{"id":3320,"date":"2025-03-20T17:06:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T06:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/?p=3320"},"modified":"2026-06-14T22:12:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T12:12:34","slug":"breaking-barriers-redefining-intimacy-for-people-with-disability-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/latest-news\/breaking-barriers-redefining-intimacy-for-people-with-disability-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Disability ignored on Q&amp;A: Melba CEO calls for inclusion in political debate\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3320\" class=\"elementor elementor-3320\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7e5acca2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7e5acca2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a72edb4 e-con-full home-banner e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"a72edb4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-31d7b416 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget-laptop__width-initial elementor-widget-tablet_extra__width-initial elementor-widget-tablet__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"31d7b416\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Disability ignored on Q&amp;A: Melba CEO calls for inclusion in political debate\u00a0\u00a0<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-308332ac elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"308332ac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-f88c87c elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time> 20 March 2025<\/time>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5db61902 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5db61902\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3540b185 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3540b185\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-42adc802 link elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"42adc802\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The lack of discussion on disability during last week\u2019s Q&amp;A was \u201cdisappointing and telling\u201d, according to Melba CEO Hayley Dean.<\/p>\n<p>Despite having Minister for Health Mark Butler and Shadow Assistant Minister for the NDIS Hollie Hughes on the panel, people with lived experience of disability were completely absent from the conversation. This was a major oversight, especially considering the importance of the NDIS and broader health issues that directly impact people with disability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s even more disappointing is that people with disability weren\u2019t represented in the audience and weren\u2019t acknowledged in the discussion at all,\u201d Hayley said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven the significant challenges the disability community faces \u2013 including accessibility, support services, employment and ongoing changes to the NDIS \u2013 this silence speaks volumes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Host) Patricia Karvelas had a prime opportunity to raise these issues, particularly with a Shadow Minister responsible for the NDIS on the panel. The fact she didn\u2019t highlights a bigger problem: disability is still not seen as a priority in mainstream political debate or media coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the election fast approaching, it is important people with disability are not sidelined, Hayley said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe policies and decisions made by government directly shape lives and it\u2019s critical that people with disability are consulted and remain front and centre in public discussion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to demand better representation, more inclusive conversations and real commitment from leaders to address the issues that matter.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-42b60cb0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"42b60cb0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1fb9949d e-con-full 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Dean.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":3322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Disability ignored on Q&amp;A: Melba CEO calls for inclusion in political debate\u00a0\u00a0 | Melba Support Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The lack of discussion on disability during last week\u2019s Q&amp;A was \u201cdisappointing and\u00a0telling\u201d, according to Melba CEO Hayley Dean.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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