2025 International Day of People with Disability
Wednesday 3 December #IDPwD

International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is observed on 3 December each year. The aim of this United Nations day of significance is to increase public awareness and promote inclusion of people with disability.

This year’s theme is “fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress”.

The University of Melbourne recognises IDPwD. We also recognise that there are a range of views in the disability community around what IDPwD signifies.

Our ambition is to make the University a safe, equitable and welcoming place for students, staff and visitors with disability, and to become a leader in inclusion and accessibility. We can only achieve this by listening to and working with staff and students with disability in the University community. On IDPwD, and every day, we recognise their contributions.

Disability inclusion is a key focus area in the University’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2030.

Work to implement the University’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023-2026 continued over 2025. This year an extensive evaluation of the plan was undertaken to inform development of the next plan, due for release in 2026.

The University’s staff disability lived experience advisory group, the Staff Disability Roundtable, expanded in 2025. The Roundtable now has a membership of over 70 staff with disability and/or caring responsibilities. The lived-experience expertise of the Roundtable helps guide the Plan and related initiatives.

A Student Disability Projects Panel was also established in 2025. The Panel provides paid opportunities for students with disability to support the DIAP work.

Student Equity and Disability Support (SEDS) launched a new website this year, following extensive consultation with staff and students. The new website provides students with clearer information and advice on the SEDS service, eligibility, and application processes.

A multi-year project to address and update physical accessibility at the University continues. A series of upgrades across twelve buildings at the University of Melbourne’s Parkville Campus has been completed, forming part of the University’s ongoing program to improve accessibility and overall campus usability. The works included enhancements to stairs and ramps, building access and signage, including braille. Lecture theatre seating was also modified to provide DDA-compliant wheelchair spaces, supporting more inclusive teaching environments.

Digital accessibility also continues to be a high priority. Accessibility standards now built into our IT procurement processes. There has been a program of work to improve our University communication channels.

We’ve also had a focus on embedding Universal Design for Learning. The Community of Inclusive Learning (COIL) has been very active over 2025. COIL is a community of practice focussed on inclusive curriculum and educational design.

Read more about disability inclusion at the University

Disability Research Community of Practice - When data gets it wrong: Understanding deaths of people with disability

When: Wednesday 4 December
Where: The University of Melbourne Parkville campus (for academics, students and staff only)
What: A special Community of Practice session featuring new research from one of MDI’s PhD Scholars, Joanna Butchart.

Joanna will share her findings which show how current medical certifying practices and statistical coding can lead to neurodevelopmental disabilities — such as cerebral palsy, intellectual disability and Down syndrome — being incorrectly reported as the underlying cause of death in Australia. Even when death certificates are filled out correctly, Joanna found that the coding rules used to record deaths can still wrongly list disability as the main cause of death. In this session, she will present her findings and discuss how these errors affect our understanding of the true causes of death among people with neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Read Joanna’s article in ScienceDirect's Disability and Health Journal

More information about the event

Ableist Cities Symposium

When: Wednesday 10 December
Where: Kenneth Myer Building 30 Royal Parade, The University of Melbourne Parkville campus
What: A one day symposium on reshaping inaccessible buildings and infrastructures in Australian cities

This free one-day symposium will focus on the theme of Transformative Solutions for Inclusive Development: the Role of Innovation in Fuelling an Accessible and Equitable World.

Drawing inspiration from last year's exploration of spatial justice and the physical and attitudinal barriers faced by individuals with disabilities, this year's Ableist Cities Symposium intends to hear narratives of individual lived experience or co-designed research.

Emphasising an integrated approach, the symposium seeks to marry the realms of politics, policy and practical applications to address the pressing challenges faced in the built environment. In giving voice to these narratives, we aim to ignite conversations that will shape our cities to make them more inclusive, equitable, and accessible for all.

The Ableist Cities Symposium is a collaboration between the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, the Melbourne Disability Institute and the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

Register for the Symposium

2025 Research Conference of the Disability, Law and Society Network of Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand: Accountability, Resistance and Disruption!

