Submission on the State Disability Plan and Victorian Autism Plan 2027-2031

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About this submission

COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria strongly support the State Disability Plan (SDP) and the Victorian Autism Plan (VAP) as important drivers of practical action to improve inclusion, accessibility and equity for Victorians with disability. This aligns closely with our mission to promote positive ageing and uphold the rights of older people for two key reasons:

1. Older people are substantially more likely than the general population to live with disability, particularly severe or profound disability.
2. There is significant overlap between the impacts of ageing and disability, creating opportunities for policies and initiatives that improve outcomes across both.

We note that this refresh occurs at a critical point for disability policy, with reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) heightening the importance of state programs and complementary action to enhance access and inclusion across mainstream services and environments.

Our leading recommendation is to incorporate a whole-of-life course framework that supports better responses to disability inclusion challenges at for those of all ages. This has been a missing element in previous plans, and this gap has contributed to the limited scope of actions targeted towards meeting the needs of older Victorians. Our concept for such a framework is set out at Attachment 1.

The body of this submission sets out key contextual information about ageing and disability, what we have heard from older Victorians, and broad recommendations about critical aspects of the plan. Suggested actions across the focus areas of the SDP are provided at Attachment 2.

We note that the SDP and VAP both incorporate broad commitments on specialist support services, including the state’s support for the NDIS. In this regard, we bring to your attention to COTA Victoria’s Agenda for Action for Older Victorians with a Disability (June 2025) which was developed in consultation with a range of partner statewide organisations and input from older Victorians, and previously submitted to government.