Empowering people with disability through Supported Decision Making


Released 14/11/2017

The ACT Government was proud to support the Respect, Know, Act Supported Decision Making Forum held in Canberra today.

Respect, Know, Act Supported Decision Making is a project funded by the National Disability Insurance Agency’s Information, Linkages and Capacity Building Jurisdictional Grants program and designed by ACT Disability Aged and Carer Advocacy Service (ADACAS). The aim of the project is to enable more people with disability to participate actively in their health care decision making.

Supported decision making is a recent model developed during the National Disability Forum held by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2014. Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, people with disability have the right to receive the support necessary to enable them to make and implement decisions that affect them. The project is aimed at people with cognitive impairments or mental illness who are most impacted by impaired decision making.

Today’s forum was attended by people with disability, their families and carers, health service providers, consumer groups and advocacy support groups. All attendees worked collaboratively to develop greater understanding about how people with a decision making impairment make health care decisions. The information gathered today will support and assist people with disability to improve their health outcomes.

Health and Wellbeing is one of the six policy areas identified in the National Disability Strategy 2010-2020 and one of four key areas of action prioritized by the ACT Disability Reference Group in its current workplan.

The ACT Government is pleased to see these conversations taking place, and to support initiatives which encourage the community to be more inclusive in providing services for with people with disability.

- Statement ends -

Rachel Stephen-Smith, MLA | Media Releases

Media Contacts

Name Phone Mobile Email

Brenton Sloane

6205 7402

0431 252 698

Brenton.Sloane@act.gov.au


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