At UTS, our inclusive disability research agenda goes beyond health to include consideration of education, employment, housing and community living, freedom of movement, freedom from abuse and the upholding of dignity and respect in all services.
UTS is bringing to bear its strength in interdisciplinary research – in fields such as business, design, health, law, science and technology – to address real-world contemporary and future “wicked problems” facing people with disability.
An estimated one in five Australians, or about 4.3 million people, live with disability. They may live with impacts on their movement, vision, hearing, communication, learning, cognition, social engagement and mental health. But disability itself arises as a result of a complex interaction between the person, the physical environment, social structures and attitudes.
The degree of accessibility and inclusion of a society can greatly affect a person with disability and those around them, leaving them at a tremendous disadvantage compared to their peers without disability. However, with access to necessary and enabling supports, and with greater knowledge and changed attitudes in society, inequities can be reduced and social participation empowered.
What we do
The Disability Research Network at the University of Technology (UTS) believes collaborative and inclusive disability research will enable such social change and improve the lives of people with disability.
We also believe our focus should be improving the inclusion and accessibility of society for all people with a disability.
Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was designed to support inclusion and participation and is predicted to provide funding to half a million Australians with disability once it’s fully operational. While the NDIS provides significant benefits for people with high and very high support needs, there’s less provision for people with mild to moderate disability who nonetheless have substantial impacts on their day-to-day lives.
At UTS, we believe disability research should be inclusive of all groups regardless of their eligibility for, or support from, the NDIS.
Driven by people with lived experience, disability research can enable evidence-based change to improve and benefit society. Inclusive, high-quality research can positively influence the broader context of life for people with disability. They have a right to participate equally in society, accessing the same opportunities as others in the areas of education, employment, housing, social relationships and access to justice.
Services designed to assist and support people with disability must go beyond accessibility to remove sources of disadvantage and discrimination that limit citizenship. Persistent and entrenched barriers to inclusion include negative attitudes and stereotypes. Concerted efforts are required to raise public awareness of the possibilities of people’s ability.
The foundations for the UTS Disability Research Network
Our vision and aims
The UTS Disability Research Network works collaboratively with people with disability and industry partners to develop new interdisciplinary knowledge and to drive change for a better, more inclusive society.
We use a collaborative and partnership-based approach to research, drawing on diverse expertise across UTS and in the disability community to achieve high-quality outcomes that lead to direct and tangible impacts on people’s lives.
The UTS Disability Research Network
- facilitates a collaborative approach to disability research, where people with disability are at the centre
- drives an interdisciplinary, textured approach to addressing challenges and designing interventions and solutions
- increases the capacity of early- and mid-career researchers to engage in impactful disability research and foster wider connections, to develop a thriving, supportive disability research community
Our themes
Researchers right across UTS contribute expertise in support of projects in disability research. They have experience working together, often in unique ways, bringing a transdisciplinary approach to important questions.
Their expertise underpins four major, intersecting themes in the Network’s research agenda where we believe UTS can help drive transformative outcomes for people with disability and their community.
Inclusion and Social Participation
Our research on the social inclusion of people with disability is founded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the National Disability Strategy.
UTS has a long and established record of research considering accessibility of transport, built environment, information communication technologies, education, employment, the workplace, business innovation, political life through advocacy, the arts, sport and tourism.
See our project disability entrepreneurship in Australia as an example of this in practice.
Social Justice, Diversity and Equity
Research projects in this area focus on transforming law, policy and practice to achieve just and fair access to disability services and health and justice systems. The aim is to facilitate community-wide shifts in attitudes towards people with disability, and to improve the broader social, political and economic status of people with disability. UTS has research strengths in gender equality law, migration and refugee law and policy, elder and dementia law, along with Indigenous knowledges, law and nation-building.
See our project on creating safe and just futures for people living with dementia in residential aged care.
Health and Wellbeing
Our research reflects a bio-psycho-social model of disability, recognising that disability arises from the interaction of many factors including the person’s health conditions, their environment, their activities and participation in society, and a wide range of personal factors. Necessarily, this research spans both the disability and the health sectors, looking for solutions in the intersection to reduce gaps and inequities and improve health-related quality of life, participation, and inclusion.
See our project on visualising vulnerabilities as an example this in practice.
Enabling Technologies
This research provides a strong focus on developing and implementing new enabling assistive technologies to enhance all areas of life, including mobility, communication, self-care, employment and education. The focus is on human-centred co-design of technologies that are safe, usable and effective.
This includes consideration of both mainstream and assistive technologies and how these can be implemented effectively across a range of settings to improve the lives of people with disability.
See how we supported the use of assistive robotic technology in aged care.
Our approach
The work of the UTS Disability Research Network is guided by the following guiding principles.
Partnership: We work in partnership with people with disability and the disability sector
Engagement: We draw on the expertise within the disability community, working dynamically to achieve optimal outcomes
Evidence: We value rigour in research that informs evidence-based policy and practice
Ethical action: Our work is ethical, action-oriented and impact-focused
Capacity building: We seek to build educational and employment opportunities in research, teaching and engagement for people with disability
Our history
UTS has a longstanding commitment to disability research, as well as accessibility and inclusivity practices for students, staff and community.
Disability research at UTS
UTS has an extensive history in disability research. It was a founding member of the Social Relations of Disability Research Network in 1995, which over the next decade fostered a generation of disability studies scholars.
This work has continued. A recent mapping exercise revealed active collaborations in areas such as
- accessibility, access and inclusion
- social participation and citizenship
- law, justice and human rights
- assistive and enabling technology
- data visualisation
- disability health
- youth and sport
- liveable communities
- transport and personal mobility
- environment, space and place
Inclusion at UTS
As a university, UTS has social justice and inclusion at its heart. They are central to its UTS 2027 Strategy.
From its inception in 1988, and before the Disability Discrimination Act was enacted in 1992, the UTS Accessibility Service sought to improve the experience of students with disability. UTS initiated formal disability action planning in 1997 and is one of the few universities to have been through five iterations of its plan.
In 1999 a disability curriculum audit surveyed all subjects for their engagement with disability, while in 2003 all faculties, centres and professional units took part in the 1 in 5: Disability Awareness Training Initiative. An Accessible Environments Advisory Group has helped ensure accessibility in the built campus and infrastructure, including during UTS’s $1 billion-plus campus upgrade over the past decade.
Today, a Disability Collaborative Research Project Fund and Social Impact Grant Scheme also support disability research across UTS.
The UTS Access and Inclusion Plan 2020-2024 emphasises the continuing strengthening of inclusive learning and work practices. UTS is determined to sustain an inclusive, ethical and respectful culture and to continue to support people with disability to succeed.
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Or email disabilityresearch@uts.edu.au to let us know how we can help your community.