BUMPER EVENTS FOR IDAY 2025 UNVEILED
3 December to feature events, celebration pass and a summit on hate and disinformation
A disability lead community steering committee has announced plans to mark the UN International Day of People with Disability (I-Day) 2025 in its first year of full community control. The International Day is a UN mandated day which falls on 3 December each year. Last year in an Australian first, management of the Day was handed over to people with disability themselves by the ACT Government.
This years I-DAY in the ACT will focus on supporting the community to welcome and open its doors to people with disability while finding ways to respond to rising disinformation and hate speech.
While I-DAY is marked on 3 December 2025, this year’s events and media partnerships will take place across the next three months, building to a signature event on 3 December. This will include:
- A call for creative works including sound, word and picture entries on the themes of Halting Hate, Finding Kindness: Rebuilding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the 2020’s which opens today https://www.advocacyforinclusion.org/i-day-2025-sounds-and-images-call-for-entries/
- A brand new media partnership with The Canberra Weekly which will culminate in a centrespread supplement in the print edition featuring news, stories, event information and a lift out ‘Celebration Pass’ which is set to provide offers, discounts and entry passes from a range of welcoming spaces, services and venues on I-DAY. Email iday@advocacyforinclusion.org to find out more
- A new series of podcasts with Radio 1RPH are planned which will dive deep and spark lively conversations with a focus on the I-DAY theme as we approach December.
- Finally, the signature event on 3 December, Halting Hate, Finding Kindness will bring people with disabilities and people of influence together to chart ways to combat rising disinformation and hate speech which is harming people with disabilities. The event will open with an IDAY event showcase including words, images and sounds on the ACT and International I-DAY themes. Expect more exciting speaker announcements between now and 3 December.
The two community co-chairs for I-DAY say that this year’s celebrations will come with renewed energy and purpose.
Kat Reed from WWDACT said, “We have a fantastic media partner in the Canberra Weekly, and we’re looking forward to kicking off a supplement in the lead up to IDAY full of stories, offers and artwork produced by people with disability, along with a significant event, a community pass, podcasts and more.
Craig Wallace from Advocacy for Inclusion emphasised that “we are building lots of ways for supporters and advertisers to be involved, while our Celebration Pass will highlight venues, events and services that the whole community can try on I-DAY. We’re moving beyond the model where I-DAY is only marked in disability services”.
Meanwhile the members of the new ACT I-Day Steering Committee, composed of people with disability, speak to the way the new community governed model has moved the day forward.
Lou Bannister said that “the community steering committee has been meeting since the start of the year to shape a new path for IDAY – the emerging event calendar responds to people with disabilities who told us IDAY needs to be meaningful, relevant and support lasting change.
“We invite all Canberrans to join us in helping to embed I-day into Canberra’s mainstream community celebrations and make our city truly inclusive, accessible, and collaborative”, Lou Bannister said.
Taryn Lee from the Committee concluded: “”This year, we are calling on everyone to ensure that people with disability are welcome in our community, with a focus on combating harmful information that makes our participation in the community harder. We are inviting the whole community to do better, be kinder, and celebrate alongside us”.
I-Day in the ACT is a community initiative managed by a Steering Committee co-chaired by AFI and WWDACT and supported with funding from the ACT Government
Media Contacts
Craig Wallace, Head of Policy on 0477 200 755 and Kat Reed, Chief Executive Officer, Women with Disabilities ACT 0412 094 757