down those stereotypes and biases that people with disability can’t contribute, or they don’t have value, because they are simply not true.”

Once she was offered a job by the Australian National University, she started at the bottom of the ladder, like everyone else, but she soon demonstrated her capability there, and now works at a leader’s level in the public service.

“Having a job is one of the best things that we can do for people with disability,” Ms Heaton said. “It creates a sense of community, a sense of belonging, financial freedom, and independence that people just take for granted in their lives when they have it. If we can improve the employment outcomes for people with disabilities, get them into real meaningful work where they’re valued and paid for the value of the work they do, that will make a really big difference.”

More than 80,000 Canberrans have disability, Ms Davidson said: an incredibly diverse group of people, with their own abilities, interests, and priorities – but they all want to make Canberra an inclusive community where people are well supported.

“We come in all different shapes and sizes, and backgrounds and capabilities,” Ms Heaton said. “And we all should have a chance to contribute to our community, and to our employment, and to the city, and to Canberra.”

Consultation is open until 31 July. For more information, visit https://yoursayconversations.act.gov.au/act-disability-strategy.

The YourSay website, Ms Heaton said, includes resources about what disability looks like in the ACT, the barriers they face, and how individuals, business owners, and service providers can be more inclusive and equitable.

“I want people to understand what disability looks like, the impact that it has on lives, and the things that each and every one of us can do to help contribute to inclusion here in the ACT.”