How braille music opens up the music world for blind people
By Ria Andriani
In the 1820s, Louis Braille devised a raised-dot system of letters, numbers and musical notation. 200 years later, it’s still opening the music world for blind musicians.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-04/louis-braille-music-200/106176564
#Music #PeopleWithDisability #ClassicalMusic #DisabilityAccess #RiaAndriani
Creditors vote in favor to sell Bedford to NDIS disability provider
By Angelique Donnellan
Creditors have voted to support the sale of Bedford to NDIS provider The Disability Trust, which would guarantee the jobs of 1,100 workers.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-19/bedford-creditors-vote-in-favour-of-new-operator/105943028
#Disabilities #DisabilityAccess #EmploymentServices #PeopleWithDisability #StateandTerritoryGovernment #Work #AngeliqueDonnellan
Question for #ScreenReaderFriendly community -- i try to write my hashtags with each word capitalized, so the reader can pick them out more easily. Does that actually make a difference, or am I wasting effort? Feels like nobody else does this. #Writing #DisabilityFriendly #DisabilityAccess
Drug-using partygoers using walking sticks to help when they're 'gacked'
By April McLennan
Australian partygoers are using walking aids to support their ketamine habit at music festivals across the country.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-13/partygoers-using-walking-sticks-after-drug-use/106125022
Climate crisis threatens disabled Australians' access to nature
From bushfires and decreasing air quality to flooding and erosion, climate change is threatening our relationship with nature, and people with disability are being disproportionately impacted.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-10/climate-crisis-access-to-nature-disability/106116294
#DisabilityAccess #ClimateChange #Hiking #Sport #BeachHolidays #PeopleWithDisability #Disabilities #Health
One in three new cars in Wales now taxpayer‑funded Motability vehicles
South West Wales hotspots
Wales has emerged as the UK’s Motability capital, with one in three new cars registered in 2024–25 leased through the taxpayer‑funded scheme.
In Neath Port Talbot, nearly seven per cent of residents are entitled to a Motability car — that’s one in fourteen people.
Swansea has the largest absolute number of awards, with 13,536 residents entitled, representing 5.4 per cent of the city’s population.
Carmarthenshire records 10,807 awards, or 5.7 per cent of its population. Bridgend has 8,484, equal to 5.8 per cent.
Pembrokeshire shows the lowest rate locally, but still 4.8 per cent of residents — one in twenty‑one — qualify for a Motability vehicle.
A lifeline for independence
Campaigners say the scheme is not a perk but a lifeline. It enables disabled people to live independently, access work, and participate fully in society.
Kat Watkins, from Disability Wales, warned that the proposed changes could isolate disabled people and make them feel like “second class citizens.”
She said reforms risk preventing people from accessing work and could lead to social exclusion. “Without reliable transport, disabled people are cut off from employment, education and even basic social contact. The Motability scheme is not a luxury — it is a necessity.”
Local voices echo that concern. Derrick Farr, from Barry, who had a leg amputated, described his Motability car as a “lifeline” to independence and said he would be “lost” without it.
Budget reforms spark controversy
The debate has intensified following the Government’s Autumn Budget. Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that tax breaks available to Motability will be reduced from July 2026.
VAT relief will be removed for “top‑up” payments made to lease more expensive vehicles. Insurance Premium Tax will be applied at the standard rate to Motability insurance contracts.
Luxury marques such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes‑Benz have already been removed from the scheme. The Treasury says the changes will save more than £1 billion over five years and ensure Motability continues to deliver for its customers.
But young disabled people have reacted angrily, saying the new charges add hefty and unfair costs. Disability Wales criticised the Chancellor’s use of the phrase “generous taxpayer subsidies,” arguing it fuels misunderstanding of how the scheme works.
Claimants do not receive cars for free. They surrender their mobility allowance — a benefit designed to offset the extra costs of disability — to lease a vehicle. “Framing the scheme as a hand‑out undermines public support and stigmatises disabled people,” Watkins said.
Political battle lines
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has pledged to tighten eligibility further, arguing that cars should be reserved for those with serious physical disabilities.
The party has gone further by promising to block access to Motability for people whose entitlement is based on mental health disorders, claiming the scheme was never intended to cover psychological conditions.
Welsh Conservative MS James Evans welcomed reforms, saying the scheme’s “explosive growth and spiralling costs” must be contained.
But disability advocates strongly oppose restricting eligibility to physical conditions only. They argue that severe anxiety, PTSD, autism or ADHD can make public transport impossible, and that cars are essential for daily life.
Disability Rights UK and more than forty charities warned the Chancellor that cuts announced in the Budget will have “dire consequences” and risk “pricing disabled people out of the scheme.”
Disability Wales added that the focus on “luxury” cars ignored functional needs, noting that larger vehicles are often required to accommodate equipment such as wheelchair hoists. “What looks like a luxury badge to the Treasury may be the only practical option for a disabled family,” Watkins said.
Disability Wales warns of wider impact
Disability Wales has described the reforms as being driven more by negative media rhetoric than by consultation with disabled people.
The organisation fears the changes will make life more expensive and more difficult for those who already face barriers to independence.
Campaigners highlight that the removal of premium brands ignores the reality that bigger, solid‑built cars are often necessary to carry medical equipment.
They also warn that taxing insurance and advance payments will hit younger disabled people hardest, adding costs at a time when they are trying to build independent lives.
Watkins said: “The danger is that disabled people are being punished for political headlines, and that risks turning a lifeline into a battleground.”
