Putting People First
Welcome to the May edition of the Alumni eNews focused on the topic of accessibility, inclusivity and putting people first.
Around one in six Australians (4.4 million people) currently experience disability. The experience of disability can universally impact people of any gender, age or culture and at any point during life transition. It can be permanent or temporary and is not always visible to others. Importantly, no two people have the same experience.
It is now more than 10 years since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted, marking a paradigm shift away from disability as a medical impairment to a social model which seeks to change and improve society to remove barriers and accommodate people experiencing disability. We have seen progress, but there is still some way to go before we can claim to be a fully inclusive society.
My own personal story involves a cervical spinal cord injury causing quadriplegia. It was a life-changing event, not only physically and mentally, but in transforming everything around me. Though I eventually returned to study and achieved my dream of being a doctor, my experience facing physical, attitudinal, communication and social barriers in education, employment, healthcare and beyond was challenging.
I use my voice to highlight, advise on and advocate for more inclusion, understanding and research to enact change for people experiencing disability. I believe that the solutions to our most complex problems will come from having a diversity of perspectives. And we certainly need more people that understand and have lived experiences in all professions.
QUT recognises that inclusivity in education in particular is a fundamental human right that enables all other rights, and it supports this through principles and practices to assist students, staff and the community to engage fully with the university on campus and online.
These principles also drive leading multi-disciplinary research by and in partnership with people with disability. Examples include the Centre for Inclusive Education work in Inclusion in Higher Education and Universal Design; QUT Design Lab’s activities through the Healthcare Excellence AcceLerator program, and their activities exploring Disability Arts and technology such as Wonderous Goggles helping others understand navigation challenges of the visually impaired; and the Australian Retailers Association-QUT Consumer Research partnership projects on Disabled Workers and Neurodiversity in retail workplaces.
The Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games also brings many opportunities to provide transformative education, advancement in new technologies and accessible and inclusive community environments. With 2022 Outstanding Alumnus Catherine Clark at the helm of Paralympics Australia, and new initiatives such as the Virtual Cycling Centre and inaugural QUT Para Sport Coaching Scholarship program, QUT is playing an important role in realising these ambitions.
We must all be advocates for inclusivity to ensure that people’s rights and needs are at the core of our workplaces and communities. I hope the stories and resources in this newsletter will encourage and assist you in this endeavour.
Your guest editor,