A history of Disability in Australia

Before the NDIS Australia has had a long history of working with the disability community to make life more accessible.

Below are some of the milestones that have been achieved:

• 1908

  • In 1908 the disability pension was first introduced, anachronistically labelled the 'invalid' pension.
  • It was the first time Australians with a disability were recognised and supported as members of society.
  • The term invalid however is offensive as it reduces someone's identity down to having a disability and implies that they are not valid or burdensome to society in some way which is not the case.



• 1946

  • Many soldiers returned from WWII with impairments from injuries they had received.
  • To help with this the commonwealth rehabilitation service (CRS) was established.
  • The CRS did not provide services or funding directly, however it assisted volunteer organisations to extend their services to persons with disabilities.



• 1986

  • The Disability Services act was introduced in 1986 to encourage a more modern and humane approach to providing care for people with disability.
  • A gradual move started to take place moving away from large institutions to more accessible community based services.
  • Persons living with disability were moved to community housing arrangements.



• 1992

  • In 1992 the Disability Discrimination act was passed making it illegal to discriminate against an individual on the basis of their disability.
  • This anit-discirmination legislation covers services across employment, education, accomodation and public access.



• 2008

  • In 2008 Australia adopted the UN CRPD (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability).
  • This is a legally binding international human rights treaty that protects persons living with disability and is discussed in more detail in our Rights and Safeguarding section.



• 2013

  • The NDIS was first released in 2013 to provide care and support for persons living with disability and also to ensure we as a nation were living up to our commitments under the newly signed UN CRPD.



• 2019

  • In 2019 a Royal commission was held to address issues relating to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of peple with disability.
  • Even after the NDIS it found that people with disability are frequently denied basic rights and exposed to systemic neglect and abuse across Australian society.
  • The government is still working through changes to improve how the NDIS is delivered and to ensure providers like Kind Fox are acting in accordance with the NDIS Code of Conduct and NDIS Practice Standards.

As a country we have made a lot of progress, however there is always more work to be done and at Kind Fox we are committed to ensuring we provide a service that treats persons with disability with the respect and dignity that they deserve.