When: Wednesday 10 December - Friday 12 December
Where: Online via Zoom
What: The Conference is a forum for those involved in disability law research and practice. It focuses on exploring relationships between disability, law and society, culture and politics

Papers focused on Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and Asia Pacific contexts and foregrounding lived experiences, human rights and Disability Justice activism and advocacy.

The Conference is organised by Linda Steele (University of Technology Sydney), Piers Gooding & Chris Maylea (La Trobe University) and Anna Arstein-Kerslake (The University of Melbourne).

Find out more about the conference

Critical Disability Studies Seminar Series

The Melbourne Disability Institute (MDI) and the Diversity and Inclusion team (Office of the Provost) presented two seminars on Critical Disability Studies this year:

Seminar 1: The Social Model of Disability: 40 years on

The Critical Disability Studies Seminar Series aims to build engagement with topics disability-related issues. Panel discussions are facilitated by global and local thought leaders, researchers and academic subject matter experts. Discussions focus on key concepts and current issues in critical disability studies.

The series aims to engage members of the public and students and staff at the University with contemporary thinking by people with disability about how far we’ve come on the journey to inclusion, what has worked, what has not, and what’s next.

The Critical Disability Studies Seminar Series is planned to continue in 2026.

More information and recordings of past seminars

Deaf Art Science Festival

This free event was held on 29 November and was co-designed with members of the Deaf community including students and professionals. It was an exciting day of exploration and learning at the University of Melbourne’s Science Gallery and Grainger Museum.

The program included:

  • Deaf-led tours of the Science Gallery's current exhibition, DISTRACTION
  • Grainger Museum tour and experience with Speak Percussion
  • Auslan in the Creative Arts and Sciences forum with leading Deaf educators, artists and scientists: Ramas McRae, Christopher Makin, David Parker, Chelle Destefano and Elizabeth Reed
  • Drop-in STEM workshops at our STEM Centre of Excellence for D/deaf/HoH and Hearing young people aged 10 yrs +
  • Introduction to Auslan lesson delivered by Deaf Auslan teachers

Award-winning performance: The Adaptive Music Bridging Program

The Adaptive Music Bridging Progam recently won City of Melbourne’s 2025 Access and Inclusion Award. The program is an association between the Music Education, Teaching and Learning Lab (METAL-LAB) and Melbourne Youth Orchestras. It is open to students aged between eight and 14 years, who have a disability, chronic illness, mental health condition or are Deaf or neurodiverse. It is suitable for both new learners who have struggled to access instrumental music education, and current players whose needs are not being met by standard instruments or teaching techniques. Graduates are supported to join MYO’s mainstream ensembles or other school or community groups. The Adaptive Music Bridging Program is part of a research project run by the University of Melbourne to help researchers better understand the needs of instrumental music students with disability.

The University's Education at Melbourne portal includes profiles of staff who are committed to inclusive and accessible teaching practices every day of the year, such as:

  • Ashley Anderson, Senior Learning Designer – Accessibility, who, in her role in the Teaching and Learning Innovation department improves student experience every day. Read Ashley's story
  • Professor Andy Perfors, an academic with lived experience of ADHD and Director of the Complex Human Data Hub at the University of Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, and Academic Lead, LGBTIQA+ Inclusion at the University. Read Andy's story
  • Research Fellow Sarah Timperley, co-lead of the University of Melbourne Neurodiversity Project, which aims to improve the experience of neurodivergent students and staff. Read Sarah's story

More accessible teaching resources: Accessibility in teaching, learning and assessment

Learn about some of the disability networks, research centres, partnerships and initiatives across the University and beyond:

Resources for students and staff with disability:

Disability information

Resources for students with disability:

Student Equity and Disability Services

Read the latest stories on Pursuit:

Meet alumnus Rebecca Adam, the first deaf CEO of Expression Australia:

Read her story