Unlocking potential: support for children with disability

What does good support outside of the NDIS look like for children and their families, supporters and kin?

Event Details

• Date: Monday 25th August
• Time:
  • 1.00pm – 2.30pm AEST
(for people in NSW, QLD, VIC, ACT, TAS)
  • 12.30pm – 2.00pm
(for people in SA and NT)
  • 11.00am – 12.30pm
(for people in WA)

We will email you the Zoom link after you register.

We will also send it again the day before the event.

About This Event

We know that when children get the right support early on, it helps them grow and thrive as they get older.

But what does good support for children look like?

What kind of support do children need to feel like they belong?

What kind of support do children need to feel happy?

What support do their families, supporters and kin need?

There are lots of children who receive support through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). But not everyone is eligible for the NDIS, and it cannot do everything.

During this event, we’ll be talking about support for children and families, supporters and kin outside of the NDIS.

We’ll be hearing from people with disability, families, supporters and kin of people with disability, as well as people who have done research on this topic.

We’ll announce speakers and guests in the coming days.

Register now to have your say about what good support for children and families, supporters and kin outside of the NDIS looks like and hear from others about their experiences.

About the speakers

Stella Barton
Stella Barton is a disability rights advocate and Paralympian. She attended Shelford Girls Grammar and also has a Bachelor of Arts from Swinburne University. In 2024 she competed at the Paris Paralympics in the Grade 1 Para Dressage, scoring over 70% in all her events and coming 7^th from a field of 22 riders in her grade. Stella has been involved in activism around accessible public transport and has also presented community radio programs for SYN FM and 3CR.

Sarah Barton
Sarah Barton is a 2010 Churchill Fellow with 30 years’ filmmaking experience. Her first film Untold Desires (1994) about sexuality and disability won the first Logie Award for SBS television and an AFI Award.  In 2003 Sarah created and produced 70 episodes of the award-winning disability community television series No Limits. In 2017 Sarah’s feature documentary Defiant Lives about the disability rights movement premiered at Sydney Film Festival and also screened at the United Nations in New York.  In 2024 Sarah was a member of the Australian Paralympic team as the key support person for her daughter Stella who competed in the Paris Paralympics in para-dressage.  Sarah is currently making a feature documentary about comedian and disability activist Stella Young. 

Gretchen Young
Gretchen is a Gadigal/Eora descendent from Redfern NSW and, before relocating to Melbourne, lived in northern NSW, Bundjalung country, for many years.  She has over 25 years’ experience in organisational leadership roles, including State and National Peaks, human services, community development and strategic reform. She also has extensive program/service delivery experience, including mobilising large staff teams. 

Gretchen joined SNAICC in 2022 and is a crucial member of the SNAICC executive team as the Executive Director Programs.  Prior to working at SNAICC she worked in primary health and community health settings and has led large community-based sector development non-government organisations in NSW for many years.  

Gretchen is passionate about the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations and self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.   

About our hosts

Todd Winther
Todd is a political nerd with an academic background in political leadership, party politics, and disability policy who has taught these subjects at multiple universities. He is an NDIS Participant with a severe form of Cerebral Palsy. Todd spends every day of his life fighting for the political and human rights of people with disabilities. It is his mission and his passion. Todd uses his personal experiences and storytelling to empower others and create a more equitable world.

Sara Gingold
Sara is the Editor-in-Chief of DSC’s Resource Hub. She personifies the voice of DSC in her own passionate style and prides herself on her research skills and fact-finding ability. Diagnosed with ME/CFS in 2012, Sara’s lived experience of disability shines through in her work and she is a highly skilled, authoritative NDIS commentator. She began her career overseeing innovative Cambodian education projects and has quickly become an indispensable part of the DSC team.

About Disability Dialogue

Who We Are

The Disability Dialogue brings people with disability together to talk about issues that matter to us.

Our Values

• We create a safe space for people with disability, their families, friends and supporters
• We believe people with disability are experts in our own lives
• We are led by people with disability

Why This Matters

We want to:

• Generate big ideas
• Find partners to bring good ideas to life
• Improve the systems and services we use

Our Partners

The Disability Dialogue is a joint initiative of:

• DANA
• Inclusion Australia
• Alliance 20
• Melbourne Disability Institute

We are funded through an Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) grant from the Department of Social Services (DSS) and also acknowledge the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation.