I am a para-athlete and represented Australia at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in shot put. I lost the ability to walk when I was 17. This has shaped my life as an advocate and coach to teens with disability. Getting to the 2028 Paralympics is at the top of my bucket list, and right up there with it is ending housing discrimination in NSW.
The NSW Government refuses to sign up to the Silver Livable Housing Design Standards in the National Construction Code (NCC). This would make new housing accessible for people with disability and older Australians.
At age 25, I can't move out of home because finding a house that's accessible for someone in a wheelchair is a pipe dream in this state. I am proud of my contribution to society, but as a NSW resident I feel abandoned by our state government.
The Disability Royal Commission and the NDIS Review recommended the NSW government adopt the standards in the NCC for all new houses. Last month, the NSW government again refused to sign up to the standards, as part of their response to the Disability Royal Commission.
By failing to sign up they disregard the needs of people with disability and older Australians and deny us our right to safe affordable housing. There are more than 1.3 million people in NSW who live with disability - this equates to about 17 per cent of the NSW population.
As a community, we rallied at Parliament House last month calling for this housing discrimination to end. We planned to watch question time. Despite a reported $90 million worth of renovations, we could not get inside. It turns out that even NSW's biggest house is not accessible for people with disability.
The NSW government unveiled an ambitious plan to build 8400 social housing units as part of the 2024-25 state budget. While these homes will meet the accessibility standards, this is not nearly enough homes for people with disability, and other groups that need social housing. Mandatory accessible housing standards need to be applied to all new housing.
There are many accessibility issues in NSW that need to be fixed - from uneven footpaths to public buildings with narrow doors, and no ramps or lifts - but making homes accessible should be the priority. Being able to live in a fully accessible home would change my life. I would be able to live independently instead of with my parents, like other 25-year-olds who don't have a disability.
But this is not just about people with disability. Building accessible houses is good for everyone - for people as they grow older, for people with mobility issues and for young families with prams.
These standards are not a lot to ask - they simply require developers to include things like a step-free shower and level entry to the home. Modelling done by the Australian Building Codes Board shows the standards would only add about 1 per cent to the cost of a new build. It is much more costly to retrofit accessibility features to an inaccessible home.
Every day that the NSW government does not sign up to the standards is another day new homes are being built that discriminate against people with disability and older Australians.
The Building Better Homes Campaign is calling on the NSW government to immediately sign up to the standards in the NCC. If accessible housing standards are good enough for Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT, the Northern Territory and Queensland, surely Australia's most populous state can sign up?
Signing the standards sends the message to people with disability and older Australians that their housing needs matter as much as everyone else's in NSW.
As many para-athletes get ready to go for gold in the 2024 Paris Paralympics, let's see if the NSW government can bring home a silver for us all.
