Annie in wonderland

https://open.spotify.com/show/2dLRtagYg0ZQqizcjvvrgY?si=fa2a6dffbeca4c46   When people talk about the NDIS, the conversation often begins with change. A new announcement, a new policy, a new review, or a new headline appears and suddenly thousands of people are trying to work out what it means for them, their families, their supports, and their future. But the reality of the NDIS is much bigger than any single announcement. Behind every change are real people trying to navigate a system that affects their everyday lives. There are participants trying to understand what their options are. There are families supporting loved ones through uncertainty. There are support workers helping people achieve their goals. There are support coordinators working every day to help people understand not just what is happening, but why it is happening. This is where conversations become important. Because knowing that something has changed is very different from understanding the impact of that chan...

When the Digital World Goes Quiet Modern society has quietly built a world where connection is assumed. The internet is assumed. Mobile phones are assumed. Online services are assumed. Digital communication is assumed. For most people, losing internet access or mobile service is frustrating. It might mean a missed message, a delayed payment, a few hours without entertainment, or the inconvenience of waiting for a service to return. But for many people living with disability, the failure of technology can mean something much bigger. It can mean the loss of independence. The loss of communication. The loss of routine. The loss of access to work. The loss of safety systems that most people never realise exist. The recent Telstra outage highlighted a reality that modern society is still learning to address: when communication networks fail, the impact is not evenly distributed. A person who can simply wait for a service to return experiences an inconvenience. A person whose daily independe...

From Locked Gates to Community Belonging: How Disability Support Changed from Control to Choice Disability support did not appear overnight. The systems, ideas, and expectations we have today were shaped by centuries of beliefs about disability — from fear and misunderstanding, through institutions and segregation, to rights, choice, independence, and belonging. When we talk about disability support, we are not just talking about funding packages, services, workers, or policies. We are talking about a much bigger question: What do we believe disabled people deserve? Do we see people as problems to be fixed? Do we see them as people to be protected? Or do we see them as individuals with their own goals, preferences, strengths, risks, and right to participate fully in life? The answer has changed over time, but the history matters because old ideas do not disappear overnight. Sometimes they remain hidden in the way systems are designed, the way media portrays disability, or the way peopl...