A recap on 2023

Welcome to Mostly Unlearning, a newsletter that amplifies accessibility and disability voices towards more impactful commercial and human outcomes.

A special thank you to the 2,571 people who chose to follow me this year as I learnt out loud on LinkedIn, reposting and engaging in discussions online and offline. And to the 634 of you who decided to subscribe to this newsletter.?

2023 was a big year for disability and accessibility - for me personally, nationally, and globally. This edition will look back and recap on 2023.

Globally, disabled people are a Billion Strong .

Our collective experience is emerging from health, education and employment data as the many COVID-19 pandemic responses have come to an end.

An American report shows employment for people impacted by disability peaking during COVID-19 as many people were now expected to work from home.

“PWD (people with disability) have long been more likely to work from home, and therefore, the pandemic-induced shift to telework may have created new employment opportunities by making it easier for people with disabilities to telework.” - Maestas, N. (2023). How has COVID-19 impacted disability employment?

As these expectations and mandates have reversed, people impacted by disability are speaking up about the challenge of remaining in employment.

The stats are pending, but changing work from home may also reverse the high disability employment rates.?

Prompted by the ending of many COVID pandemic responses, disability advocates are speaking directly to the human rights impacts of digital inequality, sometimes called the Digital Divide, and its impact on people with a disability - our health, education and employment outcomes.?

More on this in the next edition on 2024 trends.

By late November 2023, the WHO announced loneliness as a global epidemic. Social isolation and loneliness are frequently experienced by people when they acquire a disability, often through aging. This change in capability can be unexpected and lead people to retreat from activities they previously enjoyed.

The WHO states, “The health risk of loneliness is comparable to smoking daily, excessive drinking and obesity.”

Here in Australia, we know what needs to change.

2023 was the culmination of 4 ? years of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. The tone of the findings is in the title.?

In parallel to the Royal Commission, the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Hon Bill Shorten MP completed a 12-month review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Since its inception a decade ago, the NDIS has had life-changing impacts on people impacted by disability - both positive and negative.

“An overarching goal of the review is to put people with disability back at the centre of the NDIS. It aims to help restore trust, confidence and pride in the NDIS” https://www.ndisreview.gov.au/about

2024 will see the discussions and decisions on changes from these two landmark reports. More in the next edition.

The Royal Commission and NDIS review has also brought positive discussions about the future of disability rights. 2023 saw the inaugural Disability Leadership Institute 's Disability Leadership Oration on ABC, cementing disability as a national topic of interest. If you haven’t listened to Natalie Wade speak, you can rewatch this on ABC iView .

Mounting research into the economics of accessibility, as I shared in an early Mostly Unlearning edition on the Disability Dollar . One study reported more money in accessible tourism than disability tourism in Australia.?

2023 has positioned disability and accessibility as having both economic and social benefits. It’s more than the right thing to do.

I’ve (un)learned so much.

It’s been a year of getting into disability and accessibility. In the arena, (un)learning alongside hundreds of people at work and thousands online. We’ve each made small and significant changes to how we understand situations and make decisions.?

I love being in the arena.

The arena is where change happens; it is that stage of a transformation program when strategy collides with reality. And no strategy survives its collision with reality. To achieving an outcome requires (un)learning, pivoting and unlearning some more. It’s had its challenges, and it's been rewarding.

Our uplift program included launching a public Accessibility and Inclusion Plan , benchmarking 2023 maturity uplift through the Australian Network on Disability’s Access & Inclusion Index and launching an employee disability reference group, a way to hear from and check in with people impacted by disability. A personal highlight was finishing the year with a promotion to Accessibility Principal .

In 2024, expect more (un)learning together. You can subscribe to learn with me. I'll share what I learn (and unlearn) about accessibility and disability. Together, we will consider the implications for impactful commercial and human outcomes.

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