> Return to the 2025 Federal Election summary

Below is the full response we received from the Australian Greens.

Do you commit to co-designing a national, staged, funded transition plan that would bring an end to segregated employment of people with disability within the term of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-31; investing in employment support models that focus on individualised, tailored planning; and improving data collection about employment outcomes for people with disability?

The Greens will fully fund a transition plan to close Australian Disability Enterprises and move to inclusive mainstream employment in five years by providing $200m to support a safe and well-planned transition process. We will end the role of for-profit employment services providers by replacing them with a new public-sector Commonwealth Employment Service, ensuring employment services are driven by support, not profit. This will enable disabled people seeking employment to receive more individualised support.
The Greens will also set a 20% quota for full employment representation of disabled employees in the APS by 2030 to ensure greater disability representation in public service policy, decision-making, and delivery.

Will you commit to directly investing in accessible and affordable social housing that complies with the minimum accessibility standards set out in the updated National Construction Code 2022 Livable Housing Design (LHD) Standard; supporting implementation of the LHD Standard without unnecessary concessions throughout Australia (e.g. through monitoring, data collection, reporting and capacity building); and ceasing to fund group homes?

The Greens support mandating the “Livable Housing Design Silver Standard” in the National Construction Code to ensure that disabled people can expect the same standard of accessibility in new homes, regardless of the state or territory in which they reside. We pushed the government to mandate the Silver Standard be required for all homes constructed as part of their Build to Rent plan, but unfortunately the Labor Government decided against including accessibility in their housing plans.

Do you commit to prioritising the design, piloting and staged rollout of a new NDIS navigator program; prioritising and co-designing a well-funded system of Foundational Supports; and continuing existing funding arrangements for all services, programs, and supports for which the NDIS Review proposes replacement Foundational Supports until such options are fully established and working well?

The Greens have consistently stressed the need for foundational supports to be well funded and nationally consistent to prevent the return to the situation prior to the NDIS when the quality and availability of disability supports were dependent on your postcode.

Labor’s 2024 NDIS Bill is already seeing people with psychosocial disabilities removed from the scheme or having funding for support cut from their NDIS plans. Foundational supports through States and Territories have been offered as an alternative, but these are not yet available meaning that there are disabled people falling through the cracks between the systems.

The Greens will provide $1.6b to support people with psychosocial disability who have been determined to no longer meet NDIS eligibility requirements or have had psychosocial supports defunded. Payments will be $2,500 twice a year until the participant has their access to the scheme restored, foundational supports are fully implemented, or the funding pool is expended.

We will also invest an additional $50m over ten years in advocacy organisations to enable them to effectively do their job to support and advocate for people who need it. This includes supporting people through the NDIS, health systems, legal systems and other areas of their lives.

Will you commit to investing in the co-design and implementation of a targeted, properly resourced, five-year Action Plan to address the prevalence of violence against women and children with disability?

The Greens have committed $12B towards a National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children, and to co-designing Action Plans that respond to the particular needs of specific communities, including women and girls with disability.  We will also ensure that the voices and experiences of victim-survivors are central to the design and implementation of Action Plans.

Do you commit to raising the rate of the Disability Support Pension (DSP) and updating DSP arrangements to eliminate barriers, disincentives, and penalties for people to earn more income from employment so they can afford the basics during a cost-of-living crisis?

The Greens want to see all income payments - including JobSeeker, Disability Support Pension, Youth Allowance and Age Pension - raised above the poverty line. In a wealthy country like Australia, no one should live in poverty.

Disabled people should be able to access a liveable income payment, and the Disability Support Pension currently doesn’t provide that. Additionally, many participants find themselves locked out of the payment due to heavy restrictions on access. The Greens plan would ensure that everyone gets the support they need, with payments above the poverty line. The Greens will also make sure participants can earn more by lifting the income free area to $300 per fortnight, and setting a fairer taper rate. This is on top of the Greens plan to abolish all welfare conditionality, like the program of support under the DSP.