Housing Blueprint 

2023 marked the start of the Disability Dialogue.  

Our pilot Dialogue, the ‘Housing Blueprint’, re-imagined housing and living for people with disability.  

What did we do?

We held separate consultations with people with disability, disability providers and allies to learn about their experiences with:  

• Housing models that advance choice and control 
• Workforces and programs that build agency and independence  
• Support within accessible communities 
• Supply and demand  

We consolidated the ideas from these consultations into a discussion paper which guided our conversations when we brought everyone together to share their experiences, discuss ideas and establish priorities.  

This discussion eventually became the Blueprint on Housing, which we presented to key decision makers, including the Minister for the NDIS, Bill Shorten, at our ​​​​virtual launch event.  

What did we learn?

Our collaborative conversations turned into four bold ideas for policy change that would transform housing for people with disability: 

• To establish a Disability-led Consumer Organisation for better access to information about housing and the NDIS support for people with disabilities 
• To create a Rental and Home Support Navigator to assist people with disability to navigate the rental housing and support ecosystem 
• To develop a Shared Equity Model to allow more people with disability to buy their own home 
• To work with governments to create a Disability Housing Land Bank – a partnership between the federal and state governments to map the current stock of disability assets, particularly group homes. 

You can watch the video of our Housing Blueprint public launch event below.

What was the impact?

Our Blueprint was submitted to the NDIS review, and presented to Minister for the NDIS Bill Shorten.  

But more importantly it was a space for people with disability to feel seen, safe and connected.  

Feedback from people involved in this project was overwhelmingly positive. People felt heard, thought the Dialogue was balanced and informative and is a good model for working on problems.

Links

• Read the Blueprint on Housing
• Read the discussion paper by Todd Winther