Faculty of Medicine and Health

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About us

Improving the lives of people with disability
  • https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine-health/industry-and-community/industry-partnerships/partnership-enquiries.html Partner with us
  • https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine-health/industry-and-community/support-us.html Support us

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The Centre for Disability Research and Policy strives to influence policy and practice through research to reduce the disadvantage that occurs for people with disability.

We are committed to creating a better life for people with disability in Australia and globally.

Our mission is to reduce the disadvantage and social exclusion faced by people with disability while improving their social and economic participation, health, and well-being.

A document illustrating the Centre for Disability Research and Policy (CDRP)'s values in action including: Disability thinking - bring disability front and centre into research, teaching, governance, industry and society; Lived-experience leadership - promote and model real lived-experience leadership in all institutions and at all levels; Appreciative strength-based approach - focus on abilities and solutions, value diverse ways of thinking, being and doing; Collaboration for greater good - partnering for inclusion and breaking-down norms of competition; Lived-Experience POWER - develop culture and practices to allow people with disability to drive change. These 5 values are supported by the centre co-designed, co-produced and community-driven research.

Our approach

  • Elevating lived experience leadership: Our research is codesigned and coproduced to realise the disability rights principle of “nothing about us without us”.
  • Collaborating for inclusion: We partner with people with disabilities, caregivers, support networks, allied health professionals, disability persons organisations, governments, NGOs, and the private sector to understand the barriers to inclusion and provide an evidence base for creative and effective solutions.

Our impact

We conduct and translate research knowledge to inform and influence public agendas, policies and practices promote inclusion.  

We provide a strong voice in national debates and make evidence-based submissions on national and local laws, policies and practices. 

We engage in community-grounded work to develop new practices that promote the full participation of people with disabilities in society while better addressing their needs.

We create and implement innovative disability-focused teaching across various programs at the University, including the cross-university Disability and Participation Major, the Bachelor of Science (Health), Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology and Social Work programs. We ensure that graduates have the confidence and expertise to work with people with disability in every sector. 

We support higher-degree research students, providing opportunities for research-based placements and capstone projects. The Disability Research Student Group (DRSG) provides an informal forum where students can discuss issues relevant to students in the disability research field. For more information please email the DRSG Coordinator Nina gianina.raymundo@sydney.edu.au.

We are building a lived-experience research workforce that can move into leadership positions. We hire lived-experience research fellows to lead CDRP research programs. Promoting Lived experience leadership is essential to support self-determination and authentic representation at all levels of the society. 

Our people

We work to strengthen and support research on disability for policy development.

The Disability Research Student Group

Health Economics Special Interest Group

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Industry and community

We maintain strong links with the professionals of the disability sector, government and community partners through shared research.

  • In partnership with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), CDRP is undertaking a significant project to improve the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for individuals with psychosocial disabilities. This initiative, supported by an Australian Research Council Industry Laureate Fellowship awarded to Professor Jennifer Smith-Merry, will draw on participants experience to develop initiatives to enhance the scheme, ensuring better outcomes and stronger community benefits.
  • The CDRP collaborates with Reimagine Australia to enhance early childhood intervention services. Alongside researchers from Monash University and Western Sydney University, we conducted a national survey capturing the experiences of early childhood practitioners utilizing telepractice. This initiative aims to inform public policy and workforce development by promoting the use of telepractice to the government. The collaboration produced a practice companion titled "Ready, Tele, Go!" to support family-centred telepractice.
  • Continuing our work with Reimagine Australia, we prepared a Review of Best Practice Guidance in Early Childhood Intervention that informed the development of the new guideline released at the end of 2024. 
  • The centre has partnered with the Centre for Disability Studies (CDS) and other academic and non-governmental organizations to develop a National Disability Research Agenda. This collaborative effort seeks to identify key research areas to inform policy and practice, addressing critical issues faced by people with disabilities in Australia.

We conduct both small and large-scale evaluations for government and non-government organisations.

Our teams hold expertise in a wide range of evaluation methodologies and understand policy and practices surrounding disability and mental health service provision. 

We regularly provide commissioned research outputs such as:

  • Development of vocational education and employment policies strategies for people with disabilities for the NSW Department of Education. This initiative aimed to address the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities in accessing and succeeding in vocational education and training (VET) programs, thereby improving their employment outcomes.
  • Development of service delivery models that support people with disabilities in remote communities and incorporate therapy support workers, tele-practice, and community development, in partnership with MacKillop Family Services.
  • Evaluation of the implementation of Independent Assessments (IAs) for NDIS participants, commissioned by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). The evaluation aimed to assess the effectiveness, fairness, and participant satisfaction with the individual assessment process. The outcomes of the evaluation have informed the review of the process to better serve NDIS participants.
  • In partnership with National Disability Services (NDS), production of the annual State of the Disability Sector Report. By combining NDS's industry insights with the CDRP's research expertise, the report offers a comprehensive overview to inform policy and practice within the disability sector.

Contact us

Email

disabilitypolicy.centre@sydney.edu.au

Mailing address
Susan Wakil Health Building,
University of Sydney, Camperdown,
NSW 2006