AFI
Listens
AFI Listens is our community consultation platform — a space where people with disability can share what matters most to them.
Your Voice.
Your Story.
Your Pace.
Have your say on what you want AFI to focus on — at your own pace, in your own words.
My number 1 priority for AFI is:
Tell us the single most important issue you'd like AFI to focus on?
Our Current Consultations:
Prioritising Royal Commission Reforms
Coming Soon
About AFI Listens
Canberrans with disability have spoken up – in the media, in the Assembly, in public forums, and online. That work has mattered. It has also been exhausting.
Too often, the listening in return has been partial or performative. Life-changing programs change without us. Strategies are developed around us. And being heard is not the same as being listened to.
Real listening means response. It means accountability. It means action.
AFI Listens exists to make that real.
This is a space to share your views, see what others are saying, and track what changes as a result. We’re committed to being open about how feedback is used – and to showing that it has been.
Because listening without change isn’t listening at all.
What we will do with your feedback
When you share feedback with us, we use it to understand people’s views, strengthen our advocacy, and inform our projects, reports, and recommendations.
You only need to share what you’re comfortable with. If you’d prefer to give feedback without your personal details, that’s fine.
We treat your information with care. We won’t use it for other purposes, share it beyond the people working on this project, or sell it – ever. If we use your feedback in a report or submission, we’ll remove identifying details unless you’ve agreed otherwise.
Your information is stored securely, in line with our privacy obligations.
If you want to access, correct, or ask questions about the information you have shared with us, please contact us.
ACT Companion Card: Program Review
Advocacy for Inclusion (AFI) has been engaged by the ACT Government to review the ACT Companion Card program.
As part of this review, we want to hear from people with knowledge or experience of the program. This includes cardholders, potential cardholders, family members, supporters, businesses, venues, service providers, and others with an interest in how the program works in practice.
Your feedback will help shape our recommendations about what is working well and what could be improved.
Have your say on the ACT Companion Card program review
Have your say
We’re interested in hearing about:
- - How well known and accessible the program is across the ACT
- - What the application process is like, including any barriers people experience
- - What people value most about the program
- - How easy it is to find participating businesses and venues – and whether staff know what the card is when you present it
- Any ideas for improving the program in the future
Share your feedback
These questions are a guide – feel free to answer in whatever way works for you.
NDIS Reforms
The NDIS is facing its most significant restructure since it was established.
Proposed changes include:
Cuts of 30 per cent to social and community participation budgets from October 2026
A reduction in average plan values of around $5,000
New eligibility criteria that could see 160,000 participants leave the Scheme by 2030, and new Ministerial powers to reduce funding across categories of support without individual review.
A Senate committee is inquiring into the legislation now, with submissions closing 29 May 2026.
Advocacy for Inclusion is making a submission on behalf of the ACT Disability Caucus and wants to make sure the voices of Canberrans with disability are heard.
Tell us what the NDIS means to you
We want to hear from people with disability, families, carers, and anyone with a perspective on these changes – in your own words, in whatever way feels right for you.
You might want to share what the NDIS makes possible in your life. You might want to tell us what you are worried about losing. You might want to describe what has already changed, or how these announcements have made you feel. There are no wrong answers here – your experience and your voice matter.
Responses will be treated with care and in accordance with our privacy policy.
Transforming the Transport Experience
Getting around Canberra should feel safe, comfortable and easy – but for many people with disability, it doesn’t. Public attitudes and the behaviour of transport staff play a significant role in shaping those experiences.
Transport Transformed is a project led by Advocacy for Inclusion, in partnership with Deloitte Access Economics and Rebus Theatre. It will use the real experiences of people with disability in the ACT to drive genuine attitudinal change across Canberra’s transport system – buses, trams, taxis, rideshare, community transport, and beyond.
What you tell us will directly shape a research report, a co-design process with transport industry stakeholders, and ultimately a series of live theatre performances designed to change how transport staff think about and respond to people with disability.
This is about making sure your lived experience is at the centre of the solution, not an afterthought.
Have your say
Finding the Right Housing
Finding suitable, accessible and affordable housing in Canberra is often difficult for many people with disability. Information is scattered, the system is complex to navigate, and it can be difficult to connect housing options with the disability supports needed to live well.
AFI is working with the ACT Government to investigate whether a dedicated one-stop information and advisory service – a disability housing hub – could help.
Your input will directly inform advice on whether there’s a real gap, what people need, and what a service like this should look like if it goes ahead.
Have your Say on Housing
We want to hear from people with disability, families, carers, advocates and service providers about the challenges of finding suitable housing in Canberra. You can provide input by completing our short survey here: Finding the Right Housing - Exploring a Disability Housing Hub for the ACT Survey You can also provide feedback directly below if you would prefer. We are particularly interested in hearing about:
- Have you ever struggled to find suitable, accessible or affordable housing in Canberra, either for yourself or someone you support?
- If a free service existed to help people with disability find and navigate housing options in Canberra, would you use it?
- What additional information or support would help you find the housing you need?
- Anything else you would like to tell us?