Disability Wales argues that reforms must recognise the diversity of disability, including mental health and neurological conditions, and ensure that independence is not sacrificed for the sake of savings.
Watching the road ahead
Across Wales, the figures underline the scale of reliance on Motability. With 33 per cent of new car sales linked to the scheme, Wales stands apart from other regions such as the North East of England, where the figure is 26 per cent, and London at 24 per cent.
As reforms loom in 2026, South West Wales will be watching closely to see whether changes to tax reliefs and vehicle choice reduce access — or whether the scheme can continue to meet the needs of thousands of local residents who depend on their cars for independence, dignity and daily life.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
Autumn Budget 2025: Westminster leak, Welsh impact
Rachel Reeves’s Autumn Budget sparked fierce clashes and revealed tax changes set to hit households across Wales.
Disabled people react with ‘fear and anger’ to cuts bill
Campaign groups warn of growing anxiety as Westminster pushes ahead with controversial disability benefit reforms.
Disability activists stage protest outside Swansea DWP office
Local campaigners rallied against welfare changes, saying reforms risk isolating disabled people in South West Wales.
#Conservatives #disability #disabilityAccess #DisabilityWales #HiddenDisabilities #KemiBadenoch #Motability #motoring #PhysicalDisabilities #politics
ABC News: Deaf residents in aged care left without basic support services https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-06/deaf-seniors-falling-through-aged-care-cracks/106084008 #PeopleWithDisability #DisabilityAccess #PublicHealth #HealthPolicy #AgedCare #Disability #Discrimination #AusPol
Deaf residents in aged care left without basic support services
By Adelaide Miller
One Deaf woman living with dementia has been without basic care services for two years. Advocates warn her story represents a much larger problem.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-06/deaf-seniors-falling-through-aged-care-cracks/106084008
#PublicHealth #HealthPolicy #AgedCare #PeopleWithDisability #DisabilityAccess #AdelaideMiller
People with disability 'blossom like a flower' on community radio
By Elsie Lange
A community radio station in Alice Springs is becoming a breeding ground for new, diverse voices by giving people with disability a platform to broadcast.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-04/community-radio-platforming-diverse-voices/106089034
Smiling in class. Exhausted at home: Why autistic teens struggle in sport
By Daniel Miles
Hayley masks their struggles so well in dance class that teachers can't tell. But when they get home, they collapse — sometimes missing days of school.
#DisabilityAccess #PeopleWithDisability #Dance #Sport #ScientificResearch #AutismSpectrumDisorder #DanielMiles
What Amy and Estella want you to know about living with disability
By Dianne King
Nineteen-year-old Estella Jones lives with a disability in her hometown of Tennant Creek, where she loves baking brownies, singing karaoke and spending time with good friends.
Commuters waiting half an hour longer to access low floor trams
By Costa Haritos
Victoria's Auditor-General has found less than one in five tram services in Melbourne are accessible, with the Department of Transport and Planning failing to set any targets or direct funding to improve the tram network.
ABC News: Melbourne's tram network fails again to meet national accessibility standards https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-19/melbourne-tram-network-falls-short-accessibility-standards/106027512 #DisabilityAccess #PublicTransport #Disability #Transport #Travel #Tourism
Bedford workers relief for 'steady future' as buyer announced
By Jordanna Schriever
Workers at disability employment provider Bedford reveal their joy at learning their jobs are secure with the announcement of a preferred buyer, following months of uncertainty.
#DisabilityAccess #EmploymentServices #PeopleWithDisability #Work #FederalStateIssues #StateandTerritoryGovernment #JordannaSchriever
Former gymnast's mission to rehome disability equipment
By Erin Marsicovetere
Ava Costa's spinal injury sparked an outpouring of support from the gymnastics community. Now the teenager wants to ensure others can spend less time in hospital.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-18/ava-costa-the-sharing-shed-disability-equipment/106018336
#Sport #Gymnastics #DisabilityAccess #PeopleWithDisability #ErinMarsicovetere
Preferred buyer for Bedford says it will 'protect what matters the most'
By Josephine Lim
The federal health minister says the jobs of "hundreds and hundreds of South Australians who live with a disability" have been secured, as The Disability Trust is named as the preferred buyer to take over Bedford's supported employment and learning and experience programs.
#DisabilityAccess #EmploymentServices #PeopleWithDisability #Work #FederalStateIssues #StateandTerritoryGovernment #JosephineLim
ABC News: 'We can't retire yet — or ever': NDIS uncertainty up-ending families https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-16/qld-ndis-funding-cuts-means-brisbane-couple-cant-retire/106006192 #PeopleWithDisability #DisabilityAccess #Disability #NDIS
'We can't retire yet — or ever': NDIS uncertainty up-ending families
By Lucy Loram
Darren and Louise Catton have spent years curating a care plan for their daughter Mary, but now face an uncertain future after her NDIS funding was cut dramatically.
Disability support provider 'can't afford' to keep service going
By Pip Waller
Not-for-profit organisation Anglicare WA has announced it cannot afford to keep its Bridges Disability Service going and about 80 staff might lose their jobs.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-06/anglicare-pulls-out-of-ndis/105979138
Outback residents in limbo as mobility equipment business disappears
By Hannah Walsh
Russell Burns is waiting on a mobility scooter worth $6,000 so he can leave the house, but says the business has "disappeared into the blue".
#DisabilityAccess #PeopleWithDisability #RuralandRemoteCommunities #HannahWalsh
