$1 million awarded to disability research

In its first funding round, the NDRP has awarded $1 million to nine research projects nationally, funded from the $2.5 million seed funding provided by the Commonwealth Government in 2020 to establish the partnership. The projects involve academics, disability advocacy organisations, services and community organisations. They cover a broad range of areas that are important to people with disability:

• ‘Bringing It Home’: The exploration and co-design of consumer-led methodologies to understand lived experience of home and living within a National Disability Research Partnership.

• Co-designing Resources to Increase Access to Information and Services: Syrian and Iraqi people with disability from refugee backgrounds and service providers

• Designing a Continuum of Best Practices for the Inclusion of Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Higher Education

• Experiences of police apprehension for psychosocial disability: a co-designed investigation

• Giving voice to rural and remote First Nations NDIS participants who are Deaf or hard of hearing in the Northern Territory.

• “Saying who you are”: Identifying best practice to support positive identities for LGBTQ people with intellectual disability.

• Stepping out in the world – the new adulthood for Gen Zs with Down syndrome

• Supporting the woman, supporting the mother: Examining the interface between the NDIS and family support services for mothers with intellectual disability in New South Wales

• The eternal child: When best interests are not in the best interests of young people with disability

“We were pleased to receive such a range of proposals from many researchers at universities and community organisations" says Professor Anne Kavanagh, Co-Director of the NDRP. "We received 123 proposals which demonstrates the critical need for dedicated disability research funding. What is really exciting is the new research partnerships being developed between universities and community organisations. This is a whole new era where research is done by and with people with disability.”

Funding recipients commented:

“We must do housing research that includes people with disabilities and uses methods that make sense to them. It was always my ultimate dream to live in the city and I used to think that was impossible until the NDIS came along. As someone who moved in my 20s from living with my family, to now living in my own inner city apartment, I want all Australians with disabilities to have the same choice that I have about where they live and who they live with. This project will document ways people with disabilities can assess their own housing goals and outcomes over time. It will also make sure lived experience of disability is central to understanding the impacts of a range of housing options in Australia.” Jono Bredin, lived experience researcher on ‘Bringing it Home’ project.

“It is excellent to see government investment in collaborative housing research which includes people with disabilities, allied health professionals, designers, housing peak bodies and other researchers. Our NDRP-funded ‘Bringing it Home’ project will result in consumer-led methodologies to understand home and living experiences.” Associate Professor Libby Callaway, Monash University, ‘Bringing it Home’ project. “The “Experiences of police apprehension for psychosocial disability: a co-designed investigation” project aims to give voice to people with psychosocial disability who often experience forceful police transfers to psychiatric care in events of perceived mental health crises. We hope that the work enabled by this grant may contribute to policy reforms or other resources that better support the rights of people with psychosocial disability in moments of crisis. The support from NDRP has enabled this project to be meaningfully led by people living with psychosocial disability, who also have first-hand knowledge of police apprehension.” Mx Rory Randall, Consumer Researcher RMIT, Experiences of police apprehension for psychosocial disability: a co-designed investigation.

“Many people with disability are treated as children throughout their lives. They have often been prevented from making their own decisions as they become adults. In collaboration with Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) and Inclusion Australia we will look at ways that young people can be supported in a way that respects and supports their evolving capacity. The project has been made possible by a grant from NDRP which will allow us to co-design the research with young people with a disability who will be involved in all stages of the research process." Professor Ilan Katz, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, “The Eternal Child” project.

Read more about these projects here: funded projects