Children and young people with disability are not provided with adequate opportunities or accessible information to assist them to express their views freely in matters that affect them. While there are some genuine examples of Australian governments engaging children and young people with disability in consultations and decision-making forums, there is no national, comprehensive approach to seek the views of children and young people with disability.
A lack of communication aids and support from an early age is a key barrier that prevents young people and children with disability from participating in decision making processes.
Attitudes that assume that young people with disability do not have the same interests, issues and insights as other young people, and that they belong in a specialist disability sector create a significant barrier to their participation in consultations and decision-making forums.
