Better Healthcare Begins With Your Voice!

Together, we can create a system that listens, respects, and cares for people with disability.

Help Us to Help You

  • Your answers are anonymous and confidential.

The Problem

People with disability are being failed by Australia’s healthcare system.

  • On average, people with disability die 27 years younger than the rest of the population.
  • Many of these deaths are preventable.
  • Patients are too often ignored, disrespected, or dismissed.
  • Families and carers are treated as if their knowledge doesn’t matter.

This is unacceptable. It must change.

Why It Matters

Behind every statistic is a person, a family, and a future that deserves care and dignity.

  • Being spoken over. Not being asked for consent. Discharged too early.
  • Feeling unsafe in emergency departments because of past experiences.
  • Families and carers not being listened to, even though they know the person best.

Your voice can turn these experiences into proof that cannot be ignored.

When thousands speak together, decision-makers listen. Change follows.

The Vision

We see a healthcare system where people with disability are:

  • Respected as experts in their own lives.

  • Included in every decision about their care.

  • Supported by staff who have the knowledge and confidence to do what is right.
  • Welcomed in services that are accessible, person-centred, and safe.

Together, we can create a healthcare system that listens, respects, and cares.

How It Works

Real change doesn’t happen overnight. It takes structure, evidence, and persistence.
That’s why Disability Voices in Healthcare follows a simple four-step process:

Step 1.​

Gather The voices

with surveys of people with disability, families and carers.

Step 2.​

Analyse the data

to uncover the patterns and problems.

Step 3.​

Publish the findings

in reports that cannot be ignored.

Step 4.​

Campaign for change

to government, hospitals, and healthcare providers.

Have Your Say Today
Complete the Survey

We’re Different

There are many disability advocacy organisations. But Disability Voices in Healthcare is unique because:

  • We focus only on healthcare inequities

  • We collect evidence directly from people with disability

  • We are driven by lived experience

  • We turn personal stories into evidence for systemic change.

This is not just another advocacy project.

It is your voice, backed by thousands of others, demanding a better healthcare system.

Meet Melissa

Disability Voices in Healthcare was founded by Melissa Ryan, who lives with a disability and has firsthand experience with the challenges of our healthcare system.

Her mission is simple: to make sure no one with disability is treated as “less than” in healthcare ever again.

Our Partners & Supporters

We are proud to collaborate with organisations that share our vision of better healthcare for people with disability. Their involvement helps us amplify voices and strengthen the push for systemic change.

Want to partner with us?

Join Us. Your story matters.

Your voice will be heard. Together, we will make change.