Recommendation 6.21 – Additional funding for advocacy programs

What has been achieved to date

As part of its initial response to the Disability Royal Commission, the Australian Government committed $39.7 million in additional funding over four years to establish a new individual disability advocacy program. The new program will bring together current services to establish a streamlined and cohesive delivery model of ongoing individual disability advocacy supports. Consultation on the new program commenced in mid-2025 and includes people with disability and their supporters, disability advocacy service providers and other disability advocacy stakeholders.

The Australian Government is extending funding for advocacy programs to 30 June 2026. Additional funding for existing National Disability Advocacy Program providers will also be provided to increase services in remote and rural areas and improve data reporting under the program. 

The Australian Government announced in the 2025-26 Budget a further $7.034 million for the NDIS Appeals Program. The supplementary funding will help meet demand for quality and timely services to support people with disability through the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) appeals process and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

In February 2025, the Disability Reform Ministerial Council agreed to amendments to the Disability Advocacy Work Plan 2023–2025. This was in response to recommendations from the Disability Royal Commission.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government currently funds local Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), disability advocacy and carer organisations, and a disability sector industry peak to deliver systemic advocacy, individual advocacy and self-advocacy type programs in the ACT.

In March 2024, the New South Wales (NSW) Government announced $28 million in funding to extend the NSW Disability Advocacy Futures Program (DAFP) for a further two years. In July 2024, the NSW Department of Education announced a further $3.1 million until 30 June 2026 to the DAFP to enhance advocacy service providers’ capacity to support students with disability who attend a NSW public school. 

The DAFP provides funding to support people with disability navigate local services on a 1-to-1 basis, to fund organisations working towards long-term social change, and to fund policy advocacy groups run by, or on behalf of, people with disability. DAFP includes funding to support special projects and sector development grants to advocacy services.

The Northern Territory Government remains committed to funding organisations to deliver advocacy services to assist Territorians with disability, their family members and carers. Future work includes identifying met and unmet demand across the Northern Territory to inform policy decisions regarding the prioritisation of funding and capacity building. The Northern Territory Government continues to collaborate with the Australian and other state and territory governments to deliver on work through the National Disability Advocacy Framework, to improve access to advocacy services, including culturally appropriate advocacy, and improve coordination and sustainability of funded advocacy services.

The Queensland Government continues to fund organisations to deliver advocacy services to assist Queenslanders with disability, their family members and carers. Through work to deliver on the National Disability Advocacy Framework, the Queensland Government is collaborating with the Australian and other state and territory governments to improve access to advocacy services, including culturally capable advocacy, and improve coordination and sustainability of funded advocacy services.

The Tasmanian Government is committed to funding ongoing disability advocacy to support Tasmanians with disability to actively participate in decisions and processes which advance their rights, wellbeing and interests. The Tasmanian Government works with advocacy providers to recognise trends and systemic issues, including unmet demand and their causes, and the experiences of culturally diverse Tasmanians with disability. Through work to deliver on the National Disability Advocacy Framework, the Tasmanian Government continues to collaborate with the Australian and other state and territory governments to improve access to, and the coordination and sustainability of, funded advocacy services.

Victoria continues to fund advocacy organisations across metropolitan, regional and rural areas to provide three interrelated forms of advocacy: individual, self and systemic advocacy. In addition to funding advocacy organisations, Victoria funds the Disability Advocacy Resource Unit to support and resource the sector. The Self Advocacy Resource Unit is another key part of the Victorian advocacy sector, providing support to self advocacy groups that help people to advocate on their own behalf and develop self advocacy skills.

Extensive work has been done with the Victorian advocacy sector to develop a Performance and Outcomes framework for the Victorian Disability Advocacy Program, which will improve data collection and reporting on met and unmet demand for disability advocacy. This work is occurring in parallel with work at a national level to improve data consistency under the National Disability Advocacy Framework Work Plan.

Western Australia is conducting a review of its State Disability Advocacy Program and has extending existing agreements until June 2026, worth over $5 million a year with a 50/50 split for systemic and individual advocacy.

What the Disability Royal Commission said in the final report

a) For the financial years 2024–25 and 2025–26, the Australian Government should commit additional funding of:

• $16.6 million per annum for the National Disability Advocacy Program
• $20.3 million per annum for the National Disability Insurance Scheme Appeals Program. These amounts should be indexed to maintain their value in real terms from year to year.

b) From 1 July 2026, the Australian Government should ensure long-term and stable funding for national disability advocacy programs to meet demand. This should be informed by improved data in line with Recommendation 6.22.

c) From at least 1 July 2026, state and territory governments should ensure long-term and stable funding for disability advocacy programs in their jurisdictions to meet demand. This should be informed by improved data in line with Recommendation 6.22.

Joint Government response July 2024

The Australian Government and the state and territory governments recognise the importance of advocacy in supporting people with disability to defend and protect their rights.

On 21 April 2023, Disability Ministers endorsed the National Disability Advocacy Framework 2023-2025 (NDAF) and associated Disability Advocacy Work Plan. The NDAF commits all governments to work together to improve national consistency and access to advocacy services for people with disability across Australia. Its purpose is to ensure people with disability have access to effective disability advocacy that promotes, protects and ensures their full and equal enjoyment of all human rights, enabling community participation and inclusion.

All governments support prioritising work on increasing culturally appropriate and accessible advocacy services for First Nations people with disability, people with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and LGBTIQA+ people with disability.

More recommendations

View progress on other recommendations made by the Royal Commission.